Jay Guin Defending Danny Corbitt and repudiating Dr.
Everett Ferguson
Jesus said that Jay Guin and Danny are not
Christians. Therefore they cannot read BLACK
TEXT on BROWN PAPER. [2 CORINTHIANS 3]
https://digitalcommons.acu.edu/sumlec_audio/644/
John 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which
believed on him,
IF ye continue in
my WORD, then are ye my disciples indeed;
God is WORD or LOGOS in the same sense that He is
LIGHT. The word became FLESH when Jesus spoke on
God's Word. Danny Corbitt rejects the CENI and is therefore
ANTI-Gpd and ANTI-CHRIST;
The proposal of Pausanias to restrict
the potations, in view of yesterday's banquet, and that of
Eryximachus to dismiss the flute-girl and amuse themselves
by logoi, are unanimously agreed
to. Then Eryximachus propounds an idea of Phaedrus,
logos , o(, verbal noun of
legomacr;
Opposite. kata pathos, Preacher's tales
Opposite human
reasoning
Opposite Music
Opposite
poetry
Opposite epagomacr;g-emacr; 2.
bringing in to one's AID, introduction, 4. allurement,
enticement b. incantation, spell,
Opposite. muthos, as history to
legend, prose, opp. poiêsis, Id.R.390a;
Opposite to emmetros opp. poiêtikê, D.H.Comp.6; opp. poiêmata, ib.15; koinakaipoiêmatônkailogôn
You will notice that Danny and everyone can
barely mention a WORD of Christ, much less compare various
statements.
As far as I can determine, most if not all literal and deadly
spiritual wars have been wages over HOW people WORSHIP.
They will lie, cheat and steal (Pharisees) the church family
of widows and honest wage earners so that they can stamp the
mark of the BEAST which is "a sudden, new style of music and
satyric (perverted) drama called worship OBSERVATIONS.
The Kingdom of Christ can never be present during
religious performances operations which are called Lying
Wonders.
It is a STRONG DELUSION that
God ever commanded a DAY for worship.
Hampton.Milton.Jones.Bill.Lawrence.html
Lucian Of
Samosata Milton Jones Proof for Psallo
Instrumental.Music.as.Religious.Sorcery.html
It is a STRONG DELUSION that God ever
commanded any action by the hands of men as worship.
Acts.17.25.God.Not.Worshipped.Mens.Hands.html
It is a STRONG DELUSION to claim that Jesus
died in vain unable to "supply all that applies to life
and godliness."
It is a STRONG DELUSION that God ever authorized ANY
FUNDING for any funded STAFF to ride on the backs of
widows
It is a STRONG DELUSION to claim that God commanded
SINGING with or without a Mechanical Device.
It is a STRONG DELUSION and a LIE that there is a Law of
Tithing or a Law of Giving
It
is the DEFINITION of a CULT to operate a center of
SANCTITY with command authority, controlling the member's
life several days during the week.
Review:
Danny
Corbitt: Missing More than Music
Review:
On
the word Psalmos
Review:
Danny
Corbitt
Denying
Justin
Martyr
Matt
Dabbs--Danny Corbitt Ripening Issues
There is no recorded history which
does not connect religious music to females or perverted
males. We have posted the only
known definition of LEGALISM where a musical
instrument is "a machine for hard work mostly in making
war and in religious mind control."
NEW WINE SKINS: JAY GUIN'S SUMMARY OF
RICK ATCHLEY AND CHRIS SEIDMAN: "How to boil a frog."
Danny, like Jay Guin bases his defense of instrumental
music in churches of Christ knowing that it will so
discord. At the same time the "proof text method" consists
of looking up passages in the lexicon while ignoring the
story line which ALWAYS connects instrumental religion to
Lucifer the singing and harp-playing prostitute in the
garden of Eden, to sorcerers or enchanters of the Jubal
family, to warriors threatening sexual attack on the
looser, too exorcists "making the lambs dumb before the
slaughter," to prostitutes and sodomites.
