Christians and Music

Christians and Music

A Deliverance Center Sunday School Publication

Music and the Christian Outline

Introduction

Music is immensely rich form of human expression that is full of all sorts of potential to honor God and bring attention to the good and beautiful in the world that is HIS INFLUENCE (James 1:17).

James 1:17 — Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

Most people anyone have a serious interest in music. For the Christian, this interest can lead to a deeply personal wrestling match with the theological concerns presented by music and some of its forms. The fact there is much potential of good in music makes it attractive. The fact that there is also potential for "not good" makes it a concern.

One philosophy regarding music and the Christian goes something like this:

Music is amoral. There is no secular or Christian music, or if there is a distinction to be made it is only in the lyrics. Lyrical content alone distinguishes Christian music from all other forms.

Is this entirely true? Is the music of Christians generally indistinguishable from secular or even pagan music? What guideliness and principles can we draw from the Holy Scriptures to aid us in our judgments?

The great contest that every Christian must engage in His own generation is the challenge set forth in the Bible to honor God in all we do and receive. Part of that duty, I believe, is to distinguish ourselves as Christians or to be obviously Christian.

Matthew 5:16 — Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

In well-intentioned efforts to make Christianity more appealing, many people have borrowed from things familar to the sinner (like music). Herein lies a potential danger of losing sight of our own identity and what makes us Christian.

If with each generation we shed and more of those details of living life birthed directly from Scripture and replace them with details birthed elsewhere, at what point are we no longer living a Christ-centered life?

Ezekiel 44:23 — And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy, and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.

This study is an effort to remain engaged in this battle for the very soul of Christianity. This subject is filled with potential pitfalls and discerning the best way is hard work. But, we cannot afford to just "give in" as many have when faced with the complexity of this topic. I have heard, first hand, teachers declare, "There is no line" that brings clear judgments on music for the Christian.

I believe in areas of Biblical revelation that appear light on topics that concern us, the Christian disposition should not be to conclude "we just can't know" but like many Believers throughout Church History should be to engage the topic as a spiritual challenge with prayer, Holy Ghost discernment, and careful investigation of both the Scriptures and the facts of the matter.

Php 2:12 ¶ Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

With gravity and sincerity, let us seek out together a Christ-like response to the question, "how shall we honor God as Christians with our music?"

a. Some Questions that Will Structure Our Study

  1. HUMAN and DIVINE PURPOSE. Why are we singing? What is the Purpose of Music? Is music exclusively for worship? Is it ok to use music to entertain or just convey a non-spiritual message?
  2. EFFECT and PERFORMANCE. Feelings, emotions, anointing. What can we know about how music makes us feel? Can we know if it is God we are feeling? Are there “bad feelings” we can use to judge music? Feelings and Music. Do we “medicate” or “regulate” with music? Chills. Positive or Relaxing vibes.
  3. CONTENT. What are the Marks of Distinction of Christian Music? What makes Christian music different? What biblical principles govern music? How critical should we be of music concerning doctrine? Judging the content of Music. Lightheartedness, Silliness.
  4. CONTEXT Does it matter where a song comes from or can it stand on its own merit? If it matters, how much does it matter? Is the original roots, most important or just one part of an equation? Judging the context of music.Where does music come from? Should the Business and Commerce context affect our judgment? What is a preferred context of Christian music?
  5. STANDARDS AND . Debates. What analogies to Christians and music can be made and which ones have been made that may be inaccurate or accurate? Of common arguments made, which ones are inconsistent or consistent? Criticisms of modern Christian music.

b. The Value of Our Study

Does any of this really matter? Is it petty to make such detailed judgments?

Psalm 8:1 -- 1 O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens. 2 Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger. [BOLD, LOUD]

Matthew 21:15-16 -- And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; they were sore displeased, 16 And said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?[to complete thoroughly,restore, make to fit,prepare]

1 Corinthians 10:23-33 -- 23 All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not. 24 Let no man seek his own, but every man another's wealth. 25 Whatsoever is sold in the shambles, that eat, asking no question for conscience sake: 26 For the earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof. 27 If any of them that believe not bid you to a feast, and ye be disposed to go; whatsoever is set before you, eat, asking no question for conscience sake. 28 But if any man say unto you, This is offered in sacrifice unto idols, eat not for his sake that shewed it, and for conscience sake: for the earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof: 29 Conscience, I say, not thine own, but of the other: for why is my liberty judged of another man's conscience? 30 For if I by grace be a partaker, why am I evil spoken of for that for which I give thanks? 31 Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. 32 Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God: 33 Even as I please all men in all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved.

Christians should develop discerning taste. I just don't like that... taste has to be developed for something (usually very early on in life, but with life’s milestones, those even change.

Philippians 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

1 Thessalonians 5:11-24 -- 11 Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do. 12 And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you; 13 And to esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake. And be at peace among yourselves. 14 Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men. 15 See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men. 16 ¶ Rejoice evermore. 17 Pray without ceasing. 18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. 19 Quench not the Spirit. 20 Despise not prophesyings. 21 Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. 22 Abstain from all appearance of evil. 23 ¶ And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.

c. Rules and Methods of Our Study

  1. Separate the Two: Christian (People) and Music

Music is very personal and intimate for a lot of people. And to judge some form or piece of music and/or its performance can often be received like a PERSONAL ATTACK. We cannot have a productive conversation if criticisms of a “piece” or “performance” are received as a judgment on your own or another’s character. Lso, inspecting someone else's sacrifice is carefully done.

  1. The Debate Must first be Won Within

This is not to say never debate or communicate a divisive view point, but that our study will be much more fruitful if we remind ourselves often that we are FIRSTLY endeavoring to draw OUR OWN SELVES nearer to a perfect praise of our God. Before you weaponize or disseminate or rebut, give the whole process a thorough hearing Respect the GRACE and FORBEARANCE of God in our own life and in the lives of others. We are not all “lock step” when it comes to the revelation of God’s will.

  1. There are Degrees of Value

As we discuss and weigh individual pieces and performances of music, we will consistently apply judgment in “DEGREES” and not “PASS or FAIL”. There is poor, good, better and best! Also, there are so many elements in “SYMPHONY” that result ultimately in a PERFORMANCE and like baking a cake, music cannot be fairly judged by listing its ingredients alone, but the COMBINATION of details impact value and effectiveness.

  1. We will be Honest and Studious.

We will practice to not be “LAZY” in our conclusions. Avoid shortcuts. (Prov 18:13) What are some short cuts? We will consider primarily content that is commonly used in worship --- not ticklish Reuben from down in old Vermont. The preacher and the bear.

  1. This Debate didn’t Start or End with You

The Christian church has been grappleing with this topic from the beginning. We are entering into an ongoing conversation. There are some who through prayer and careful consideration have made contributions to this conversation and there are those who ‘at a tip of hat’ have added their 2 cents. Measure all viewpoints in light of Scripture. Remember, the covering afforded by Spiritual Leadership. (Ge 20:16; Ps 105:39; 1 Cor. 11:10,15) My Opinion counts but shouldn't be the beginning and end of the conversation for me. Endeavor to not short circuit Biblical methods and principles. Don’t isolate yourself. Safeguards, convictions, spiritual leadership as a covering.

