n from simple sacrifice at a family altar to an elaborate
temple-ritual, in which praise and prayer and the reading of the Law
occupied a prominent place; to this were added in later times the
exposition of the Law and the reading of the Prophets. This service,
elaborate with magnificent and imposing forms, continued in connection
with the Temple worship down to the time of our Saviour, while in the
Synagogue a simpler service, combining all the essential parts of the
former with the exception of sacrifice, was developed during the period
subsequent to the Babylonian captivity, when, as is generally conceded,
the Synagogue with its service had its origin. Apart then from the
ritual connected with sacrifice, which was wholly typical, the temple
service and the simpler worship of the Synagogue were identical in
their different parts, although differing widely in form.

Now, just as Christianity was itself not a substitute for the Jewish
religion but a development and enlargement of it, so Christian worship
was an outgrowth, with larger meaning and broader application, of the
worship of God which for centuries had been conducted among the Jews.
It continued to comprise the essential elements of prayer and praise,
together with the reading and exposition of the Divine message, a
message which was enlarged in Apostolic times by the record concerning
the Christ who had come, and by the inspired writings of the Apostles
of our Lord to the Church which they had been commissioned to plant and
foster, while associated with these was the administration of the
Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper. It has always been
maintained by the Presbyterian Church, that of these different elements
of worship, none should be neglected, inasmuch as all of them have
Divine sanction, and that to these nothing should be added, inasmuch as
any addition made, could possess human sanction only, and would be a
transgression of the principle that Scripture and Scripture alone
contains authority for the government and practice of the Church of
Jesus Christ.

It follows that in the arrangement and adjustment of each of these
various parts of worship, in their due relation to each other, and in
the determination of the methods that shall prevail in their
performance, the Church must be governed by an appreciation of the
purpose for which they have been established, and of the ends which
they are expected to serve. The object of public worship