Posted on September 29, 2010
by Jay Guin
http://oneinjesus.info/2010/09/instrumental-music-everett-ferguson-responds-to-danny-corbitt/
Last week, Danny Corbitt presented his
work regarding instrumental music at the Abilene
Christian lectures, called “The Summit,” based on his
book Missing More Than
Music. Today, I received the September 2010
issue of the Gospel Advocate, containing an
article by Dr. Everett Ferguson attempting to refute
Danny’s work: “Missing the Meaning: A Review of Missing
More Than Music” (pp. 33 ff).
I’ll not attempt a comprehensive
rebuttal, because one isn’t necessary. The question isn’t
what Clement of Alexandria or Philo really meant.
The question is whether it’s sin
to worship God in the Christian assembly using an
instrument. And Ferguson’s arguments fail because they are
built on two seriously flawed premises.
The answer is obviously to those not delusioned and promoting
lying wonders -- any and all of what Jesus, Paul, Peter and all
SCHOLARLY literature. The answer is that when the church
in the wilderness was established using the terms "ekklesia" or
"synagogue" no one ever called them worship assemblies. If
you can't define--even at ACU--the meaning of ekklesia /
synagogue it is not possible that you can accidentially be
connected to one.
Jay Guin: But
first,
a
little
background.
Dr.
Ferguson,
a
professor
at
Abilene
Christian
University, is a widely recognized authority on New
Testament backgrounds and the Early Church Fathers. He
writes textbooks used in many seminaries. And he has long
argued against instrumental music in the assembly, having
written A
cappella music in the public worship of the church
, as well as a number of related books.
The first fatal flaw in Dr.
Ferguson’s logic is shown by the following quotations:
Ferguson: The
issue
remains:
Is
there
authority
for
instrumental
music
in
church?
…
Opponents of instrumental music must have a text rejecting
[sic] it; advocates of instrumental music do have
to have a New Testament text commanding it or allowing it,
and they still do not have one.
On page 37, Corbitt asserts
that early Christian writers “never oppose
accompaniment in praise.” However, no writer favors
it either.
That's a lie: if you say something untrue for your own
benefit that is a lie. The problem is that the ANTIs will accept and propagate
anything spreading hate on people who will not bow to Baal.
Of course, Ferguson and Corbitt etal missed the church fathers
all of whom radically condemn instruments in the assembly when
there was a drift toward performance or what Jesus called
hypocritic performance.
They missed the fact that singing as an ACT was introduced in a
discording sense in the year 373. That split the east
church from the west. That is because no simple simon being a
minimalist reader of the Bible ever understood any of the NOT
MUSICAL passages to have any musical connection.
The direct command was to SPEAK that which is written AFTER you
silence the doubtful disputations or SELF-pleasure which Paul
connects with reproaching Christ which was prophesied and
fulfilled when the instrumental Levites exposed His nakedness.
They compassed Him about like a pack of dogs. Dogs? Yes, dogs
which Paul outlaws in Philippians 3.
REJOICE IN THE LORD does
not mean REJOICE IN THE CHURCH when you translate REJOICE
as SING, PLAY, CLAP AND STAMP. This is the MARK of bad
choices in the past. Now, REJOICE:
Chairo (g5463)
means to
be "cheer"ful, i.e. calmly happy or well-off;
Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision. Phil 3:2
Dogs were the CYNICS
they stamped, clapped and made noises like DOGS to attract
their fellow homosexuals. It assuredly works in churches
of Christ which have been INFILTRATED and DIVERTED into
"theaters for holy entertainment" where theatron means to
MAKE A SPECTACLE. True to all of history, about HALF run
for their lives.
Parabolos,
poet. paraib- , on, ( [paraballô] ):I. (parox.) with a
side-meaning, deceitful, paraibola, kai chalepon
pragma Isoc.6.49, kertomeousin
A. taunt, sneer ah.Merc.56
Aristophanes, Oh,
Phales, companion of the orgies of Bacchus, night
reveller, god of adultery, friend of young men, these
past six years I have not been able to invoke thee.
