Christians and Music Christians and Music Introduction Section 1: Purposes and Intentions of Music Section 2: Effects and Performance of Music Section 3: Lyrics and Message of Music Section 4: Context of 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. Praise can be Perfected and Should be Perfected. 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: "Where is the path?" and "Where is line?" Are Christians improving in their ability to use music to the glory of God or are we getting worse at it? What should we change? What should we not change? Who is being effected? In what ways are they being effected? Am I okay with the answers to these questions? Have I become an unnecessary offense by my decisions regarding music? Do my current standards regarding music, make be a better a Christian? rimans 14:13 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 losing our identity and heritage worldliness and holiness- unworthy sacrifices god is concerned with reconciliation slippery slopes is it edifying or hurting us? whatprobkems? violence : volume- music and music is iften used gor motivseuon . tuning up our emotionsk state -chiices impacting worship and the fruit of our church I don't currently have a baseline or a standard. But it is coming to that. 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 It is an error to conclude we cannot make accurate universal judgments concerning music. There exists a standard for making right judgments concerning music. That standard is the nature of Christ. God is good and all that is is good is that which finds its source in Him. How do the sum of the parts of a musical work measure on the spectrum of 'perfect praise' in comparison to the glory of Christ? 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. Are the lyrics instructive of Biblical truth? Are we learning and/or teaching through the lyrics? Are the lyrics encouraging growth in discipleship? b. Its collective lyrics are sufficently broad. Unhealthy trends like, "Jeus is my boyfriend", "I,I,I", and "7/11 songs" are guilty of not just being silly, but minimalize the scope of the Gospel. If our library consists only of these, we are meditating on and sharing an incomplete Gospel at best. Christian music attempts to express: the height, depth and breadth of God (Ephesians 3:18) Do the lyrics make use of the full range of biblical imagery for God? the full scope of prayer: thanksgiving, meditation, confession, intercession, declaration, lamentation, dedication, etc. the panorama of Christian emphasis: we celebrate the birth, life, and ressurection of Jesus, we promote love and charity to all people, we believe God has ordained the famiy unit, we believe truth is absolute, we believe faith in God changes things, etc. the message of gospel as relevant to and for all generations — young and old. 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. Are soloists and choir effectively leading and supporting the congregation in its worship or are they merely displaying their virtuosity? Do the hymns and choruses we sing express the faith of the gathered community or do they tend toward individual and private expressions of faith? 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 Do both the mood and message of the music harmonize with Biblical thought? transcendental meditation electric guitsrs and drums- chrgistian mysic is spirtuusl. -what fi i feel? Here I stand I will endeavor to honor Christ in what i receive and make. I will not glorify or promote with my attention and resources what God has cursed. I will maintain my identity in Christ as a steward of my heritage. I will prefer to source my entertainment that is both Christ honoring and having origins that are Godly. I will guard aginst fellowshiping evil. I will seek to understand before I amen. I will continually educate my senses/conscience with the Word of God. Other Published Standards John Calvin's Preface to the Psalter: https://genevanpsalter.com/articles/calvin-intro/ A paper prepared by the Commission on Worship, Reformed Church in America: https://www.faithward.org/the-theology-and-place-of-music-in-worship/** 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 Questions and Arguments Hymns are only good -- old so its good Hymns are old and tired “How can you be upset about young people worshipping God in any capacity?” "Music is amoral" No such thing as an evil or immoral musical note Middle c lukewarm ?:) Locking a room vs locking the items in room vs valuation whats in the room. No minor only major sounds as trumpet has no half tones in bible music. “Now I’ve heard it said that Christians listen to CCM because it appeals to their flesh.” “Christian Music …. It is not a debate” "WORSHIP IN HEAVEN WILL BE REPRESENTATIVE OF EVERY CULTURE" ?? "Music in the N.T. is INCLUSIVE"" Re 5:9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; Re 14:6 ¶ And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, “Christian Liberty Argument” Romans 14 “I Enjoy it in the car, but it bothers me in church” Why bothered? Wrong? Unfamiliar? No preferences? “educate your conscience” means is that we need to continually be looking to the Bible to know what is right and wrong “God’s praise should be sung.” -- no instruments Instruments were also associated with secular music, and for most of ancient history those who played instruments were considered to be of a lower class. We should understand what we amen. Singing with Understanding. But the unique gift of man is to sing knowing that which he sings. (John Calvin) Instrumentals not used in "church of Christ" - no authority from God to do so. Human voice is central to new testament and not instruments Shibboleth Judges 12:6 Then said they unto him, Say now Shibboleth: and he said Sibboleth: for he could not frame to pronounce it right. Then they took him, and slew him at the passages of Jordan: and there fell at that time of the Ephraimites forty and two thousand. (Cultural Distinctions, "Christianity