The Historical Development of the Book of Church Order
Chapter 47 : The Principles and Elements of Public Worship
Paragraph 1 : The Regulative Principle
47-1. Since the Holy Scriptures are the only infallible rule of faith and practice, the principles of public worship must be derived from the Bible, and from no other source. [DIGEST: What we have now as chapter 47 was not part of either the Proposed Book of Church Order (1973) or the Book of Church Order as adopted by the first General Assembly later that same year. Rather, this chapter, with its nine paragraphs, dates to 1975 when this text was presented by the Constitutional Documents Committee, as part of its proposed revision of the Directory. [M3GA, 3-15, pp. 55-56] This chapter, originally numbered as chapter 48, presents entirely new text not previously part of any prior Presbyterian Book of Church Order. The chapter was renumbered as chapter 47 when the original chapters 8 and 9 were merged in 1980. No changes to paragraph 47-1 have been made since adoption in 1975, other than the editorial addition of the parenthetical Shorter Catechism reference at the end of the verse. ANTECEDENT TEXTS:
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