With what joy I return to my farmstead, thanks to the truce I
have concluded, freed from cares, from fighting and from
Lamachuses! How much sweeter, oh Phales, oh, Phales, is it to
surprise Thratta, the pretty woodmaid, Strymodorus' slave,
stealing wood from Mount Phelleus, to catch her under the
arms, to throw her on the ground and possess her, Oh, Phales,
Phales! If thou wilt drink and bemuse thyself with me, we
shall to-morrow consume some good dish in honour of the peace,
and I will hang up my buckler over the smoking hearth.
See Isaiah.56.html, Acts.20.html
Lukos A. wolf, oresteroi, oin humenaioi,
VI. nickname of paiderastai, AP12.250 (Strat.), cf.
Pl.Phdr. 241d.
paiderast-ês , ou, ho, A. lover of
boys, mostly in bad sense, Ar.Ach.265(lyr.), X.An.7.4.7,
Pl. Smp.192b, Eub.130, etc.
Aristophanes, Acharnians DICAEOPOLIS
Oh, Phales,1 companion of the orgies of Bacchus, night reveller, god of
adultery, friend of young men, these past six2 years I
have not been able to invoke thee. With what joy I
return to my farmstead, thanks to the truce I have
concluded, freed from cares, from fighting and from
Lamachuses!3 How much sweeter, oh Phales, oh, Phales, is
it to surprise Thratta, the pretty woodmaid,
Strymodorus' slave, stealing wood from Mount Phelleus,
to catch her under the arms, to throw her on the ground
and possess her, Oh, Phales, Phales! If thou wilt drink
and bemuse thyself with me, we shall to-morrow consume
some good dish in honour of the peace, and I will hang
up my buckler over the smoking hearth.
1 The god of generation,
worshipped in the form of a phallus.
2 A remark which
fixes the date of the production of The Acharnians, viz.
the sixth year of the Peloponnesian War, 426 B.C.
3 Lamachus was an
Athenian general, who figures later in this comedy
Ferguson: Contrary
to
what
Corbitt
argues
on
pages
80-92,
the
case
is
not that ado and ode require one to
“sing only” but that they only say “sing” and never said
anything else.
Ode; , h(, contr.
for aoide
A.
song, lay, ode, h.Ap.20,
h.Cer.494;
in Trag. (exc. that A.
uses only aoid (q. v.)), of
dirges, “pollas thrn;n ;das” S.El.88
;dai kai h all poisis lyric poetry
and
HH
2 494 [490] And now, queen of the land
of sweet Eleusis
and sea-girt ParosAntron,
lady, giver of good gifts, bringer of seasons, queen
Deo, be gracious, you and your daughter all
beauteous Persephone, and for my song grant me
heart-cheering substance. [495] And now I will
remember you and another song also. and rocky
II. singing, Plu.Crass.33,
etc.; of birds,
“en tais ;dais kai melesin” R.399c, cf. 398c; Opposite. lexis,
lexis , e;s, h(, (leg; B) A. speech,
opp. ;d, Pl.Lg.816d;
l. praxis speech or
action, Id.R.396c;
ho tropos ts l. ib.400d; ta lexei dloumena orders given by
word of mouth,
autais lexesi or kata lexin word for word,
4. text of an author, opp. exegesis,
Poetic (mouses) diction
Later “epi lexe;s” PLond.5.1713.14
collectively, krat; kai ts l. the very words
“en tais ;dais kai melesin” R.399c, cf. 398c; Opposite. lexis,
Melos , eos, to/, A. limb,
in early writers always in pl., Il.7.131,
Pi.N. 1.47,
etc. (kata melos is corrupt for kata meros
B. esp. musical member, phrase:
hence, song, strain
mel, ta, lyric poetry, choral
songs, opp. Epic or Dramatic verse, Pl.R.379a,
607a, al.;
[m. ek tri;n sugkeimenon, logou te kai harmonias kai rhuthmou ib.398d.
2. music to which a song is set, tune, Arist.Po.1450a14;
opp. rhuthmos, metron, Pl.Grg. 502c;
opp. rhuthmos, rhma, Id.Lg.656c;
3. melody of an instrument, “phormigx d' au phtheggoith' hieron m. de kai aulos” Thgn.761;
“aul;n pamph;non m.” Pi.P.12.19;
“pktid;n mel” S.Fr.241:
Ferguson: Plainly,
Ferguson reasons from what is formally known as the Regulative
Principle, the old Zwinglian/Puritan idea
that scriptural silences are all prohibitions. Indeed,
Ferguson writes,
Ferguson:
An example is the
insistence that no text says not to use instruments, which
corresponds to our counterclaim that no text says to use
them.