is a Culture") 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/ Should We Draw Lines? It is inherently devisive to make judgments. is this counterproductive or a cire part of following Christ? Quotes on Christians and Music Quotes on Music: 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. Augustin paraphrase.. music distracts me from the message Untrusting attitude of church toward music. Don't get crazy. John of Salisbury… in excess excite sensual but in order …The very service of the Church86 is defiled, in that before the face of the Lord, in the very sanctuary of sanctuaries, they, showing off [42] as it were, strive with the effeminate dalliance of wanton tones and musical phrasing to astound, enervate, and dwarf simple souls. When one hears the excessively caressing melodies of voices beginning, chiming in, carrying the air, dying away, rising again, and dominating, he may well believe that it is the song of the sirens and not the sound of men's voices; he may marvel at the flexibility of tone which neither the nightingale, the parrot, or any bird with greater range than these can rival. Such indeed is the ease of running up or down the scale, such the dividing or doubling of the notes and the repetitions of the phrases and their incorporation one by one; the high and very high notes are so tempered with low or somewhat low that one's very ears lose the ability to file:///D|/07%20AMH%201/3%20FD%20UNL/Licenciatura...of%20y,%20Policraticus,%20Books%201,%202,%203.htm (29 of 402)16-02-2005 20:08:22 John of Salisbury, Policraticus, Books 1, 2, 3 discriminate, and the mind, soothed by such sweetness, no longer has power to pass judgment upon what it hears. When this type of music is carried to the extreme it is more likely to stir lascivious sensations in the loins than devotion in the heart. But if it be kept within reasonable limits it frees the mind from care, banishes worry about things temporal, and by imparting joy and peace and by inspiring a deep love for God draws souls to association with the angels. Thomas Aquinas, in the introduction to his commentary on the Psalms, defined the Christian hymn thus: "Hymnus est laus Dei cum cantico; canticum autem exultatio mentis de aeternis habita, prorumpens in vocem." ("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.") “For even now, if believers choose to cheer themselves with musical instruments, they should, I think, make it their object not to dissever their cheerfulness from the praises of God. But when they frequent their sacred assemblies, musical instruments in celebrating the praises of God would be no more suitable than the burning of incense, the lighting up of lamps, and the restoration of the other shadows of the law. The Papists, therefore, have foolishly borrowed this, as well as many other things, from the Jews.” JOHN CALVIN John Chrysostom (347-407), Archbishop of Constantinople, wrote “that it [Psalm 63] was decreed and ordained by the primitive [church] fathers, that no day should pass without the public singing of this Psalm.” Charles H. Spurgeon said that, “This Psalm [Psalm 63] is peculiarly suitable for the bed of sickness, or in any constrained absence from public worship.” Matlbie Babcock’s “This is my Father's World” -- All nature sings, and round me rings, The music of the spheres. Karl Barth -- “The Christian church sings. It is not a choral society. Its singing is not a concert. But from inner, material necessity it sings. Singing is the highest form of human expression….What we can and must say quite confidently is that the church which does not sing is not the church. And where…it does not really sing but sighs and mumbles spasmodically, shamefacedly and with an ill grace, it can be at best only a troubled community which is not sure of its cause and of whose ministry and witness there can be no great expectation….The praise of God which finds its concrete culmination in the singing of the community is one of the indispensable forms of the ministry of the church.” John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion “the chief use of the tongue is in public prayers, which are offered in the assembly of the believers, by which it comes about that with one common voice, and as it were, with the same mouth, we all glorify God together, worshiping him with one spirit and the same faith” John Calvin, “we should be very careful that our ears be not more attentive to the melody than our minds to the spiritual meaning of the words….[S]uch songs as have been composed only for the sweetness and delight of the ear are unbecoming to the majesty of the church and cannot but displease God in the highest degree.” It is also important that the emotional power of music in worship be evocative rather than manipulative, honest rather than manufactured, and that the congregation’s singing allow for the full range of emotions in worship., https://www.faithward.org/the-theology-and-place-of-music-in-worship/ John Chrysostom- everything must be banished which recalls the culture of pagan gods and the songs of actors. 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 Isaac Watts, (born July 17, 1674, Southampton, Hampshire, England—died November 25, 1748, Stoke Newington, London), English Nonconformist minister, regarded as the father of English hymnody. One day, fifteen-year-old Isaac complained to his father over Sunday dinner about the lamentable singing. His father shouted, 'Give us something better, young man.' Already having written verses beginning at age 7, he turned his poetic tendencies loose in the religious field and wrote a hymn which was sung at the evening service. When I Survey The Wondrous Cross On which the Prince of glory died, My richest gain I count but loss, And pour contempt on all my pride. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30OaM6b48k8 "too much of the world" ecstatic, trance Christian Values Educational Distinct? 