https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/FindingLibertyInSilence.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n\tby Jeffrey W. Hamilton<\/p>\n\t
<\/p>\nI. It was one of those interesting coincidences. I received two correspondences dealing with\nseparate issues, but both seeking justification in the same manner.\n A. In attempting to justify the use of instrumental music, Gary Mattingly, a preacher\nfor the Christian Church wrote: “First and foremost, we must see that there is a\nfundamental difference in the hermeneutics (this is the interpretation of Scripture)\nbetween the two groups. The non-instrumental brethren see the ‘silence of the\nScripture’ to be prohibition. If the Scriptures do not have a ‘thus saith the Lord’\non a subject, then, to this group, we must not do it. They feel that the New\nTestament says nothing about instruments, therefore, they should be refused in\nworship. We, within the Christian Church \/ Church of Christ, use a hermeneutic\nthat says for the most part, if there is silence in Scripture, we can use liberty on the\nsubject. If the Scripture does not say ‘thou shalt use an instrument in worship,’ we\nfind this a liberty. We can use it or not use it. This is the underlying cause for our\ndifferences today in the instrumental issue. You must see this clearly before you\ncan talk about this further. This is a must to see!”\n B. In attempting to justify the operation of a dining hall in church buildings, James\nJohnson wrote to me saying, “I have no problem with a church building having any\nor all of the above [a long list which included kitchens and dining halls]. You,\nhowever, believe that anything we put into practice must have a ‘thus saith the\nLord.’ I say we are permitted to have all of the above because they have absolutely\nnothing to do regarding our salvation. … My point is, God gives the leadership of\nthe local church the latitude to decide or make decisions in discretionary or\njudgmental matters (Hebrews 13:17). It is fine for brethren to choose not to have a\ndining facility. It is, however, a false position when brethren, who do not have a\ndining facility, try to elevate their opinion to the level of law. Again, it is an\nopinion or judgment call because the Bible does not deal with having or not having\ndining facilities …” (sightly edited for spelling and grammar)\n
C. I found the similar vein of reasoning fascinating.<\/p>\n
1. Both state that their position is not found in the Bible.<\/p>\n 2. Both complain that their opposition demand a ‘thus saith the Lord’ which\nthey believe is unnecessary. \n 3. Both find the liberty to implement their practice in the silence of the\nScriptures.\n
II. The method of reasoning leaves the gate wide open for all sorts of innovations<\/p>\n
A. The Scripture is silent about making Groundhog Day a religious holiday. <\/p>\n 1. Should we find liberty in the Scripture’s silence to add a holy day to our\ncalendar?\n 2. The Bible is just as silent about Easter and Christmas as it is about\nGroundhog Day, yet most denominations find the latitude to add these\ncelebrations, which in their mind have absolutely nothing to do with our\nsalvation.\n B. Come to think of it, where can I find the Catholic practices of the papacy, the\npriesthood, the confessional booth, the burning of incense, lighting candles, the\ncounting of beads, or infant baptism?\n 1. Even the Catholic Catechism acknowledges that these practices did not\nexist during the time the Bible was written.\n 2. Why do these men who desire instrumental music or dining facilities\noppose these Catholic practices if the silence of the Scriptures gives liberty.\nWould they say that their opposition is elevating an opinion to the level of\nlaw?\n
C. Observe the phrase Gary Mattingly used “for the most part”<\/p>\n
1. Even Mr. Mattingly realizes there must be a limit to the liberty he claims.<\/p>\n
2. The problem is that his limits are arbitrarily placed. <\/p>\n
a. The things I want is liberty<\/p>\n
b. The things you want is prohibited<\/p>\n
III. God is not silent about the silence found in His Law<\/p>\n A. Jesus instructed his disciples to teach all things that he had commanded them –\nMatthew 28:20\n
B. Whatever is done, must be done with the Lord’s approval – Colossians 3:17<\/p>\n
1. In other words, whatever we do we must have a ‘thus saith the Lord.’<\/p>\n
C. Warnings about exceeding what was taught<\/p>\n 1. Paul warned brethren to mark those who work contrary to the doctrine we\nhad learned – Romans 16:17\n a. The word “contrary” is from the Greek word para<\/i> which in this\ncase means going beyond the limits.\n
b. The limits are the things which we have learned.<\/p>\n
2. A similar warning is given in I Corinthians 4:6<\/p>\n
3. II John 9 <\/p>\n
a. Transgresses – goes beyond the limits<\/p>\n
b. Does not abide – does not stay within the limits<\/p>\n
c. What are the limits? The teachings or doctrines of Christ<\/p>\n
D. We must stay within the things taught to us by the Apostles – II Thessalonians 2:16<\/p>\n
1. No one knows the mind of God, but God himself – I Corinthians 2:9-11<\/p>\n
2. We cannot presume to know something that God has not revealed.<\/p>\n 3. Robert Richardson once wrote, “The silence of the Bible is to be\nreverenced equally with its teachings, and that to intrude into things not\nseen and not revealed, evinces that vanity of a fleshly mind as much as to\nmisinterpret and pervert the express statements of the Scriptures.”\n 4. When man takes the opportunity to add to God’s word because God was\nsilent on a matter, he alters the meaning of what God has said – Galatians\n1:6-10.\n E. Take a look at the Jewish Christians who went out teaching that the Old Law was\nstill binding – Acts 15:24\n 1. They were not rebuked because the apostles told them not to teach these\nthings.\n
2. They were rebuked because they were given no such commandment.<\/p>\n 3. In other words, the apostles were silent on the matter and that silence was\na prohibition!\n F. While we are not under the Old Testament laws, still there are things we can learn\nfrom them – Romans 15:4\n 1. When God gave laws, they were not to be altered by men – Deuteronomy\n4:2; 5:32-33; 12:32\n 2. What is a person doing when they use the silence of God to authorize a\npractice?\n