Section 1: Purposes and Intentions of Music

Question #1 “Human and Divine Purpose”

TEXT: Psalm 8:1,2; Matthew 21:15-16; 1 Corinthians 10:23-33; 14:26,40; Philippians 4:8; 1 Thessalonians 5:11-24; 1 Chronicles 15:1-24; James 1:17

James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

Why do we make and use music? Music has its origin in God. As all things from God, it speaks of God and His nature. Music is a language.

A. Instructions to Mood

Instructions of “mood” influence interpretation of the different parts of music: dynamics,rhythm,tonality, etc. How complimentary is the “MUSIC” with the instructed “MOOD”?

Praise and Worship (distinction and meaning) -- EXULTANT and ADMIRATION.

1 Chronicles 15:1 -- David was preparing a place for the Ark of God

1 Chronicles 15:13 a breach upon us … for we sought him not after the due order

1 Chronicles 15:16-24 Music was a significant part of the “due order”

term meaning term meaning
Lacrimoso: tearfully sad Maestoso majestic
Agitato in an agitated manner Con amore with love
Con brio with power Con anima with spirit
Cantabile singable Con fuoco with fire
Affettuoso tenderly Dolce sweet
Expressivo fierce, heavy Scherzando playful, joking
Volante speedy but light Slancio enthusiastic

What are some other instructions of “MOOD” given in the Bible? (at least 600 references to music and many are in relation to human “EMOTION”. Parts of “EMOTION” are communicated by all the different parts of music and not just one.) [motion and emotion, memory,]

Was Lucifer in charge of music in Heaven?

Origin. Where does music come from? “INSPIRATION” experiences. CCM and Sing a new song … (9 verses) Psalm 33:3; 40:3; 96:1; 98:1; 144:9; 149:1; Isaiah 42:10; Revelation 5:9; Revelation14:3 [new kind, Fresh experience] B. ### B. Parts of Music Let’s investigate the purpose of music and partially demystify it by considering it in 8 parts: Dynamics, Form, Harmony, Melody, Rhythm, Texture, Timbre and Tonality.

  1. Dynamics: how loud or soft (forte, piano) LATIN:Pianissimo (pp) – very quiet; Piano (p) – quiet; Mezzo forte (mf) – moderately loud; Forte (f) – loud; Fortissimo (ff) – very loud; Sforzando (sfz) – a sudden, forced loud

  2. Form: the order and arrangement of the parts of the music Groups, divisions, repetitions (ie, verse chorus verse chorus bridge chorus)

  3. Harmony: the instruments that support the melody with chords In any given key, there are eight degrees.Example C Major:

There are various classes and types of chord progressions: 1-4-1-5:

Consonance , dissonance

  1. Melody: a series of pitches that make a tune

  2. Rhythm: how long or short a sound is

rhythm - a strong, regular, repeated pattern of sound

common-time.png

back-beat.png example https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbUoM9praog

a steady pronounced rhythm stressing the second and fourth beats of a four-beat measure.

On a drum set: Beats 1 & 3 Played on Bass, Beats 2 & 4 Played on Snare

syncopation-displacement.png

Syncopation is "a disturbance or interruption of the regular flow of rhythm". Syncopation may be effected by accenting normally weak beats in a measure, by resting on a normal accented beat (see image above), or by tying over a note to the next measure.

  1. Texture: the layers of sound, how sparse or dense the music is

  2. Timbre: the unique sound quality of an instrument or sound

  3. Tonality: the overall sound of the music as pleasant (consonant) or unpleasant (dissonant), Major or Minor Key? (happy or sad, consonant or dissonant, brightness spectrum) The musical modes are seven different scales, with seven exclusive flavors about them.

MODES OF A SCALE (7, With C as our base, “What scale has ‘C’ as 2nd, 3rd, etc):

Brightness Spectrum (flattening & sharpening): Lydian (#4), Ionian, Mixolydian (b7) ,Dorian (b3, b7),Aeolian (b3, b6, b7),Phrygian (b2, b3, b6, b7),Locrian (b2, b3, b5, b6 , b7)

Chord to Scale in KEY OF C MAJOR:

C. Church Music Should be Educational and Prayerful

Review John Calvin’s “Preface” to the “Psalter”. Summary:

1. [CONDENSED] Preface to the Psalter, John Calvin 1543

As it is a thing much required in Christianity ,..that every one of the faithful ... frequenting the assemblies ... to honor and serve God: so also it is expedient and reasonable that all should know and hear that which is said and done in the temple, thus receiving fruit and edification. ⇒ Everyone should go to church and be edified for their effort.

2. UNDERSTANDING IS ESSENTIAL

For our Lord did not institute the order which we must observe when we convene in his Name, solely to amuse the world by seeing and looking at it; rather, however, he wished that profit would come from it to all his people: as Saint Paul witnesseth, commanding that all which is done in the Church be directed towards the common edification of all: ... Because to say that we are able to have devotion, either at prayers or ceremonies, without understanding anything of them, is a great mockery … .

3. 4 ELEMENTS IN WORSHIP

Now there are briefly three things which our Lord commanded us to observe in our spiritual assemblies: namely, the preaching of His Word, prayers public and solemn, and the administration of the sacraments. .. we have the express commandment of the Holy Spirit that prayers should be made in a language commonly known to the people; and the Apostle has said that people ought not to answer Amen to that prayer which has been said in a foreign tongue [1 Cor. 14:16]. However, this is because that prayers are made in the name and person of all, that each should be a participant. Thus it is a very great impudence on the part of those who introduced the Latin language into the Church where it is not generally understood… ⇒ profit would come from it to all his people: ! Cor. 14:12: there is no edification, unless there is a doctrine.

4. SACRAMENTS CONJOINED WITH DOCTRINE

...And when the matter is examined with common sense, there is no one who will not confess that it is a pure frumpery to amuse the people with symbols which have no meaning for them. Therefore it is easy to see that one profanes the Sacraments of Jesus Christ by administering them so that the people do not at all understand the words which are being said about them. …

5. TWO KINDS OF PRAYERS

... As for public prayers, there are two kinds. The ones with the word alone: the others with singing. And this is not something invented a little time ago. For from the first origin of the Church, this has been so, as appears from the histories. And even St. Paul speaks not only of praying by mouth: but also of singing. And in truth we know by experience that singing has great force and vigor to move and inflame the hearts of men to invoke and praise God with a more vehement and ardent zeal. Care must always be taken that the song be neither light nor frivolous; but that it have weight and majesty (as St. Augustine says), and also, there is a great difference between music which one makes to entertain men at table and in their houses, and the Psalms which are sung in the Church in the presence of God and his angels. But when anyone wishes to judge correctly of the form which is here presented, we hope that it will be found holy and pure, seeing that it is simply directed to the edification of which we have spoken.

6. EXPRESSION THROUGH SINGING

And yet the practice of singing may extend more widely; it is even in the homes and in the fields an incentive for us, as it were, an organ of praise to God, and to lift up our hearts to him, to console us by meditating upon his virtue, goodness, wisdom and justice:... the Holy Spirit exhorts us so carefully throughout the Holy Scriptures to rejoice in God and that all our joy is there reduced to its true end, because he knows how much we are inclined to rejoice in vanity. As thus then our nature draws us and induces us to seek all means of foolish and vicious rejoicing; so, to the contrary, our Lord, to distract us and withdraw us from the temptations of the flesh and of the world, presents us all possible means in order to occupy us in that spiritual joy which he recommends to us so much.

