by Wayne Jackson<\/p>\n
One of the strongest arguments against the use of instrumental music in Christian worship is the “silence” principle. This is the concept that when God is silent about a matter, man is not at liberty to “presume”, and so to act without divine authority. There is no New Testament authority for the use of instrumental music in Christian worship.<\/p>\n
Is the “silence” argument valid? Yes, it is. On many occasions in the Old Testament period, the Hebrews were prohibited from engaging in various forms of worship which God had “commanded not” (cf. Leviticus 10:1; Deuteronomy 17:3; Jeremiah 7:31).<\/p>\n
Additionally, the writer of the book of Hebrews plainly says that Jesus could not function as a priest while on earth (Hebrews 8:4) because the Lord was from the tribe of Judah, and the law “spake nothing” (i.e., was silent) regarding priests from Judah (Hebrews 7:14).<\/p>\n
For many years the Independent Christian Church has ridiculed this argument. These folks allege that silence is not prohibitive. One of the leaders of the movement is Given O. Blakely. In a recent issue of Banner of Truth (July 1996), Blakely addressed the matter.<\/p>\n
“God’s silence is not a governing factor in matters pertaining to life and godliness. The whole idea of ‘silence,’ as those of the anti-instrumentalist position have used the term, requires the interpretation of fallible men. If God did not say it, then how can we be sure that men have said what He meant, but did not say? How dare mortal men to take upon themselves to thus unauthorizedly speak for God?”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Here is Blakely’s point. We cannot use the “silence” argument, because God is silent about the silence argument. If God is silent about this form of argument, then it is unauthorized, and we dare not use it. That is the epitome of inconsistency.<\/p>\n
What shall be our response? In the first place, as indicated above, God has not been silent about the “silence” principle. One must not go beyond that which has been written (I Corinthians 4:6; II John 9).<\/p>\n
Secondly, what sort of logic is the gentleman using? If one dare not employ the “silence” argument because the Scripture is silent about this sort of reasoning (and thus it is unauthorized) then, by the same token, one dare not use the instrument in Christian worship, because the New Testament is silent concerning the instrument, and thus it is unauthorized. Surely our friend needs to reconsider his position regarding the “silence” principle.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Wayne Jackson One of the strongest arguments against the use of instrumental music in Christian worship is the “silence” principle. This is the concept that when God is silent about a matter, man is not at liberty to “presume”, and so to act without divine authority. There is no New Testament authority for the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[37,78,36,912],"class_list":["post-45566","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-apologetics","tag-authority","tag-reasoning","tag-silence"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":14713,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/where-in-the-bible-is-instrumental-music-forbidden\/","url_meta":{"origin":45566,"position":0},"title":"Where in the Bible Is Instrumental Music Forbidden?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 2, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jerry Fite Nowhere in the Bible does God explicitly forbid the use of instrumental music in worship. Some find implicit condemnation in Amos 6:1-5, where the prophet writes, \"they invent for themselves instruments of music, like David.\" But upon a closer contextual examination, one must conclude that the self-indulgent\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":46630,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/who-started-the-argument-from-silence\/","url_meta":{"origin":45566,"position":1},"title":"Who Started The Argument From Silence?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 7, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"by Paul Earnhart The students of John L. Girardeau, professor at Columbia Seminary, South Carolina in the 1880s, asked him to explain to them why he opposed the use of instrumental music in the worship of the Presbyterian churches. In response, he wrote a book that was published in Richmond,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Girardeau-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":37972,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/arguments-i-used-for-the-use-of-instrumental-music\/","url_meta":{"origin":45566,"position":2},"title":"Arguments I Used for the Use of Instrumental Music","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 15, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"(When I Was a Preacher for the Christian Church) by Dan Goddard Men have long been prone to go beyond the limitations of God's word in their zeal to serve Jehovah. Zeal for God is commendable when it is coupled with a knowledge of God's will; but when one allows\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":29060,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-are-you-using-the-argument-from-silence-differently-between-the-topics-of-masturbation-and-instrumental-music\/","url_meta":{"origin":45566,"position":3},"title":"Why are you using the argument from silence differently between the topics of masturbation and instrumental music?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 28, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I hope all is well! I just wanted to say that I felt your advice, backed up by Scripture, has been helpful. I'm a 23-year-old male and struggled with masturbation (without fantasizing or porn), wondering if it is a sin or not. This is an on-again\/off-again matter and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":31852,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/biblical-authority-and-the-silence-of-the-scriptures-does-it-allow-or-disallow\/","url_meta":{"origin":45566,"position":4},"title":"Biblical Authority and the Silence of the Scriptures: Does it Allow or Disallow?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 10, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jefferson David Tant For hundreds of years, believers in the Bible have discussed the question of \"the silence of the Scriptures.\" Does silence indicate a lack of authority, and thus whatever is not specifically condemned is permissible? Or does silence mean there is no authority for whatever practice is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":24166,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-one-permitted-to-interpret-gods-commandments-to-bolster-ones-point-of-view\/","url_meta":{"origin":45566,"position":5},"title":"Is one permitted to interpret God’s commandments to bolster one’s point of view?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 31, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I came across your web site and find it interesting that We are not to add to or take away from God\u2019s commandments. and God also sanctioned self-defense as we read of the young David slaying both lion and bear in defense of his flock in I Samuel 17.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45566","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45566"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45566\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}