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 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 “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. A) may **eat **all things B) (weak) **eateth **herbs. A) may not despise B) && visa versa => for God hath received him. Don’t judge another man’s servant => God is able to make him stand” C) esteemeth one day above another: D) every day alike. “Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind” => CONSCIENCE A) C) does it unto the Lord; and B) D) does it unto the Lord & 8) We do not LIVE or DIE unto “ourself” but “to the Lord”, we are the lord’s Christ is Lord both of the dead and living. Why do you judge your brother? = all shall stand before the judgment &= every tongue shall confess to God &= every one of us shall give account of himself to God. 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. there is nothing unclean of itself: him that esteemeth to him it is unclean/clean SCENARIO: if thy brother be grieved with thy meat, now walkest thou not charitably. Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died. Let not then your good be evil spoken of: For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men. follow after the things which make for peace and edify For meat destroy not the work of God. “All things indeed are pure” “it is evil for that man who eateth with offence” 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. Hast thou faith? have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth. And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin. Overview 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 Are we all using music “as unto the Lord”? Honestly choose our music as we will give an account to God. If you believe it is wrong, you should NOT listen to it! And DO NOT CAUSE OTHERS TO SIN. 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 Bibliography Bibliography: http://www.bible-researcher.com/shafer1.html https://teach4theheart.com/the-biblical-response-to-the-christian-music-debate/ https://www.ccel.org/ccel/ccel/eee/files/calvinps.htm John Calvin’s preface to “Psalter” https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/latest/guide-to-musical-modes/ 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 http://lavistachurchofchrist.org/LVarticles/EarlyEnglishHymns.html The Young Person's Guide to the Hymnbook Media Links John Calvin's Introduction to his Psalter All about the The Geneva Psaltar https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulxmGx57CSA (Instrumental) Psalm 1 - Genevan Psalter 1539, In a setting by Claude Goudimel 1564 Music by Wally Brath https://youtu.be/MBV0tf_j6V4 Music Quotes MUSIC .cs95E872D0{text-align:left;text-indent:0pt;margin:0pt 0pt 0pt 0pt} .csAEEDF97E{color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:10pt;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;} 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 Circle of Fifths .cs2D2816FE{} .cs68F4CFFC{width:50.4pt;padding:0pt 5.4pt 0pt 5.4pt;border-top:1pt windowtext solid;border-right:1pt windowtext solid;border-bottom:1pt windowtext solid;border-left:1pt windowtext solid} .cs95E872D0{text-align:left;text-indent:0pt;margin:0pt 0pt 0pt 0pt} .cs2E86D3A6{text-align:center;text-indent:0pt;margin:0pt 0pt 0pt 0pt} .cs91EF8B52{color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:12pt;font-weight:bold;font-style:normal;} .csFEEEEB43{text-align:left;text-indent:0pt;margin:0pt 0pt 0pt 0pt;line-height:1.15} .cs3C4E84B{color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:28pt;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;} .csE1916116{color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-family:Wingdings;font-size:10pt;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;} .csAEEDF97E{color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:10pt;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;} .cs778DBFE2{text-align:left;text-indent:0pt;margin:5pt 0pt 5pt 0pt;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto} .cs821257DA{color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:16pt;font-weight:bold;font-style:normal;} .csDF125C2D{text-align:left;text-indent:0pt;margin:0pt 0pt 0pt 0pt;background-color:#FFFFFF} .csAC680346{color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-family:Courier New;font-size:16pt;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;} .cs58C3AB3E{text-align:left;text-indent:0pt;margin:0pt 0pt 0pt 0pt;line-height:16.8pt} .cs710D50FF{color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-family:Courier New;font-size:16pt;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration: underline;} C F B E A D 1-FRET2-FRET3-FRET4-FRET5-FRET6-FRET7-FRET8-FRET  OPEN STRINGS G B E A C F Dd 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. 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 a. Exodus 15 — God Delivered Israel from Egypt in Parting the Red Sea b. Deuteronomy 32:1-43 — God is that Rock of Our Salvation A Song as a Memorial Witness 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… c. Psalm 90 — From Everlasting to Everlasting, thou Art God. 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. 4000 out of 38,000 priests were singers or musicians — 1 in 10 Levites were singers or musicians. (1 Chronicles 23:4 38,000 priests;) Among the temple singers (a total of 4,000; see 23:5) were 288 specially skilled musicians. Included in these were twenty-four leaders (25:1-7). These 288 musicians were also divided into twenty-four groups that served in rotation. Their job was apparently to train and lead the section to which they were assigned (8-31). There wre more priests than necessary for the service of the tabernalce for most of the year so David divided the Levites into 24 different groups (1 Chronicles 23:7-19) that would serve for 2 weeks out of the year each. The last unnaccounted 4 weeks of the year all priests would be on duty ( Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles). 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