7. IMPORTANCE OF MUSIC

Now among the other things which are proper for recreating man and giving him pleasure, music is either the first, or one of the principal; and it is necessary for us to think that it is a gift of God deputed for that use. Moreover, because of this, we ought to be the more careful not to abuse it, for fear of soiling and contaminating it, converting it our condemnation, where it was dedicated to our profit and use. If there were no other consideration than this alone, it ought indeed to move us to moderate the use of music, to make it serve all honest things; and that it should not give occasion for our giving free rein to dissolution, or making ourselves effeminate in disordered delights, and that it should not become the instrument of lasciviousness nor of any shamelessness. ⇒ It is a Gift from God

8. POWER OF MUSIC

… And in fact, we find by experience that it [music] has a sacred and almost incredible power to move hearts in one way or another. Therefore we ought to be even more diligent in regulating it in such a way that it shall be useful to us and in no way pernicious. For this reason the ancient doctors of the Church complain frequently of this, that the people of their times were addicted to dishonest and shameless songs, which not without cause they referred to and called mortal and Satanic poison for corrupting the world. Moreover, in speaking now of music, I understand two parts: namely the letter, or subject and matter; secondly, the song, or the melody. It is true that every bad word (as St. Paul has said) perverts good manner, but when the melody is with it, it pierces the heart much more strongly, and enters into it; in a like manner as through a funnel, the wine is poured into the vessel; so also the venom and the corruption is distilled to the depths of the heart by the melody. ⇒ there is scarcely in the world anything which is more able to turn or bend this way and that the morals of men, as Plato prudently considered it.

9. WHY THE CHOICE OF THE PSALMS

... St. Augustine has said is true, that no one is able to sing things worthy of God except that which he has received from him. … Wherefore Chrysostom exhorts, as well as the men, the women and the little children to accustom themselves to singing them [PSALMS], in order that this may be a sort of meditation to associate themselves with the company of the angels. ⇒ What is there now to do? It is to have songs not only honest, but also holy, which will be like spurs to incite us to pray to and praise God, and to meditate upon his works in order to love, fear, honor and glorify him. … we shall not find better songs nor more fitting for the purpose, than the Psalms of David.

10. SINGING WITH UNDERSTANDING REQUIRED

… spiritual songs cannot be well sung save from the heart. But the heart requires the intelligence. And in that (says St. Augustine) lies the difference between the singing of men and that of the birds. For a linnet, a nightingale, a parrot may sing well; but it will be without understanding. But the unique gift of man is to sing knowing that which he sings. After the intelligence must follow the heart and the affection, a thing which is unable to be except if we have the hymn imprinted on our memory, in order never to cease from singing. For these reasons this present book, even for this cause, besides the rest which has been said, ought to be singular recommendation to each one who desires to enjoy himself honestly and according to God, for his own welfare and the profit of his neighbors: and so there is need of all of it being much recommended by me: seeing that it carries its value and its praise. But that the world may be so well advised, that in place of songs in part vain and frivolous, in part stupid and dull, in part foul and vile, and in consequence evil and harmful which it has used up to now, it may accustom itself hereafter to the singing of these divine and celestial hymns with the good king David. Touching the melody, it has seemed best that it be moderated in the manner we have adopted to carry the weight and majesty appropriate to the subject, and even to be proper for singing in the Church, according to that which has been said. ----- From Geneva, this 10th of June, 1543, John Calvin ⇒

Calvin's complaint was that at his time, church music was not congregational/not accessible and the word/meaning (by use of Latin) of the music was disguised. People were not learning! Calvin also was critical of the us of melismas (vocal runs). The singing of a single syllable of text while moving between several different notes in succession. Music sung in this style is referred to as melismatic. Calvin’s Psalter is purposefully syllabic-- one note per syllable. Calvin promoted the practice as Psalm singing with the intentions of EDUCATION of the Word of God and making prayerful and soulful music.

A good intention of paraphrased Psalm singing is to make it’s lyrics accessible and memorable (stick with you). In modern music writing there is a heavy emphasis on this aspect of a “hook” or creating “ear worms” through rhyme while being theologically accurate.

Musical modes of the psalms to express different emotions: Singing the psalms Geneva Psalter eastern sound of psalm 1

D. Uses of Music

Music is a language that can speak to the spirit. Different musical moods can be “CONFIRMATION” of existing emotions.

Considering purpose and motive gives us a framework to measure effectiveness in those goals. Not everything that makes me feel good is good for me. What response is being elicited?

https://youtu.be/9fl6zixJdQM

A communication tool.

Animals use “song” to woo … Picture of a man with a guitar serenading a lady. I wrote a song for my wife engagement

Music is a language that communicates emotion, thought and desires.

Christian music has aided directly in “disencion”.

Section 2: Effects and Performance of Music

Question #2 “Effect and Performance”

TEXT: Psalm 8:1,2; Matthew 21:15-16; 1 Corinthians 10:23-33; 14:26,40; Philippians 4:8; 1 Thessalonians 5:11-24

  1. Psychology: Music has the power to “SYNCHRONIZE OF A CROWD, BODY and MIND” Being primed to a state of “HEIGHTENED EMOTION”, you are prepared in a special way to be influenced.
  2. MUSIC itself is a message and not purely a vehicle.
  3. INTRINSIC and ASSOCIATIVE effects
  4. Music can distract us from God
  5. Physics and the body and the BRAIN ... prefrontal cortex etc
  6. Philosophy in Christian music
  7. Uncertain sound -- Poly rhythmic???
  8. The vehicle matters as it has its own influence. Music is a vehicle for the lyrics
  9. Bad undesired description: , sensual, angry, proud, irreverant,irreverent, genres if rebellion
  10. If it influences our thoughts and feelings then it has moral implications. Play different clips of music. Hiw dies each one make you feel?
  11. Robert palmer… rock and roll transformative power … beat … music itself.
  12. Carnal sensual pulling to din and lusts of flesh
  13. Mismatchbif music and message
  14. Voicing. .. voice itself as musical instrument
  15. Colors and music.
  16. Neurologically humans respond the same way.
  17. Music has bodyvlanguage. Saying I love Jesus indifferent body languages.
  18. . Syncopation… emphasis timing
  19. Parts … melody harmony rythm tempo
  20. 4/4 time
  21. Break beats … remove beat
  22. Common time
  23. Rythm gas bodyvlanguage
  24. Back beat break beat syncopation. .. all throughout the song … carefulbwith syncopation… like seasoning food
  25. Hypnotic… oscillating between beta and alpha mindsets/focus/?? Repetitive simple syncopation ...hypnosis what science do we have?
  26. Brain to state of stress … releases opiods hormones … polyrhytmic syncopation. .. accents on other beats than 1 and 3. Brain says hey we are being attack. A physiological effect release if morphine like hormones
  27. Drug addicts.
  28. Gonadotrophines. Sex hormones.
  29. Book The Power of Sound or is it Music
  30. Anvientvchinese emperor would invite musicians to play from different parts of country to tell whether things were peaceful or on verge of revolt based on the current state of the music.
  31. https://www.laphamsquarterly.org/music/emperors-new-music
  32. 340 bc Aristotle ignoble
  33. Kierh richards so writing like being at a seance.
  34. Doors … shaman … crawley

BN l

Deals with devil

Message of rock … do what u want… church of Satan

By Beholding we are being changed.

