---
title: 'J.A. Waddell on the Simplicity of Presbyterian Worship'
type: post
author: 'R. Andrew Myers'
date: 2025-07-09
url: https://confessional.org/blog/2025-j-a-waddell-on-the-simplicity-of-presbyterian-worship
---

# J.A. Waddell on the Simplicity of Presbyterian Worship

“The absolute silence of the New Testament in regard to other forms shows plainly to the candid reader that a worship characterized by artistic ceremony was not in the minds of the inspired readers. No sane man can believe that an elaborate system like that of the Anglican prayer-book was in existence under the apostles, or provided for by any of them.
…
The principal champions of the Higher Criticism, which now discredits so much of the sacred records, are to be found in the Church of England, and no one need feel surprised that undue liberties are taken with the contents of the holy Bible by men who have been accustomed from childhood to shut their eyes at the evidence it contains that the apostles, in organizing churches, abandoned the usages of the Jewish temple, and followed the simple worship of the synagogue. On this point Presbyterianism remains a steadfast defender of the Bible against Anglican objections to its simple style of worship.” — [**James Addison Waddell**](/authors/james-addison-waddell), *Letters to a Young Presbyterian* (1895), pp. 94, 96-97