I'll just do a cut and paste if you don't mind.
ANOTHER LOOK AT INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC AND THE SILENCE OF THE SCRIPTURE
Copyright © 2003, by John Lankford, Fort Smith, Arkansas
[size=+1]In a previous article (
A Closer Look at the Silence of Scripture), an attempt was made to show that
"silence-in-context" is the correct approach to its understanding. This means that when statements are collected on a topic a
coherent picture may emerge that "explains" why some things are
not-mentioned. The emphasis is to FIRST get
positive facts and then interpret the silence from there. This contrasts with the
automatic use of silence to either allow or forbid something separate from its context (see Note 1 below).
First, the issue of music in worship must be understood in the
context of the
design of the New Covenant as contrasted with the Old Covenant. The New Covenant will be
different than the Old Covenant as per worship (John 4:21ff). The
physical of the Old Covenant pointed to or stood for the
"true" of the New (Hebrews 10:1ff). In particular, the Temple of the Old Covenant has been
replaced by the bodies of Christians (1 Corinthians 6:19). Each person is the TRUE TEMPLE or "house of prayer" (Mark 11:17; 1 Thessalonians 5:17). And
in this NEW TEMPLE the Spirit of God dwells (1 Corinthians 3:16, 6:19; Acts 2:38). Now, just as the OLD Temple had
physical instruments of music
to accompany the singing/sacrifices (2 Chronicles 29:25ff; Psalm 150), these have been
replaced in the NEW TEMPLE with a NEW KIND of instrument to accompany the singing. It is the "vibrating strings" of the heart [Greek
psallo, translated "making melody" in Ephesians 5:19, basically means "to twang, to pluck, to vibrate," but
only the context tells what is to receive the action. In Ephesians 5:19, it is "
the heart," see R1, R2]. Hence, the text literally means "sing
accompanied by the vibrating strings of the heart" (note the instrument has changed from
physical to
spiritual). Also, this NEW TEMPLE is
mobile (a person) and continually carries with it all the
musical apparatus needed for daily worship (e.g., Acts 16:25). When all the pieces are put together, it shows that the simplicity of the NEW TEMPLE is by DIVINE DESIGN. Hence, it should not be modified. (Deuteronomy 4:2; Hebrews 8:5; 1 Corinthians 4:7).
Second, in the Old Covenant musical instruments in worship were
clearly stated as being a part of the will of God (2 Chronicles 29:25ff; Psalm 150). When writing Ephesians 5:19, Greek words in New Testament times to
clearly signify playing on a physical instrument are
kitharizo,
auleo, or
kreko. If singing is to be accompanied by a physical instrument, then the words were available to convey this idea succinctly. For example, in 1 Corinthians 14:7, Paul selected the word
auleo to indicate "to play a flute" (see R3). Hence,
Paul's word selection and phrasing in Ephesians 5:19 is
significant because it points toward pure vocal music instead of singing accompanied by a man-made instrument.
Third, in contrast to the special priesthood of the Old Covenant,
now all Christians are priests and have sacrifices to offer (1 Peter 2:5). But the sacrifices in Old Covenant worship have been
replaced by a NEW KIND of sacrifice (1 Peter 2:5). The entire life is offered (Romans 12:1) and includes
sacrifices of praise which are
specifically the
"fruit of lips" (Hebrews 13:15) . Singing precisely fulfills this (Colossians 3:16; 1 Corinthians 14:15) but instrumental music cannot. This can account for its absence in the New Testament record.
Fourth, in Ephesians 5:15-20
pagan practice is contrasted with
Christian practice and the vocal nature of New Covenant music is clearly seen. The comments by the scholarly Conybeare and Howson of the Church of England state in their
Life and Epistles of St. Paul (vol II, p. 408) "the whole passage is a
contrast between heathen and Christian practice ... not in fullness of wine but fullness of Spirit ... not the ... songs of heathen feasts but psalms and hymns ... not the
music of the lyre, but melody in the heart ... praises not of Bacchus or Venus but Jesus." In this case, instrumental music is
identified with paganism and not
Christian worship. That Christian practice should not be stained by the pagan world is the point (see also James 1:17; Romans 12:2). Therefore, from a view of
its association with paganism, musical instruments would be expected to be absent from Christian worship.
Notice that points 1-4 each approach the subject from
different viewpoints but they tie together and reinforce each other. This
interweaving makes firm the
emergent picture of "just singing" being the music style of the New Covenant (see R5).
TESTING 1, 2, 3 ...
A good test of any idea is its ability to explain. How does the picture above fare in this regard?
- It fully explains the silence of the New Testament materials on musical instruments in early church worship on earth (see R5).
- It best explains why "just singing" was the norm for early church writers and instruments were denounced (see R3, R4).
- It best explains the long interval of time before musical instrumentals were introduced into worship [10th century according to E. Coffman, the Christian History analyst for Christianity Today (see R7). Others say Pope Vitalian (circa 660)]. [Note: the Greek Orthodox Church still omits musical instruments (see R2).]
- It best explains why learned men throughout church history (Knox, Calvin, Zwingli, etc.), who differ in many areas, all unite in stating that musical instruments are out of place in Christian worship (see R9).
- It best explains why phrase "A Cappella" is known by music historians as a one-word history lesson of early church music. (Dr. William M. Green, Professor of Classical Languages, University of California, Berkeley.)
Note above how "silence" is
not the main argument, it only
corroborates a design that is
actually revealed in Scripture.
SUMMARY / CONCLUSION / APPLICATION
By using a clinical, historical approach it has been shown that (1) a
coherent picture emerges that shows that the music style of the New Covenant is purely vocal, (2) that scriptural statements viewing worship from different perspectives all tie together to reinforce this picture, and (3) this picture
best explains the silence of the New Testament and other early Christian writings on using instruments in worship. Hence, the
cumulative weight of testimony is very solid. Therefore, we should
follow the direction the evidence points and this rightfully excludes musical instruments (see Note 2 below).
End Notes
- Note 1 -- Often the approach is just to list all the passages that mention singing and then say there is no mention of instruments, so they are therefore excluded. This illustrates the "automatic" use of silence to exclude a matter. We believe that this is a faulty use of silence.
Note 2 -- It seems that those who allow the use of a musical instrument (a) have honestly not seen/heard how the total testimony weighs against it, (b) heard it denounced by a faulty use of silence, or (c) they simply intend to follow their own wants and the facts are immaterial. Within Churches of Christ it seems that (a) and (b) are the dominant factors.
Recommended further study (all available in the West-Ark Church of Christ library or online)
- R1) "Psallo" defined by standard lexicons (www.studylight.org/lex/grk). Also see Kittel, TDNT Vol. 8, p. 490ff.
- R2) Letter from Greek Orthodox Church official that translates/explains Ephesians 5:19 according to the original Greek in context.
- R3) A Cappella Music (Dr. Everett Ferguson, world-recognized authority on early Christianity).
- R4) Music in Early Christian Literature (Dr. James McKinnon, Distinguished Professor of Music, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill).
- R5) Why Don't We Use Musical Instruments in Worship? (Dr. Michael Cole uses a different approach in this article that further solidifies the idea that "just singing" is the New Testament design.)
- R6) Instrumental Music and New Testament Worship (Dr. J.D. Bales)
- R7) When Was Instrumental Music First Used? (Elesha Coffman, www.christianitytoday.com)
- R8) Worship Concepts (sermon by David Chadwell)
- R9) What did early Christians believe about using instrumental music in worship? (Collection of statements, www.bible.ca./H-music.htm)
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