Candy coated poison

A need is being fed.

1 Samuel 16:23 David’s play didn’t just communicate an emotion but affected one.

[REFERENCE BACK TO THE 7 MUSICAL MODES:] Analysis of Rock Music: Constant repitition, Driving rythm, Hypnoyic unuking physical emotional response, Edmffected not by the truth but the music, Body language, Strange fire ... occult, Good and bad art/ music, Emotional manipulative

In The Republic, Plato outlines his view of the qualities of the modes of the time. The mixed Lydian and** ‘higher’ Lydian** modes were considered dirge-like [said, mournful, like a poem read at a funeral], whereas the **Ionian **and **Lydian **were the soft and convivial modes that were considered unbefitting for "guardians" of the state, and for warriors. The **Dorian **mode however was fitting for steadfast endurance, specifically for a man engaged in warfare or enforced business who had either failed, or was wounded, whereas the **Phrygian **mode was considered fitting for acts of peace and acquiescence (The Republic, III, 399a-b).

Aristotle referenced music at the end of his writing on Politics. He classified melodies as 1) **ethical **melodies, 2) melodies of action, and 3) **passionate **or **inspiring **melodies, each having a **mode **and harmony corresponding to the intent. According to Aristotle, music was to be studied with a view to 1) education, 2) purification and 3) for intellectual enjoyment, for relaxation and rest after exertion. Ethical melodies were to be used for educational purposes, and melodies of action and enthusiastic melodies for concerts where other people performed.

Styles of Music & the Sounds of Christian Music

Is there a style of music ordained in the Bible? A “STYLE” of music is a common pattern of arranging the different parts of music. There is no singular style that is commanded or allowed in the Bible, but the principle of appropriateness evidenced throughout.

Section 3: Lyrics and Message of Music

Question #3 “Content lyrics ”

TEXT: Psalm 8:1,2; Matthew 21:15-16; 1 Corinthians 10:23-33; 14:26,40; Philippians 4:8; 1 Thessalonians 5:11-24

Ephesians 5:19; Psalm 95:1; Hebrews 2:12; psalm 71:23; exodus 15:21 (song as testimony); psalm 105:2; psalm 49:4; psalm 101:1; psalm 150; colossians 3:16; psalm 98:1-7; Revelation 14:3-4; psalm 135:3; Amos 6:5; Psalm 57:7; 2 chronicles 5:13; psalm 40:3

  1. Lyrics David played and drove the evil spirit away
  2. Distinguishing ourselves from false movements and false doctrine
  3. Why distinction is important.
  4. US, HERITAGE, etc.
  5. Elders are needed to show discernment
  6. Sounds, moods, repetition

substance, heresy, value

things we sing about:

Section 4: Context of Music

Question #4 “Context”

TEXT: Psalm 8:1,2; Matthew 21:15-16; 1 Corinthians 10:23-33; 14:26,40; Philippians 4:8; 1 Thessalonians 5:11-24

Analyzing Music as a Christian

Christians should endeavor to think Biblically concerning every aspect of our lives including our music. We should consider harmony with Scripture and be on the look out for heretical red flags and negative effects. We should consider timing and apparent coordination of things. Christian worship involves so much more than just "the music".

  1. We can critically analyze the music — sounds, insruments, arrangements,mood, good and bad art, etc.
  2. We can critically analyze the lyrics — truth or heresy.
  3. We can analyze the context or setting — who is creating and promoting the music.

In this section, we will focus critically on the context or setting of the music. We will consider the theology, life styles, and philosophies of the writers, singers, musicians, producers and churches involved. We will consider:

Some Red Flags and Why they are Red

  1. Ministry or Industry?
  2. Intentional Undoing of Standards
  3. Image Versus Reality
  4. Substance or Manipulation? — Are the Words or the Music having the Greater Effect?
  5. Fads
  6. Spotting New Age and New Think Influences

1. Ministry or Industry?

“MUSIC INDUSTRY” Merchandise of Gospel

Is it ONLY the lyrics and music that determine Christian music?

The lives and theology of the writers composers. Would be lose some hymns if we were consistently as strict in a standard to judge worrh of music by itscreatoes.

Profiting from Jesus?

2. Intentional Undoing of Standards
3. Image Versus Realtiy

Public image is probably the greatest asset of public figures. Whether kings, politicians, movie stars or moral crusaders, projecting and maintaining a certain perception for the public is often the deciding factor between success and failure. -- https://historycollection.com/famous-historic-figures-public-image-vs-the-reality-of-their-lives/

John Wayne

John Wayne (1907 – 1979) made a killing off his public image of rugged toughness, and on-screen portrayals of virile and gung ho tough guys. “Duke”, as he was known to millions of admirers, cornered the market for a while on depictions of the quintessential American fighting man. Such roles got him two Oscar nominations for Best Actor, including one for playing a tough US Marine sergeant in The Sands of Iwo Jima (1949).

For example, John Wayne: Less known is the fact that, just a few years earlier during WWII, Duke had been booed off stage by actual US Marines, who reacted negatively to his fake machismo. They also resented the fact that he had gone out of his way to duck the draft and avoid service during the war. Wayne spent the rest of his life berating himself – and overcompensating – for having avoided the fight during WWII.

4. Are the Words or the Music having the Greater Effect?

Seducing Spirits

Listening to their stuff could draw someone into their ministry and or theology.

dress style presentation, tore, "stylish"

production (low lights, intimate)

1 Timothy 4:1 — Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;

5. Fads

What would a Christ-like response NEW styles and NEW forms of music look like?

6. Spotting New Age and New Think Influences

Music within the Hillsong Context

Shout to the Lord Lyrics

My Jesus, my Saviour
Lord there is none like You
All of my days I want to praise
The wonders of Your mighty love
My comfort, my shelter
Tower of refuge and strength
Let every breath, all that I am
Never cease to worship You
Shout to the Lord all the Earth, let us sing
Power and majesty, praise to the King
Mountains bow down and the seas will roar
At the sound of Your name
I sing for joy at the work of Your hands
Forever I'll love You, forever I'll stand
Nothing compares to the promise I have
In You
My Jesus, my Saviour
Lord there is none like You
All of my days I want to praise
The wonders of Your mighty love
My comfort
My shelter
Tower of refuge and strength
Let every breath, all that I am
Never cease to worship You
Shout to the Lord all the Earth, let us sing
Power and majesty, praise to the King
Mountains bow down and the seas will roar
At the sound of Your name
I sing for joy at the work of Your hands
Forever I'll love You, forever I'll stand
Nothing compares to the promise I have
In You
Shout to the Lord all the Earth, let us sing
Power and majesty, praise to the King
Mountains bow down and the seas will roar
At the sound of Your name
I sing for joy at the work of Your hands
Forever I'll love You, forever I'll stand
Nothing compares to the promise I have
Oh nothing compares to the promise I have
Nothing compares to the promise I have
In You