a. They are adding to God’s word<\/p>\n b. If they did something God told them not to do, then they would be\nbreaking a commandment. In other words, they would be removing\nthat commandment’s authority, or subtracting from God’s word.\n c. The prohibition from adding to God’s word was a commandment to\nrespect the silence of God!\n
3. Proverbs 30:6 – Do not add to God’s word<\/p>\n 4. A person who does not speak according to this word, it is because they\nlack righteousness – Isaiah 8:20\n
G. This is why Peter told us to speak as God spoke – I Peter 4:11<\/p>\n
1. How does a person speak as God?<\/p>\n 2. By limiting his words to the words of God – neither adding things that God\nhas not said nor removing things that God has said.\nIV. A person who justifies an action by the silence of God implies that God did not tell us\neverything we need to do to live righteously.\n A. The additions are call righteous, but they are not found between the covers of the\nNew Testament. Therefore, they are saying there are righteous things outside of\nthe Bible.\n B. Yet Paul said that Scriptures contain everything to make a man completely\nequipped to do every good work – II Timothy 3:16-17\n C. Peter said that God has given us everything pertaining to life and godliness – II\nPeter 1:3\n
D. If it is not in the Scriptures, then:<\/p>\n
1. It is not related to godliness.<\/p>\n
2. It doesn’t pertain to a godly life<\/p>\n
3. It is not a good work in God’s sight<\/p>\n
4. In other words, it is a sin!<\/p>\n E. We can only make a choice in matters when God gives us a choice. We cannot\nclaim the right to choose for ourselves.\nV. Long have we used the claim “We will speak where the Bible speaks and be silent where\nthe Bible is silent.” Let us continue to respect the silence of God.\n
\n
\nFirst and foremost, we must see that there is a\nfundamental difference in the hermeneutics (this\nis the interpretation of Scripture) between the\ntwo groups. The non-instrumental brethren see\nthe ‘silence of the Scripture’ to be prohibition. If\nthe Scriptures do not have a ‘thus saith the Lord’\non a subject, then, to this group, we must not do\nit. They feel that the New Testament says\nnothing about instruments, therefore, they\nshould be refused in worship. We, within the\nChristian Church \/ Church of Christ, use a\nhermeneutic that says for the most part, if there\nis silence in Scripture, we can use liberty on the\nsubject. If the Scripture does not say ‘thou shalt\nuse an instrument in worship,’ we find this a\nliberty. We can use it or not use it. This is the\nunderlying cause for our differences today in the\ninstrumental issue. You must see this clearly\nbefore you can talk about this further. This is a\nmust to see!\nGary Mattingly<\/p>\n
\n
\nI have no problem with a church building having\nany or all of the above [a long list which\nincluded kitchens and dining halls]. You,\nhowever, believe that anything we put into\npractice must have a ‘thus saith the Lord.’ I say\nwe are permitted to have all of the above\nbecause they have absolutely nothing to do\nregarding our salvation. … My point is, God\ngives the leadership of the local church the\nlatitude to decide or make decisions in\ndiscretionary or judgmental matters (Hebrews\n13:17). It is fine for brethren to choose not to\nhave a dining facility. It is, however, a false\nposition when brethren, who do not have a\ndining facility, try to elevate their opinion to the\nlevel of law. Again, it is an opinion or judgment\ncall because the Bible does not deal with having\nor not having dining facilities …\nJames Johnson (slightly edited)<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton I. It was one of those interesting coincidences. I received two correspondences dealing with separate issues, but both seeking justification in the same manner. A. In attempting to justify the use of instrumental music, Gary Mattingly, a preacher for the Christian Church wrote: “First and foremost, we must see that there is…<\/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":[119,32],"tags":[78,292,192,912],"class_list":["post-62453","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-audio","category-sermon","tag-authority","tag-instrumental-music","tag-liberalism","tag-silence"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":31932,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/where-is-the-scripture\/","url_meta":{"origin":62453,"position":0},"title":"Where Is the Scripture?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 12, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jefferson David Tant In discussions about the Bible and various practices and beliefs of members of churches of Christ, sometimes, the question is asked, \"Where does the Bible say that's wrong?\" Various practices prompt the question, with it often being asked concerning the use of instrumental music in our\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\/2019\/10\/scan0006_tif-251x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":46630,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/who-started-the-argument-from-silence\/","url_meta":{"origin":62453,"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":45566,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-silence-argument\/","url_meta":{"origin":62453,"position":2},"title":"The Silence Argument","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 20, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"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\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":62453,"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":34456,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/learning-from-the-history-of-the-instrumental-music-controversy-among-brethren\/","url_meta":{"origin":62453,"position":4},"title":"Learning from the History of the Instrumental Music Controversy Among Brethren","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 23, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"by Mark Roberts Could one issue really divide brethren who claimed allegiance to the idea of just going by the Bible, doing Bible things in Bible ways, and following the Bible alone? As the Civil War finally came to its end and life began to return to normal in the\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":14713,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/where-in-the-bible-is-instrumental-music-forbidden\/","url_meta":{"origin":62453,"position":5},"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. 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