The Spring Warrior Church of Christ doesn’t use musical instruments in worship to God; we just sing. To many folks in the religious world, that’s something new and unusual. But did you know that for centuries after Christ’s time, Christians just sang in their worship assemblies? It is playing instruments that is relatively "new." Don’t take my word for it; listen to the voice of historians.
Donald Grout in History of Western Music, a standard music history textbook: "Hymn singing is the earliest recorded musical activity of the Christian Church" (13).
Emil Nauman in The History of Music: "There can be no doubt that originally the music of the divine service was everywhere entirely of a vocal nature" (I, 177).
Paul Henry Lang in Music in Western Civilization: "The development of Western music was decisively influenced by the exclusion of musical instruments from the early Christian Church" (53-54).
The New Oxford History of Music: "The Christian community held the same view, as we know from the apostolic and post-apostolic literature: instrumental music was thought unfit for religious services; the Christian sources are quite outspoken in their condemnation of instrumental performances" ("The Music of Post-Biblical Judaism", I, 135).
Lars Qualben in A History of the Christian Church: "Singing formed an essential part of the Christian Worship, but it was in unison and without instrumental accompaniment" (112).
The Catholic Encyclopedia: "The first Christians were of too spiritual a fibre to substitute lifeless instruments for or use them to accompany the human voice. Clement of Alexandria severely condemns the use of instruments even at Christian banquets . . ." (X, 651). "For almost a thousand years, Gregorian chant without any instrumental or harmonic addition, was the only music used in connection with the liturgy" (X, 657).
The New Catholic Encyclopedia: "The rejection of all musical instruments for Christian worship is consistent among the Fathers [early Christian writers]. They were associated with pagan, orgiastic rites" ("History of Sacred Music", X, 106).
Voices and Instruments in Christian Worship, published by The Liturgical Press: "From the standpoint of ritual action, liturgical music can only be monodic and vocal. Throughout nearly ten centuries of its history, Christian worship was in principle, and nearly always in fact, celebrated una voce ["one voice"— unanimously] and a capella [without instrumental accompaniment, lit. "as the chapel"]. . . . The abundance and clearness of the texts in which the Fathers of the Church have discussed the questions can leave us in no doubt about the content and firmness of their teaching: musical instruments are to be excluded from the worship of the New Alliance" (142, 150).
The Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia: "There is no record in the NT of the use of instruments in the music worship of the church. In this regard, early believers followed the practice of the Hebrew synagogue music" ("Music", 1163).
John Giradeau, professor at Columbia Theological Seminary (Presbyterian USA): "The church, although lapsing more and more into defection from the truth and into a corruption of apostolic practice, had no instrumental music for 1200 years . . . The Calvinistic Reformed Church ejected it from its services as an element of Popery [Roman Catholicism], even the Church of England having come very nigh to its extrusion from her worship. It is heresy in the sphere of worship . . . The historical argument, therefore, combines with the Scriptural and the Confessional to raise a solemn and powerful protest against its employment" (Instrumental Music, 179).
Why is all of this important?
God’s word. History in itself is no authority for religious practice, but these statements do indicate what Christians for centuries understood God’s instructions to be. The New Testament tells us to sing praises to Him (see Colossians 3:16). History shows that early Christians did just that — they sang. Instrumental music of any sort was not used in worship for several hundred years after New Testament times. Why? More importantly, why has it come to be so widely used now? What has changed — God’s will or man’s attitude toward it?
Next week we’ll look at what some early religious writers had to say about musical instruments in worship.
Donald Grout in History of Western Music, a standard music history textbook: "Hymn singing is the earliest recorded musical activity of the Christian Church" (13).
Emil Nauman in The History of Music: "There can be no doubt that originally the music of the divine service was everywhere entirely of a vocal nature" (I, 177).
Paul Henry Lang in Music in Western Civilization: "The development of Western music was decisively influenced by the exclusion of musical instruments from the early Christian Church" (53-54).
The New Oxford History of Music: "The Christian community held the same view, as we know from the apostolic and post-apostolic literature: instrumental music was thought unfit for religious services; the Christian sources are quite outspoken in their condemnation of instrumental performances" ("The Music of Post-Biblical Judaism", I, 135).
Lars Qualben in A History of the Christian Church: "Singing formed an essential part of the Christian Worship, but it was in unison and without instrumental accompaniment" (112).
The Catholic Encyclopedia: "The first Christians were of too spiritual a fibre to substitute lifeless instruments for or use them to accompany the human voice. Clement of Alexandria severely condemns the use of instruments even at Christian banquets . . ." (X, 651). "For almost a thousand years, Gregorian chant without any instrumental or harmonic addition, was the only music used in connection with the liturgy" (X, 657).
The New Catholic Encyclopedia: "The rejection of all musical instruments for Christian worship is consistent among the Fathers [early Christian writers]. They were associated with pagan, orgiastic rites" ("History of Sacred Music", X, 106).
Voices and Instruments in Christian Worship, published by The Liturgical Press: "From the standpoint of ritual action, liturgical music can only be monodic and vocal. Throughout nearly ten centuries of its history, Christian worship was in principle, and nearly always in fact, celebrated una voce ["one voice"— unanimously] and a capella [without instrumental accompaniment, lit. "as the chapel"]. . . . The abundance and clearness of the texts in which the Fathers of the Church have discussed the questions can leave us in no doubt about the content and firmness of their teaching: musical instruments are to be excluded from the worship of the New Alliance" (142, 150).
The Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia: "There is no record in the NT of the use of instruments in the music worship of the church. In this regard, early believers followed the practice of the Hebrew synagogue music" ("Music", 1163).
John Giradeau, professor at Columbia Theological Seminary (Presbyterian USA): "The church, although lapsing more and more into defection from the truth and into a corruption of apostolic practice, had no instrumental music for 1200 years . . . The Calvinistic Reformed Church ejected it from its services as an element of Popery [Roman Catholicism], even the Church of England having come very nigh to its extrusion from her worship. It is heresy in the sphere of worship . . . The historical argument, therefore, combines with the Scriptural and the Confessional to raise a solemn and powerful protest against its employment" (Instrumental Music, 179).
Why is all of this important?
God’s word. History in itself is no authority for religious practice, but these statements do indicate what Christians for centuries understood God’s instructions to be. The New Testament tells us to sing praises to Him (see Colossians 3:16). History shows that early Christians did just that — they sang. Instrumental music of any sort was not used in worship for several hundred years after New Testament times. Why? More importantly, why has it come to be so widely used now? What has changed — God’s will or man’s attitude toward it?
Next week we’ll look at what some early religious writers had to say about musical instruments in worship.
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