BOOK REVIEW:
Shaping the Christian Life: Worship and the Religious Affections. By Kendra G. Hotz and Matthew T. Mathews. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2006. 184 pp. (paperback). ISBN: 978-0664229382. 

The authors of this admirable book write that it “arises out of the conviction that how we worship both expresses and shapes who we are as people of faith” (p. ix), and it is this belief which gives rise to all that follows within its well-written and lucid pages. They affirm that who we are “at heart” and how we worship are deeply connected and state that their aim is to “focus on the way in which the intersection of theology and worship funds a new vision of human nature and on how we might interpret Christian worship in light of this new understanding” (p. ix).

This is a timely work. As a regular visitor from the UK to the USA, I have been saddened in recent years by the existence of what are described as “worship wars”. Such emotive language does not encourage calm and reasonable debate between the so-described “warring” parties, comprising at one end of the spectrum those who are addicted to types of so-called contemporary worship and those who are equally addicted at the other end to more traditional forms. In between, of course, there is an interesting mixture found within the confines of individual congregations—hence the ubiquitous notice boards advertising times of separate services of either a traditional or a contemporary nature. We are encouraged to choose what we think will suit our needs, forgetting that this is not the first priority where Christian worship is concerned. Shaping the Christian Life, however, provides food for thought for both “sides” and, I would like to think, material on which peace talks could be based!

By examining how the way we worship can have a transforming and renewing effect, Kendra Hotz and Matthew Mathews make an important distinction between emotions and religious affections. “Religous affections endure whether or not we are experiencing a particular emotion. Emotions are about what we feel, but religious affections are about who we are” (p. 8). They then proceed to give preliminary descriptions of twelve religious affections, namely: awe, humility, gratitude, a sense of mutuality and interdependence, a sense of rightness, a sense of well-being, a sense of delight, a sense of obligation, self-sacrificial love, hope, and a sense of direction. The following chapters explore how these affections become religious when they are directed Godwards and how worship works in bringing about this orientation.

While making it quite clear that there is room for diversity in worship, they rightly point out that this does not mean that every variant is equally good. In elaborating on this they contribute valuable chapters on the structure of worship, the place of prayer, preaching and the sacraments, with an insightful concluding chapter reflecting on music in worship.

As one who would like to see Calvin’s wish for a weekly celebration of the Eucharist in our Reformed churches fulfilled, I was particularly pleased with the importance the authors gave to it, reminding us, in keeping with their overall thesis, that “through our active remembering and hoping in the Lord’s Supper, God restores our affectional sense of direction” (p. 151).

Hotz and Mathews end by expressing the hope that “this new understanding of the nature of the religious affections sheds light on the nature, function, and value of concrete worship practices” (p. 165). For this reader they have certainly succeeded, and I hope the same will apply where many others are concerned. 

Ernest C. Marvin
Minister of St. Columba’s Church Emeritus, Cambridge, UK
and Church of Scotland Chaplain in the University 

PUBLISHED IN THE BULLETIN OF THE INSTITUTE FOR REFORMED THEOLOGY, SPRING/SUMMER 2007, VOL. 7, #1.