by Jeffrey W. Hamilton<\/p>\n\tI. As we look at the denominations around us, we find that the vast majority use musical\ninstruments in their worship services.\n A. Oddly, we don’t. Why not? What harm would there be in using them? Why can’t\nwe be like those around us?\n
B. I heard a similar reasoning before – I Sam. 8:4-7. We want a king like everyone else.<\/p>\n
C. Following the crowd is not enough reason.<\/p>\n
II. What kind of music did God ask for?<\/p>\n
A. New Testament music<\/p>\n
1. Matt 26:30 – They sung a hymn, Mark 14:26<\/p>\n
2. Acts 16:25 – Paul and Silas sang in jail<\/p>\n
3. Rom. 15:9 – I will sing to your name<\/p>\n
4. I Cor. 14:15 – I will sing with spirit and understanding<\/p>\n
5. Eph. 5:19 – Sing and make melody to the Lord<\/p>\n
6. Col. 3:16 – Sing with grace in your hearts to God<\/p>\n
7. Heb. 2:12 – I will sing Christ’s praise in the congregation<\/p>\n
8. James 5:13 – If you are cheerful, sing praise<\/p>\n B. There are no verses indicating that the New Testament church used instrumental\nmusic\n
III. What kind of music did the early church use?<\/p>\n A. These Biblical verses should be sufficient, but it sometimes we can affirm what we\nknow is true through history.\n B. Instrumental Music in the Worship, M.C. Kurfees, 1950 – “We know that\ninstruments preformed an important function in the Hebrew temple service and in the\nceremonies of the Greeks. At this point, however, a break was made with all\nprevious practice, and although the lyre and flute were sometimes employed by the\nGreek converts, as a general rule the use of instruments in worship were condemned. \nMany of the fathers, speaking of religious song, make no mention of instruments;\nothers, like Clement of Alexandria and St. Chrysostom, refer to them only to\ndenounce them.”\n C. The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, Samuel Macauley\nJackson – “Because the organ was a means of enjoyment by society in general, its use\nwas rejected in early Christian circles.”\n D. A History of the Christian Church, Lars P. Qualben – “Singing formed an essential\npart of the Christian worship, but it was in unison and without musical\naccompaniment.”\n E. Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature, John M’Clintock –\nDuring later periods, “neither Ambrose, nor Basil, nor Chrysostom in the noble\nencomiums which they severally pronounced upon music make any mention of\ninstrumental music. Basil indeed, expressly condemns it as ministering only to the\ndepraved passions of men . . . Even Gregory the Great, who towards the end of the\nsixth century added greatly to the existing church music, absolutely prohibited the\nuse of instruments.”\n F. Do we see a pattern here? The fact that the New Testament was silent on the matter\nof instruments was taken as a commandment by early Christians to forbid the use of\nmusical instruments in worship.\n
IV. So why is it used today?<\/p>\n A. Various attempts are mentioned in history at introducing musical instruments into\nthe worship.\n 1. The earliest mention attempt was by Clement in Alexandria during the\nsecond century where he suggested substituting the harp to prevent the use of\nthe wordly sounding flute. As the earlier quotes show, this move was\nrejected by the church as a whole.\n 2. “Pope Vitalian is related to have introduced organs into some of the churches\nin Southern Europe about A.D. 670, …” Pepin, the king of the Franks, then\nplaced one into the Church of St. Corneille at Compeigne and Charlemagne\nhad one installed at Aix-la-Chapelle. Upon its introduction, it nearly\nthreatened division in the Roman Catholic Church, so it was removed to\npreserve the unity of the church.\n 3. It was later introduced a second time and the objections were ignored and\noverridden.\n B. What is the Church of Christ?, V.E. Howard – “In the Greek church, the organ never\ncame into use [though it has been added recently], but after the eighth century it\nbecame common in the Latin church, not, however, without opposition form the side\nof the Monks — the reform church discarded it; and though the church of Basil very\nearly introduced it, it was in other places admitted only sparingly and after long\nhesitations.”\n
C. Notice the introduction was gradual, having to overcome many objections.<\/p>\n D. Jackson – “Smaller organs were at first employed before singing classes, especially in\ncloisters, to fix the correct tune.”\n E. “It was used in the churches, first, to give the key-tone, then to accompany vocal\nmusic alternatively, and finally also to prefix a prelude a hymn.”\n
V. History repeats itself<\/p>\n A. “In the Dallas Morning News of June 3, 1995, an article by Helen Parmley reported\nthat many churches of Christ are interjecting mechanical music into their worship\nassemblies. An interview with the ‘Music Minister of the Farmer’s Branch Church\nof Christ’ revealed that this church has begun the use of mechanical instruments of\nmusic in their worship.\n“This article also reported that other churches of Christ in the Dallas area have begun\nusing mechanical music in their special programs but have not moved them into the\nworship assemblies for fear of alienating older, more traditional thinking members. \nThe music director of another large Dallas church, who asked not to be named, said,\n‘We are moving ahead. The banning of musical instruments is more of a\ntradition than something based on Scripture.’\n B. Does this sound familiar? Does it sound like a repeat of the actions taken during the\nseventh century?\n
VI. Is accapella singing, which by the way means “in the style of the church”, just a tradition?<\/p>\n A. We noted at the beginning that the only style of music mentioned in the New\nTestament in connection with worship is singing.\n
B. The Bible claims to contain every good work – II Tim. 3:16-17, II Pet. 1:3.<\/p>\n
C. The Bible warns us to prove all things and all people – I Thess. 5:21-22, I John 4:1<\/p>\n
D. The Bible tells us to speak only as God would have us speak – I Pet. 4:11<\/p>\n