Shout to the Lord Facts

Darlene Zschech wrote "Shout to the Lord" in 1993. This globally popular Christian praise song was written by Australian worship leader Darlene Zschech in 1993. It was written during a time when Zschech was struggling with money worries and the stresses of raising a young family. One day, when she was feeling particularly discouraged she slipped into the toy room where they kept their piano and put into song some biblical truths to which the stressed young mother was holding onto, in particular drawing from the Psalms. Zschech explained to Today's Christian Woman: "I wrote it when I was feeling discouraged. I felt I could either scream and pull my hair out, or praise God." She added: "The line "Nothing compares to the promise I have in you" was something I clung to when our circumstances seemed so bleak. I think that rings true with anyone going through tough times."This was the title track of a best-selling worship album by Zschech's Hillsong Church, which was released in 1996 in America. Hillsong sprung onto the world stage in 1996 with the song “Shout to the Lord”,

Moral Concerns Hillsong Timeline

The AOG National Executive never told it’s pastors that Frank Houston raped multiple boys in both New Zealand & Australia. They simply called it a “moral failure” & told us not to tell our congregations. Further, they diluted the news with the “moral failure” of another pastor. -- Bob Cotton

December 24, 2001 closing of letter: We are aware that the above information may be a surprise and shock to some of you and therefore we ahve deliberately chosen to restrict this letter to our ordained and probationary ministers. We cannot see any reason for this to be announced to your church or further afield. Sadly, there are always one or two people with their own agendas who will try to get mileage from other people's pain.

Doctrinal Concerns of HillSong

Bethel and Jesus Culture

Phil Johnson kathy walker stephanie gretzinger New age newthink Chariry g ecumenical Music and Doctrinal Infkuences: Joyce Meyers preached for Elevation for Code Orange Steven Furtick " The greatest bible teacher alive today" is jm ... "I want to be here bc I happen to really like your pastor" Charitt gaayke apostolic - oneness-- Bethel music Jesus culture Christine DiMarco What does it mean to be christian? Poa sing Jesus culture songs "not afraid" "freedom" "fearless" Kim walker smith Bill johnson when heaven invades earth .. (new thought New age comparison)

  1. Jesus will protect just bc im a Christian Dominion theology eschatology... ruse and build mission .. hype ... being mindless desperation - power - Jesus healed as a man and as a model for us ... spotless bride for jesus' return ... kingdom now theology...

Chapter 5: Standards and Questions on Music

Chapter 5: Standards and Questions on Music

A Proposed Standard for Christians Regarding Music

TEXT: Psalm 8:1,2; Matthew 21:15-16; 1 Corinthians 10:23-33; 14:26,40; Philippians 4:8; 1 Thessalonians 5:11-24

he rees 12:28 romans 12:22 cor 6:16-17 heb 10:10 heb 13:15-16 rom 15:&5-6 rom 14:5 convinced in his ownmind godly living praying nd bokdly speaking ... is our nt given sgenda

Music is an Instrument of Expression: It can be weilded both as a Tool for Good and a Weapon for Evil

As a language, music is saying things. It is both directly communicating messages via lyrics and feeling, but also indirectly says things about what we love and care about. Are we fully considerate of what is being communicated? Both death and life, abide in the power of the tongue. We can breath life or death into our problems and goals by our daily expressions.

Are we considering where emphasis and focus is being brought? In all that we do, Christians ought to persue the magnification of Christ. We do all to the glory of God and not self. Is the collective message and effect of our expressions, including in music, bringing front and center the reality and glory of Christ?

The following story of Handel's Messiah illustrates a use of music for good:

Handel's Messiah was first performed on April 13, 1742 in Dublin, Ireland as a charity concert benefiting three charities: prisoners’ debt relief, the Mercers Hospital and the Charitable Infirmary. … To ensure that the audience would be the largest possible, gentlemen were asked to remove their swords and women were asked not to wear hoops in their dresses. The takings from the concert were around £400 and each charity received about £127 which secured the release of 142 indebted prisoners. -- https://parkersymphony.org/handels-messiah-faqs

i have familied if i obly rntertauned them i i yended to make them better. -- The following story illustrates the use of music for damage:

Sesame Street breaks Iraqi POWs Heavy metal music and popular American children's songs are being used by US interrogators to break the will of their captives in Iraq. Uncooperative prisoners are being exposed for prolonged periods to tracks by rock group Metallica and music from children's TV programmes Sesame Street and Barney in the hope of making them talk. The US's Psychological Operations Company (Psy Ops) said the aim was to break a prisoner's resistance through sleep deprivation and playing music that was culturally offensive to them. — http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3042907.stm [emphasis is mine]

Christians should actively persue perfection in their use of music.

Psalms 8:1,2 — O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens. 2 Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.

Matthew 21:15-16 — Mt 21:5 And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; they were sore displeased, 16 And said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?

If praise can be perfected than it also follows that praise can be imperfect. It can be done ineffectively, incompletely, and to a standard less than that God has ordained. We should carefully measure the details of our worship and actively respond to our discoveries by changing, improving and perfecting our praise.

We should actively persue definition and clarity to our walk of faith. Ask often and thoughtfully:

There are Important Concerns Related to Music

-the kine if oersinal use and corporate use is easikt blurred. ehat we listen yo we are going to eant ti use in church. they are nit the same thing but are deeply connected

2 Timothy 2:7 Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=bible.kingjamesbiblelite

I sure do have concerns because it like everything else is slipping in the wrong direction

I do think corporate worship and private worship I have always had different musical parameters. For better or for worse get tect messages

The Standard of What is 'Good' is the Nature of God

The Anatomy of Christian Music

1. Christian music has Christian lyrics.

a. Its lyrics are Biblically Sound.

Is it biblical? Is it consistent with our theology? Is the range of what we sing representative of the “whole counsel of God?” What do the lyrics imply about God? About the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ? Lyrics both sung and heard, should be in harmony with your understanding of the Holy Bible.

b. Its collective lyrics are sufficently broad.

2. Christian Music is a collective testimony.

Christan music expresses belief in the communion of saints. We make music with saints throughout the ages and around the world. All the saints present are encouraged to join in singing and in our musical expressions we fellowship with generations past. Do the hymns and songs include contributions from other cultures, languages, and eras? Are songs included which allow for the full participation of children? For those beginning the journey of faith as well as for more mature Christians? Can all believers, male and female, young and old, feel included by the composition of our music?

In the context of corporate worship, Christian music should encourage congregational singing and participation. Christian music should not be a spectacle drawing attention to itself or its performer. Although it will have qualities that are entertaining and absolutely pleasant, Christian's should never use music during the context of worship for entertainment.

3. Christian Music is Harmonious in Mood and Message.

In Christian music, the mood communicated will serve the message commincated.A tune is excellent only as it undergirds the thought, and captures the dominant mood.

Does the tune help us to recall the words by bringing forward appropriate features of the text, or does the tune call attention to itself and contradict or stand in the way of the words?

