Taught by Dr. William Wood, this course explores the regulative principle of worship within the framework of redemptive history, showing that worship on earth is patterned after worship in heaven and placed under the rubric of ascending the mountain of the Lord. From Eden to Sinai, from the tabernacle to the temple, and ultimately to the heavenly Mount Zion, this course traces God’s self-revelation through the covenants, unfolding the divinely ordained pattern by which his people are to draw near in worship. At the climax of this ascent stands the finished work of Jesus Christ, whose perfect sacrifice and ongoing mediation secure our dwelling with God in heavenly places and define the shape of new covenant worship.

Grounded in this biblical-theological approach, Dr. Wood examines the essential elements of worship—word and sacrament, prayer, singing, Sabbath rest, giving, and lawful oaths and vows—demonstrating how each one is regulated by God’s word and ordered according to his redemptive purposes. Students are invited to rediscover worship as the central task of theology and the church, ascending God’s heavenly mountain according to his revealed will.