I saw a comment recently on Facebook of someone saying that he had visited a Roman Catholic parish and was disappointed how little scripture he heard. He said that they had read three shorter excerpts in the service and that was it, and he found this to be shockingly little compared to his experience in a Reformed church in which an entire chapter is often read. It called to mind the experience of John MacArthur visiting a Russian Orthodox prayer service (in Russian) and he proclaimed that he was struck that no scripture was read at all, which would be quite shocking, given that the prayer services (it was likely vespers or matins) used in all Russian Orthodox parishes are packed with scripture quotes and allusions (MacArthur doesn’t know an ounce of Russian as it turns out). This is no isolated phenomenon either– I have heard similar statements many times from evangelicals.
I’d like to dispel the myth that the traditional liturgy is lacking in scripture. The fact is rather the opposite. I hear more scripture at a traditional liturgy than anywhere else I’ve been in my life, having attended churches of many stripes. In this post, I’ll break down the different parts of the liturgy at my church and the scripture quotes in them.
Let’s take a very typical mass as an example: The Second Sunday after Pentecost.
Every service has the following components:
Prelude
Bells
Processional Hymn
Invocation
Versicles
Confiteor
Absolution
Introit
Kyrie
Gloria in Excelsis
Collect
Old Testament reading
Gradual
Epistle reading
Alleluia
Gospel reading
Sermon
Chief hymn
Creed
Intercessions
Offering Hymn
Offertorium
Oblation
Preface
Sanctus
Eucharistic Prayer
Verba Christi
Anamnesis
Acclamation
Pater Noster
Embolism
Pax Domini
Agnus Dei
Communion
Two communion hymns
Communio
Post-communion collect
Dismissal
Blessing
Silent prayer
Recessional hymn
Postlude
One by one, let’s see how much scripture is in each for the Second Sunday after Pentecost.
During the prelude, congregants are supposed to meditate on a Psalm (34, 43, 51, 84, 116, and 150 are common) and pray. (On average this is 14 verses). This is preparation for the service, but given that it’s printed in the ordo to do this and that it is standard practice (rather than socializing in the narthex prior to the service), this counts as part of the service for our purposes.
The bells have no scripture– they are bells.
Hymns vary– many have scripture quotes built in or at least paraphrases. Notably, every hymn in The Lutheran Hymnal has a verse listed for it, so we’ll say each hymn includes 1 verse of scripture for simplicity. Opening hymn (1 verse). (15 total)
The Invocation is a half-verse (Matt 28:19b). (15.5)
The Versicles are Ps 43:4a, 124:8 (1.5 verses). (17)
The Confiteor has no direct scripture quotes.
The absolution ends with an invocation (half verse). (17.5)
The introit is Ps 13:6,7,1 (3 verses). (20.5)
The Kyrie is a half verse (various verses say “Lord have mercy upon us”) repeated 3 times (1.5 verses). (22)
The Gloria in Excelsis has various scripture quotes and allusions (Lk 2:14, Jn 1:29, Rm 8:34, etc). Overall we’ll call this 3 verses, given that it is an amalgamation of various bits and pieces of scripture (3 verses). (25)
The Collect has no direct scripture quotes.
The Old Testament reading is Deut 6:4-13 (10 verses). (35)
The Gradual is Ps 41:4,1 (2 verses). (37)
The Epistle reading is 1 Jn 4:7-21 (15 verses). (52)
The Alleluia is Ps 5:1 (1 verse). (53)
The Gospel reading is Lk 16:19-31 (13 verses). (66)
Sermons of course have verses quoted in them, but we won’t count these. It does have an invocation at the beginning and end, however (1 verse). (67)
Chief hymn (1 verse). (68)
The Creed has many partial quotes of scripture (Jn 3:16, Jn 14:26, Acts 2:38, 1 Cor 8:6, 2 Cor 3:6, Eph 4:5, 2 Pet 1:21). We’ll count this as two verses in total (2 verses). (70)
The Intercessions have no direct scripture quotes.
The Offertory is the giving of offerings, so it has no direct scripture quotes.
Offering hymn (1 verse). (71)
The Offertorium is Ps 5:2 (1 verse). (72)
The Oblation has Rom 12:1b (half verse). (72.5)
The Preface has various allusions to scripture but only half a verse is quoted (various Psalms use the phrase “let us give thanks to the Lord, our God.”) (half verse). (73)
The Sanctus has Is 6:3, Matt 21:9b (1.5 verses). (74.5)
The Eucharistic prayer has Jn 3:16 (1 verse). (75.5)
The Verba Christi is 1 Cor 11:23-26 (4 verses). (79.5)
The Anamnesis has no direct scripture quotes.
The Acclamation has no direct scripture quotes.
The Pater Noster is the Lord’s Prayer (Matt 6:9-13) (5 verses). (84.5)
The Embolism has no direct scripture quotes.
The Pax Domini is 2 Thess 3:16 (1 verse). (85.5)
The Agnus Dei is Jn 1:29 3 times, along with “have mercy upon us” (various verses use this phrase) along with Is 26:12a (4.5 verses). (90)
Then all partake communion.
Two communion hymns (2 verses). (92)
The Communio is Ps 9:1-2 (2 verses). (94)
The Post-communion Collect has no direct scripture quotes.
The Dismissal references Rth 4:8 and Lk 8:48 (we’ll say this is a half verse in total). (94.5)
The Blessing has no direct scripture quotes.
The silent prayer is simply a silent prayer of thanks at the end of the service.
Recessional hymn (1 verse). (95.5)
The postlude is played as people exit the nave.
In total: 95.5 verses.
The average chapter in the Bible has 26 verses, so 95.5 verses is ~3.7 chapters. The actual readings themselves are 38 verses on their own, well over a chapter. Given that the Roman Catholic and Anglican liturgies are very similar to the liturgy I’ve described above, it’s safe to assume the average mass at a typical Lutheran, Anglican, or Roman Catholic church includes at least 3 chapters of the Bible in total throughout the Sunday service (and much more on special days). So did the Facebook commenter really not hear much scripture at the Roman Catholic parish he visited? Did he hear less than he probably would have at a Reformed church? Probably not. In fact, he probably heard much more scripture at this Roman Catholic mass, given that he estimated he hears 1 chapter at his Reformed church.
The fact of the matter is that the traditional liturgy and classic hymns are an invaluable resource in terms of teaching the congregation scripture and keep the service grounded in God’s Word. The service is not at the whim of the pastor with the traditional liturgy. By contrast, in a modern service (as seen in many Evangelical and Reformed churches today), a pastor could choose a small scripture reading or mere handful of verses for the entire service, accompanied by songs that lack a single scripture reference. In the worst case scenario in a traditional liturgy, the pastor delivers a sermon full of heresy, or a 2 minute homilette, yet the congregation still heard over 3 chapters of scripture, was absolved, received communion, was edified visually by liturgical actions and vestments, and left hearing a benediction.
The Confessing Lutheran 