4. Christian Music Encourages Holy Thought and Emotion

Here I stand

Other Published Standards

music is not worship. bit its a tool we can use to help us express wirship. the relatuonship af music and wirshipunworthy sacrificesseculsr and or refurbished seculae songs inj

christians are not just counter culture. but above tge cukturemoving to rythm of another beat yhe geart of God. getting sucked into secular trends should be embarrassing to the christian.

music influences attitude and is expressed in begavior and dress and conversatuon and

reputition is necessati how much ir how little is need for legitimate music

your music is not eorship.

hypnotic effect off sinple like it or lump it tske it or lesve it. is that a christ like attitude?

ehat are thrytrying to do to us? manipulation

volumr has hypnotic effect as well physical

who are these proloe we are allowing ro shape iur rheoligy abd chritian experience? esoecially that if our impressionavle youth?

christian music is what christians nake it. how are we going to do rhis? there is no christian music in nature. it is an invention or a collection and arrangement of naturalky ofcuring things. it is a creative work.

concerned fir the integrity if the gospel bluering the line between the christian and

a garden varietyalber barnes prevauling character of music in wirshio should be voice abd instruments when engaged subordivate so tyat the service maybe characterized as singing. odalms hymns and spiritual

new wine into old

whare sone id the oroblems of Christianity andd his wvare we how afdressing them.

get list of principles from page 226 of can we rock the gospel.

the freedom in not being

psychology tranced altered consciousness

Chapter 5: Standards and Questions on Music

Questions and Arguments

or do they tend toward individual and private expressions of faith? 9. **Is the music appropriate to the ability of the congregation? **Do our musical selections respect the past practice of congregation? Do we include enough familiar hymns? 10. Do the hymns and choruses we sing assume and encourage growth in discipleship? Is continuing congregational education in music and worship a part of our ministry? Do we take the time and effort to learn new hymns and challenging hymns? Worship is a “living sacrifice,” and therefore our gifts to God should represent some cost to us. Learning more difficult music and coming to understand and appreciate richer theology may be difficult work, but it can also be a source of spiritual renewal and growth.

https://jesuswired.com/2011/07/24/a-treatise-on-music-worship/

Chapter 5: Standards and Questions on Music

Should We Draw Lines?

It is inherently devisive to make judgments.

is this counterproductive or a cire part of following Christ?

Chapter 5: Standards and Questions on Music

Quotes on Christians and Music

Quotes on Music:

Chapter 5: Standards and Questions on Music

A Timeline of Christians and Music

TIMELINE:

“The story is told of a new husband who was watching his wife prepare her first ham for the oven. He noticed that she cut off a few inches from the end. When asked her reason for doing such, her only reply was that her mother always did it that way. Upon calling her mother they found she could give no other reason except that her mother had always prepared her hams that way. Finally, they called the grandmother, who told them she always cut a few inches off because her pan was too small.”

Magnus Libre polyphonic composition notre dane polyphony when on Timeline??

428-328 BC Plato Lived: Plato outlines his view of the qualities of the modes of the time and when they were fitting or appropriate.
384-322 BC Aristotle Lived: He classified melodies as 1) ethical melodies, 2) melodies of action, and 3) passionate or inspiring melodies, each having a mode and harmony corresponding to the intent.
33 AD Matthew 26:30; Mark 14:26 = Last supper followed by “when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives”

: in the Gospel of Luke, there are the "Angels' Song," Mary's "Magnificat," and Zacharias's "Song." In Acts, Paul and Silas sing behind prison-bars: the prison is shaken, the doors fly open, and they are free. In the Epistles, there are but few references to music, but in Ephesians there is a "beautiful one," in which Paul exhorts the churches to sing "Psalms" and "spiritual songs."

1st Century AD Werner in noting that "the connections between Hebrew and Christian chant have been scientifically investigated and proved

Nearly all of the backgrounds from which early Christians came-Jewish, Greek, Roman, Egyptian, and more-had instrumental traditions, but these traditions carried negative associations. Most church fathers saw the use of instruments in Jewish worship as a "childish" weakness, less glorifying to God than words of praise.

"since harmony was unknown during the first one thousand years or more of the Christian era, and instrumental music had no independent existence, the whole vast system of chant melodies was purely unison and unaccompanied, its rhythm usually subordinated to that of the text"

While the Greek and Roman songs were metrical, the Christian psalms were antiphons, prayers, responses, etc., were unmetrical;

1 Timothy 3:16 “Hos Ephanerothe”
61-113 ad , there is a reference in Pliny the Younger who writes to the emperor Trajan (61–113) asking for advice about how to prosecute the Christians in Bithynia, and describing their practice of gathering before sunrise and repeating antiphonally "a hymn to Christ, as to God". Antiphonal psalmody is the singing or musical playing of psalms by alternating groups of performers. The peculiar mirror structure of the Hebrew psalms makes it likely that the antiphonal method originated in the services of the ancient Israelites. According to the historian Socrates of Constantinople, its introduction into Christian worship was due to Ignatius of Antioch (died 107), who in a vision had seen the angels singing in alternate choirs.
100 AD “Plainchant” “Plainsong” Sung without musical accompaniment. Plainsong developed during the earliest centuries of Christianity, influenced possibly by the music of the Jewish synagogue and certainly by the Greek modal system. It has its own system of notation. 4 line staff NOT notating pitches or intervals - Monophony (1 voice) Plainsong was the exclusive form of Roman Catholic church music until the 9th century. Singing Psalms and other Scriptures.
200 AD Clement of Alexandria., "And even if you wish to sing and play to the harp or lyre, there is no blame." [speaking on “How to Conduct Ourselves at Feasts” and not specifically church worship.]
340-397 AD Ambrose (340-397) Bishop of Milan to support the view that the instrument was in use in public worship prior to the seventh century ????
342-420 AD JEROME LIVED: The use of instruments in early Christian music seems to have been frowned upon. 4th or early 5th century St. Jerome wrote that a Christian maiden ought not even to know what a lyre or flute is like, or to what use it is put.
347-407 AD John Chrysostom lived: Psalm 63 was known as the morning hymn by the early church in Greece. John Chrysostom (347-407), Archbishop of Constantinople, wrote “that it was decreed and ordained by the primitive [church] fathers, that no day should pass without the public singing of this Psalm.”
4th Century “In blowing on the tibia [pipes] they puff out their cheeks … they lead obscene songs … they raise a great din with the clapping of scabella [a type of foot percussion]; under the influence of which a multitude of other lascivious souls abandon themselves to bizarre movements of the body"
500-1500 AD Medieval Period:

because of the pervasive influence of the church, the dividing line between sacred and secular aspects was thin throughout a good part of the medieval period.

578 AD Until 578 AD Women did join in Roman Catholic church singing but there was a returning to Hebraic tradition of male only voices.
590-604 AD Gregory’s collection was selected from chants already in use. His codification assigned these chants to particular services in the liturgical calendar. In general it reinforced the simple, spiritual, aesthetic quality of liturgical music.

There are preserved manuscript notations reminding singers to be careful and modest in their work, indicating that temptations of inattention and excessive vocal display existed for even the earliest liturgical musicians.

7th Century Coptic music is the music sung and played in the Coptic Orthodox Church (Church of Egypt) and the Coptic Catholic Church. It consists mainly of chanted hymns in rhythm with instruments such as cymbals (hand and large size) and the triangle.

