A study of liturgy with special reference to F. Turretin (1923-1687) and its relevance for Korea

Abstract

The term liturgy itself has many expressions in the Old Testament, New Testament, and in English. Among them the liturgy is used as the term that can be applied to all forms of public worship. There are some elements such as preaching, sacrament, prayer et al., in the liturgy. The liturgy was started from Eden in the Old Testament, the liturgy was continued as the form of altar in the Patriarchal age and by the tent and temple in Moses and king David’s ages. In the age of king David, the liturgy of confession of sin and honesty more than the moral perfection was emphasized. After the Diaspora, the synagogue became the place of liturgy of Israel. In the New Testament, Jesus Christ gave the meaning of another new liturgy through his Holy Supper. In early Christianity, the liturgy was the festival, sharing, and relief with the proclamation of the gospel of Christ’s resurrection and his Second coming, the baptism, offering, professing, and prayer. From the Second century the Lord’s Day liturgy was started. After the fourth century, there was some change until the seventh century in the Eastern Church, and all liturgical rites were fixed after the seventh century. In the Western Church, after the ninth century, the liturgical rite was unified by the Roman rite. At the end of the medieval age, the Mass was a play of priests, the believers were spectators. There was not a liturgy for God, and as well it was the starting point of Reformation. The Reformers rejected the Mass and the Transubstantiation of the Roman church, argued for the reformation of liturgy and the liturgy in the mother language. The greatest Reformer John Calvin claims that the object of the liturgy is only the glory to God, the Scripture and the tradition of the early church as the norm of public liturgical rite, the balance between the Word and Sacrament, the eternal and spiritual liturgy. In the European church, although the reformation of liturgy was started by the first Reformer Luther, nearly all churches in European countries got under Calvin’s influence soon. In Switzerland, Zwingli and Farel led the Reformation, and Geneva, under Calvin’s direction, became the most influential city. In the Anglican Church, the Mass became their liturgy till after the Reformation. In Germany, for thirty years many people had to spill blood for the freedom of liturgy. In Scotland, the reformation of liturgy was led by John Knox. Netherlands obtained freedom of liturgy after a long struggling under the conduct of William, Prince of Orange, In France, the Huguenots had to make many religious wars for getting the freedom of faith and liturgy. Francis Turretin is the greatest Orthodox Reformed theologian. He lived as a professor, minister and theologian in his days. He was a loyal successor of Reformer Calvin and a protector of the Orthodox theology in the seventeenth century, the epitomizer of Reformed theology, and the Scholastic theology. His immortal work, ‘Institutes of Elenctic Theology (Institutio Theologiae Elencticae)’, is the eminent illustration of the theology of the seventeenth century, and polemical. His scholastic theology is positively re-examined. With Turretin, the reason only serves for faith, it never possesses or surpasses the faith, God and his Word is the only basis of Turretin’s theology and liturgy. His theology also is in the Calvinism tradition. To Turretin, the liturgy is the higher school of God’s grace, the teaching in the liturgy, the communication with God, God’s commandment, the life itself, and the gospel liturgy by the spirit and truth. The liturgy of the Korean church was started by Underwood, the first missionary of Korea. In the early period of the Korean church, the Nevius methods influenced the Korean mission decisively. The first Directory of the Korean church was published by Moffett. The liturgical rites of the Free Church in America was introduced mainly in Korea, still those forms are functioning widely as the model of liturgical renewal in Korean church. Many Christians in Korea worship for the blessing and the human’s happiness rather than God, and there are many pagan factors in the Christian’s liturgy, and the sacrament is far from the liturgy. It is difficult to find a Christian worshiping with his whole life. On account of the desire for church growth in the Korean church, if the church can increase its numbers, they think that liturgy does not matter. Because the Korean church is disregarding the tradition, object, nature, content, and reason of liturgy according to Turretin, the Korean church needs the continuous effort for the renewal and reformation of liturgy and the right establishment of the liturgical theology.