Jonathan Ottaway | Regent University (original) (raw)

Essays and Articles by Jonathan Ottaway

Worship, 2023

The Seven Hebrew Words for Praise (SHWP) is a Pentecostal liturgical theology that seeks to defin... more The Seven Hebrew Words for Praise (SHWP) is a Pentecostal liturgical theology that seeks to define the scope of effective, correct, and God-pleasing worship for the church. The approach of this theology is to explore the Hebrew words underlying the English use of the word ‘praise’ in Scripture. By uncovering these hidden terms, its proponents argue that they are uncovering a fuller understanding of Christian praise which should form the normative liturgical practice of the church. The aim of the paper is to situate this liturgical theology in its wider theological and hermeneutical context. The SHWP paradigm is more than a simple biblicist theology for Pentecostal worship. Instead, it is a complex and historically-contextual theology formed out of a matrix of theological influences. The paper will first detail the historical development of the SHWP, situating it in a wider development of Pentecostal praise theologies in the latter 20th century and describing its dissemination and replication among many Praise and Worship practitioners in Pentecostal and evangelical traditions. The reproduction of the SHWP points to a wider hermeneutical agreement that exists between Praise and Worship practitioners. Hence, in the following section, the paper uncovers the broader hermeneutical tradition that the SHWP stems from rooted in traditional Pentecostal and Fundamentalist interpretive approaches to scripture. I will show the particular reliance of the SHWP on the early Pentecostal methodology of the Bible Reading Method.

Religions

In the recent study of Contemporary Praise and Worship (CPW), many studies have focused on musica... more In the recent study of Contemporary Praise and Worship (CPW), many studies have focused on musical repertory, including its text, music, and performance, as the foundational text(s) for theoretical analysis. In particular, scholars have relied on lists of the most popular songs that have been reported to Christian Copyright Licensing International (CCLI). This essay points out several critical weaknesses in the current overreliance on this methodology and instead contends for two underutilized methodologies—liturgical ethnography and liturgical history—that need to be developed in the scholarship. The essay argues that such a cultivation of methodology will enable the burgeoning scholarship on CPW to gain richer insight into the range of theological meaning expressed in CPW contexts.

Studia Liturgica, 2021

This article proposes to explain how the evangelical Free Church commitment to scripture as its p... more This article proposes to explain how the evangelical Free Church commitment to scripture as its primary authority affects their interaction with liturgical theology. Free Church theology is underpinned by various hermeneutical, theological, and cultural commitments—none more central than its commitment to scripture as revelation of and from God—which complicates Free Church engagement with much recent liturgical scholarship that emphasizes the ecclesiological basis for Christian worship and the corollary authority of Christian tradition. In the first part of the article, I provide an exploration of theological authority within Free Church evangelicalism, arguing that their commitment to scripture’s authority is a commitment to the ecclesial tradition of the apostolic church. In the second part of the article, I explore two additional hermeneutical considerations for evangelical liturgical theology that follow from their commitment to scripture: the priority of biblical exegesis in t...

Book Chapters by Jonathan Ottaway

Worship, 2023

The Seven Hebrew Words for Praise (SHWP) is a Pentecostal liturgical theology that seeks to defin... more The Seven Hebrew Words for Praise (SHWP) is a Pentecostal liturgical theology that seeks to define the scope of effective, correct, and God-pleasing worship for the church. The approach of this theology is to explore the Hebrew words underlying the English use of the word ‘praise’ in Scripture. By uncovering these hidden terms, its proponents argue that they are uncovering a fuller understanding of Christian praise which should form the normative liturgical practice of the church. The aim of the paper is to situate this liturgical theology in its wider theological and hermeneutical context. The SHWP paradigm is more than a simple biblicist theology for Pentecostal worship. Instead, it is a complex and historically-contextual theology formed out of a matrix of theological influences. The paper will first detail the historical development of the SHWP, situating it in a wider development of Pentecostal praise theologies in the latter 20th century and describing its dissemination and replication among many Praise and Worship practitioners in Pentecostal and evangelical traditions. The reproduction of the SHWP points to a wider hermeneutical agreement that exists between Praise and Worship practitioners. Hence, in the following section, the paper uncovers the broader hermeneutical tradition that the SHWP stems from rooted in traditional Pentecostal and Fundamentalist interpretive approaches to scripture. I will show the particular reliance of the SHWP on the early Pentecostal methodology of the Bible Reading Method.

Religions

In the recent study of Contemporary Praise and Worship (CPW), many studies have focused on musica... more In the recent study of Contemporary Praise and Worship (CPW), many studies have focused on musical repertory, including its text, music, and performance, as the foundational text(s) for theoretical analysis. In particular, scholars have relied on lists of the most popular songs that have been reported to Christian Copyright Licensing International (CCLI). This essay points out several critical weaknesses in the current overreliance on this methodology and instead contends for two underutilized methodologies—liturgical ethnography and liturgical history—that need to be developed in the scholarship. The essay argues that such a cultivation of methodology will enable the burgeoning scholarship on CPW to gain richer insight into the range of theological meaning expressed in CPW contexts.

Studia Liturgica, 2021

This article proposes to explain how the evangelical Free Church commitment to scripture as its p... more This article proposes to explain how the evangelical Free Church commitment to scripture as its primary authority affects their interaction with liturgical theology. Free Church theology is underpinned by various hermeneutical, theological, and cultural commitments—none more central than its commitment to scripture as revelation of and from God—which complicates Free Church engagement with much recent liturgical scholarship that emphasizes the ecclesiological basis for Christian worship and the corollary authority of Christian tradition. In the first part of the article, I provide an exploration of theological authority within Free Church evangelicalism, arguing that their commitment to scripture’s authority is a commitment to the ecclesial tradition of the apostolic church. In the second part of the article, I explore two additional hermeneutical considerations for evangelical liturgical theology that follow from their commitment to scripture: the priority of biblical exegesis in t...