Ethiopian Church Music: Ancient chanted worship with congregation participating with clapping, ululation and rhythmic movements

657-672 AD The introduction of church organ music is traditionally believed to date from the time of the papacy of Pope Vitalian in the 7th century, as processional uses but in the worship not common until 10th-12th century.

According to the New Catholic Encyclopedia, Pope Vitalian introduced the organ into the worship of the church at Rome to improve the congregation singing. But, it was not until the ninth century that the organ was "consistently" used, and the thirteenth century before it was "in general use throughout the Latin Church" (Vol. 10, p. 746).

9th Century AD Polyphony (2 or more simil lines of independent melody)
10th-12th Century Instruments were not common in the worship part of service in Roman Catcholic Western church settings until the 10th-12th centuries.
Conductus: processional music for 1, 2, or 3 voices
1115-1180 John of Salsbury lived: The very service of the Church is defiled, in that before the face of the Lord, in the very sanctuary of sanctuaries, they, showing off, as it were, strive with the effeminate dalliance of wanton tones and musical phrasing to astound, enervate, and dwarf simple souls.
11th Century AD Musical Pitches were integrated with written music.
1225-1274 AD Thomas Acquinas Lived: A hymn is the praise of God with song; a song is the exultation of the mind dwelling on eternal things, bursting forth in the voice.
14th century Ars Nova new music … rhythm appearing in compositions "more contrived" criticism
1543 AD John Calvin, Psalter

Isaac Watts

FIRST 1000 Years of the Church

The majority of Church Fathers between AD 100 and 500 did not accept the use of musical instruments in church and the Christians worshipped God with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs in a chanting fashion.
The Orthodox Church today would claim to follow this pattern based on the New Testament and early church tradition. Apart from the rejection of musical accompaniment during worship because they regarded it as being from the Old Covenant, they were also defensive about the possible influences of pagan music creeping into the Church and leading it astray.
- In the pagan Roman Empire there were four styles of music: the magical use of flutes and drums to produce good omens (euphemia); the banging of gongs and drums to drive away evil spirits (apotropaic); music used to summon the pagan gods (epiclesis), and general entertainment at feasts and weddings which often led to drunkenness and licentious revelry. It was so bad at weddings that even Emperor Julian the Apostate (AD 331-363), who supported paganism, told his pagan clergy to leave before the musicians arrived. Not surprisingly church leaders gave the same advice to their congregations. Clement of Alexandria (AD 165-215) expressed this concern:

[Christians] having paid reverence to the discussion about God, they leave within [the church] what they have heard, and outside they foolishly amuse themselves with impious playing, and amatory quavering, occupied with flute-playing, and dancing, and intoxication, and all kinds of trash.

(Instructor 3)

Even pagan Greek philosophers like Plato and Aristotle, who had a huge influence on the Roman Empire, were against certain kinds of music. According to Plato, Socrates said:

[Where there were] men of worth and culture, you will find no girls piping or dancing or harping.

(Protagoras, 347c)

Aristotle (384 -322 BC) was against flute-playing and wrote that the flute was:

Not an instrument that has a good moral effect… the ancients therefore were right in forbidding the flute to youths and freemen.

(Politics, 8:6:9-10)

Some of the Church Fathers, like Basil the Great, thought that cithara (like a guitar) players should be excommunicated from the church, and Ambrose was concerned that if Christians turned from psalm singing to playing instruments they might lose their salvation, such was their anxiety of pagan influences. Basil wrote:

Of useless arts there is harp playing, dancing, flute playing, of which, when the operation ceases, the result disappears with it. And, indeed, according to the word of the apostle, the result of these is destruction.’

(Commentary on Isaiah 5)

Some of the Church Fathers tended to allegorise the use of musical instruments from the Old Testament, such as the following:

The musical instruments of the Old Testament are not unsuitable for us if understood spiritually.

(Pseudo-Origen, Selection of Psalms 32)

Clement of Alexandria goes to great lengths to spiritualise musical instruments:

The Spirit, distinguishing from such revelry the divine service, sings, Praise Him with the sound of trumpet; for with sound of trumpet He shall raise the dead. Praise Him on the psaltery; for the tongue is the psaltery of the Lord. And praise Him on the lyre. By the lyre is meant the mouth struck by the Spirit, as it were by a plectrum. Praise with the timbrel and the dance, refers to the Church meditating on the resurrection of the dead in the resounding skin. Praise Him on the chords and organ. Our body He calls an organ, and its nerves are the strings, by which it has received harmonious tension, and when struck by the Spirit, it gives forth human voices. Praise Him on the clashing cymbals. He calls the tongue the cymbal of the mouth, which resounds with the pulsation of the lips.

(Instructor 2:4)

Some of the Christians became so ascetic in their approach to music that they even refused to sing out loud and believed that the purest form of worship was only in the heart – this was the allegorical interpretation from the Alexandrian School at its worst. Nicetas of Remesiana, mentioned before in his On the Benefit of Psalmody, goes to great lengths to persuade his readers that verbal singing is biblical. When the Council of Laodicea met in AD 363-4 the leaders there decided to even ban congregational singing, which meant that the gap between the priests and church members became increasingly wide, and the congregations became onlookers, rather than participators.

Addendum

Addendum

Christian Liberty - Romans 14

Romans 14 Christian Liberty

Galatians 5:1 ¶ Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

1 Corinthians 10:23 ¶ All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not.

Verse By Verse

  1. “Him that is weak in faith” receive but not to “doubtful disputations”

Receive him that is weak in faith in tenderness and not engage him in arguements to his hurt concerning disputable matters.

  1. A) may **eat **all things B) (weak) **eateth **herbs.
  2. A) may not despise B) && visa versa => for God hath received him.
  3. Don’t judge another man’s servant => God is able to make him stand”
  4. C) esteemeth one day above another: D) every day alike. “Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind” => CONSCIENCE
  5. A) C) does it unto the Lord; and B) D) does it unto the Lord
  6. & 8) We do not LIVE or DIE unto “ourself” but “to the Lord”, we are the lord’s
  8. Christ is Lord both of the dead and living.
  9. Why do you judge your brother? = all shall stand before the judgment
  10. &= every tongue shall confess to God
  11. &= every one of us shall give account of himself to God.
  12. Judge not one another any more: but j**udge this rather,** that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother's way.
  13. there is nothing unclean of itself: him that esteemeth to him it is unclean/clean
  14. SCENARIO: if thy brother be grieved with thy meat, now walkest thou not charitably. Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died.
  15. Let not then your good be evil spoken of:
  16. For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
  17. For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men.
  18. follow after the things which make for peace and edify
  19. For meat destroy not the work of God. “All things indeed are pure” “it is evil for that man who eateth with offence”
  20. It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak.
  21. Hast thou faith? have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth.
  22. And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.

Overview

  1. MEAT & DRINK & … MUSIC ?

Where can we apply these?

Verses 6,7, & 8 can be applied to things that CAN be done unto the Lord” and (v.14,16) are not particularly clear elsewhere in Scripture.

