How Then Shall We Worship?: Biblical Principles to Guide Us Today by R.C. SproulMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
The title is a little of a misnomer - when I bought it I thought that this is an academic work that would address the styles of worship and discuss the different positions about it, but it turns out actually it is geared at the layman reader and explores worship a little more at the personal level than at the corporate setting. Also in a slight deviation from the main theme of worship, other topics like prayer, baptism and the Lord's supper are also discussed. If the title in subsequent revisions were changed to following Christ or living a Christian life, I would be happy to add at least 1 stars to the rating.
Sproul writes in the first person and provides an easy read with the conversational style for the opening chapters of the book. Thereafter, chapters 6-8 on the topic of baptism were excellent - it helped me understand the position of infant baptism for the first time! In contrast, Chapter 9-11 seemed to lack theological exhaustiveness (width) and substance (depth); after reading each chapter I felt a desire to have been persuaded more so I could agree with Sproul’s substantives.
Mercifully, in Chapter 12 (The sounds of worship), the excitement and endgame to starts to pick up, with the delightful church history juxtaposed against tradition from Scripture. It was a pleasant surprise to find a rather exhaustive study/discussion guide at the end of the book (because this too is not reflected on the cover). I’d like to say that this book has the potential to become a really great 5 Star title with minor tweaks to the titles, editing and by further elaboration in some chapters, but with Sproul’s passing in 2017, I doubt we would see that come to fruition.
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