Rick Warren, Martin Bucer and the Worship Debate in Reformation Perspective

Abstract

"Poor Martin Bucer. Little remembered today outside the academy, Bucer was a leading theologian and churchman during the heroic early years of the Reformation, who influenced profoundly the form and content of Calvinist worship. An aphorism ascribed to him puts his philosophy of worship in a nutshell: “The church is built around the hymn.” Alas, if that is the case, then most evangelical churches today, and certainly the biggest and fastest growing among them, are like donuts. They also attach great importance to music, arguably too much importance, but anyone familiar with the music on offer in these churches will know that they lack Bucer’s center, since they are certainly not “built around the hymn”"