Christians were no longer obligated to keep these laws, but neither were they commanded to forsake them

  1. Are we all using music “as unto the Lord”?

  2. Honestly choose our music as we will give an account to God.

  3. If you believe it is wrong, you should NOT listen to it! And DO NOT CAUSE OTHERS TO SIN.

  4. Respect each other’s views and CONSCIENCE. V.15 & v 20 For meat destroy not your brother or the work of God => The Gospel is Bigger and More Important than Our Disagreements

Addendum

Bibliography

Bibliography:

  1. http://www.bible-researcher.com/shafer1.html
  2. https://teach4theheart.com/the-biblical-response-to-the-christian-music-debate/
  3. https://www.ccel.org/ccel/ccel/eee/files/calvinps.htm John Calvin’s preface to “Psalter”
  4. https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/latest/guide-to-musical-modes/
  5. https://faculty.gordon.edu/hu/bi/ted_hildebrandt/otesources/19-psalms/text/books/thirtle-pstitles/thirtle-pstitles.pdf Titles of the Psalms and their Meanings
  6. http://lavistachurchofchrist.org/LVarticles/EarlyEnglishHymns.html The Young Person's Guide to the Hymnbook
Addendum

Media Links

Addendum

Music Quotes

MUSIC

MUSIC

 

 

Music should strike fire from the heart of man, and bring tears from the eyes of women.

-Beethoven

 

Music is well said to be the speech of angels. -Carlyle

 

Music is love in search of a word. -Lanier

 

Music is the universal language of mankind. -Longfellow

 

Music is the poetry of the air. -Richter

 

Singing is the highest expression of music because it is the most direct expression of the emotions of the soul. -Rogers

 

Our singing should be such that God hears it with pleasure-singing in which there is not so much art as heart, not so much of musical sound as of spiritual emotion. -Spurgeon

 

When your heart is full of Christ, you will want to sing. -Spurgeon

 

A friend once asked the great composer Haydn why his church music was always so full of gladness.  He answered: "I cannot make it otherwise.  I write according to the thoughts I feel.  When I think upon my God, my heart is so full of joy that the notes dance and leap from my pen; and since God has given me a cheerful heart, it will be pardoned me that I serve Him with a cheerful spirit." -Van Dyke

Addendum

Circle of Fifths

C

F

B

E

A

D

1-FRET

2-FRET

3-FRET

4-FRET

5-FRET

6-FRET

7-FRET

8-FRET

OPEN STRINGS

G

 

B

E

A

 

C

F

D

d

G

 

 

 

B

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

+

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

 

There Is Power In The Blood Key: G

Verse 1

G                          C         G  

Would you be free from the burden of sin?  

        D                   G  

There's power in the blood, power in the blood;  

                      C       G  

Would you oe'r evil a victory win?  

        D                      G  

There's wonderful power in the blood.  

 

G  

Power, Power,  

C              G  

Wonder-working power  

        D7           G  

In the blood of the Lamb;  

G  

Power, Power,  

C              G  

Wonder-working power  

       D7                    G

In the precious blood of the Lamb.

 

Verse 2

 

G                           C           G  

Would you be free from your passion and pride?

        D                   G  

There's power in the blood, power in the blood;

                        C         G  

Come for a cleansing to Calvary’s tide,

        D                      G  

There's wonderful power in the blood.  

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Addendum

What the Bible Says About Music

Scriptures on Music:

(Harp, harps, sing, song, singing, Psalter, trumpet, timbrel, etc)

Remember that narrative is not normative. The “SOUND” of music in the Bible is all but lost to us, but we can glean valuable insights from the descriptions and settings of music in the Bible.

Old Testament

1. Jubal

Genesis 4:21 — And his brother's name was Jubal: he was the father of all such as handle the harp and organ.

2. Moses 3 Songs

Deuteronomy 31:19,21,22 — Now therefore write ye this song for you, and teach it the children of Israel: put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel. 21 And it shall come to pass, when many evils and troubles are befallen them, that this song shall testify against them as a witness; for it shall not be forgotten out of the mouths of their seed: for I know their imagination which they go about, even now, before I have brought them into the land which I sware. 22 Moses therefore wrote this song the same day, and taught it the children of Israel.

Israel will in a time to come forget God, but this song that won't be forgotten by their children will stand as a witness to God's power and faithfulness.

… for it shall not be forgotten out of the mouths of their seed…

3. King David Instructed for the Appointment of Levites as Singers and Musicians

1 Chronicles 15:16 — And David spake to the chief of the Levites to appoint their brethren to be the singers with instruments of musick, psalteries and harps and cymbals, sounding, by lifting up the voice with joy.

1 Chronicles 23:5 — Moreover four thousand were porters; and four thousand praised the LORD with the instruments which I made, said David, to praise therewith.

4.

2 Chronicles 5:13 — It came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the LORD; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of musick, and praised the LORD, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the LORD;

  • Judges 11:34 jephthah's daughter timbrel and dance
  • 1 Samuel 18:6-7 David's victories
  • 1 Sam. 16:23; 18:10–11
  • 2 Samuel 23:1 "sweet psalmist of Israel"
  • 1 kings 4:32 Solomon wrote 2 psalms and 1005 other songs including Song of Solomon
  • 1 Kgs. 10:12
  • Josh 6:1-20 trumpets used at Jericho
  • Isaiah 6:3; Isaiah 30:29 “Ye shall have a song, as in the night” - Amos 5:2
  • Complacency: Amos 6:5 those at ease in Zion: “chant to the sound of the viol [lyre?], and invent to themselves instruments of musick, like David;”
  • Job 38:7 When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? (music is part of the created order)
  • Matthew 9:23 mourning
  • Luke 1:46-55 Canticle: Mary's. Magnificat
  • Luke 1:68-79 Canticle: Benedictus; Luke 2:14 Canticle:Gloria in Excelsis: Luke 2:29-22 Nunc Dimittis
  • Luke 15:25 celebration
  • Acts 16:25 - romans 11:33-35;
  • 1 Corinthians 13:1; 14:14,15,2
  • Ephesians 5:14,19 phil 2:6-11
  • Colossians 1:15-20; 3:16 - 1 Timothy 1:1
  • Hebrews 1:3; 2:12 “in the assembly”
  • James 5:13 sing praise if joyful
  • Revelation 4:8; 5:13, 7,15
  • Revelation 14:3,4
  • Psalm 105:2 “his wondrous works”
  • Psalm 57:7 MY HEART IS FIXED (prepared, established, stable) === I will sing and give praise
  • Scriptures “SONG” and “HEART”:
    • Ps 28:7 “with my song will I praise him”
    • Ps 77:6 “my song in the night”
    • Ps 108:1 ”I will sing and give praise, even with my glory”
  • “JOYFUL NOISE”
    • Ps 66:1; 81:1 ; Ps 95:1; Ps 95:2 ; Ps 98:4; Ps 98:6 ; Ps 100:1
    • Psalm 145:3 It is pleasant
  • Unto the Lord
    • Psalm 71:23 “ My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing unto thee”
    • Psalm 101:1
  • Decently and In Order 1 Cor. 14:40
  • Instruments
    • Psalm 49:4; Harb
    • Psalm 150 trumpet, harp, lyre,timbrel,strings,pipe. Cymbals
    • Psalm 98:1-7
    • Psalm 40:3 <= from God
    • Romans 14 Christian Liberty and Judgment & CHURCH