All people who
read the Bible for content believed in the regulative
principle. Why would a disciple want to expose
their always-implicated gender bent when commanded to
"come before G
od in silence?" The fall from grace at Mount Sinai was
caused by musical idolatry. How much talky-talky do you
have to do to TRUMP this pagan idolatry to make it
acceptable to deliberately introduce a
practice--necessarily legalistic since it is imposed on
everyone.
At Mount Sinai:
> "Not to be overlooked here is
the accompaniment of music and dancing which, with the character of
the ensuing phenomena, makes the diagnosis (of idolatry)
certain."
(Schaff-Herzog, Ecstasy, p. 71).
> "The triumphal hymn of Moses
had unquestionably a religious character about it; but the
employment of music in religious services, though idolatrous, is more distinctly marked in the festivities
which attended the erection of the golden calf." (Smith's
Bible Dictionary, Music, p. 589).
> "And the people celebrated
this feast with burnt-offerings and thank-offerings, with
eating and drinking, i.e. with sacrificial meals and
sports, or with loud rejoicing, shouting, antiphonal songs, and
dances, in
the same manner in which the Egyptians celebrated their feast of Apis (Herod. 2, 60, and 3, 27)."
(Keil and Delitzsch, Vol. II, p. 222).
Acts 4:20 For
we cannot
but speak
the things which we have seen and heard.
Then the word of
the Lord came unto me, saying, Jer 13:8
Thus saith the Lord,
After this manner will I mar
the pride of Judah, and the great
pride of Jerusalem. Jer 13:9
This evil people, which refuse to
hear my words,
........which walk in the imagination
of their heart, [twisted]
........and walk after other gods, to serve
them,
........and to worship them, shall even be as this
girdle, which is good for nothing. Jer 13:10
Paul outlaws doubtful disputations in
Romans 14 by the sects marked by DIET but all who
practiced musical worship.
“Disputing”
implies a questioning mind and suggests an arrogant
attitude by those who assume they’re always right.
Arguing with others in the body of Christ is
disruptive. That’s why Paul spent the first part of
chapter 2 on humility.
Jay Guin: Ferguson imposes a legalistic
interpretation on the scriptures, seeking to reach his
conclusions by declaring silences either all permissive
or all prohibitions, which is a classic false
dichotomy. It’s just not necessarily true that either all
silences are permissions or all silences are prohibitions.
That is deeply flawed logic, because it’s entirely possible
that some silences are prohibitions and some
are permissions.
The Disciple take
ownership of the LAW OF SILENCE. Those who do not use
instruments do not need a LAW to do something legalistic;
on the face of it as a work intending to appease or even seduce
God and the clapping and grinding is absolutely a virtual
sexual act: the Vineyard, Plato and the Egyptians calls it
a visual or aural orgasm.
LEGALISM IS DEFINED AS HUMAN
CUSTOMS: IN MUSIC MEANING THE PERVERTED
|
Nomos: a. custom, tradition Callicles boldly applies the word nomos, which so far has
been used in the sense of man-made law or
convention, in its widest sense of “general rule” or
“principle.”
A. that which is in habitual practice, use
or possession, not in Hom.
(cf. J.Ap.2.15),
though
read by Zenod. in Od.1.3.
I. usage, custom,
“ Mousai melpontai pant;n te nomous kai thea kedna” Hes.Th.66;
“ n. arkhaios aristos” Id.Fr.221; entha n. (sc. esti) c. inf., where it
is the custom . . , Alc.Supp.25.5;
n. pant;n basileus custom
is lord of all, Pi.Fr.169.1;
“ n. despots” Hdt.7.104,
Pl. Lg.715d;
“ n. turannos t;n
II. melody,
strain, “ oida d' ornikh;n nom;s pant;n” Alcm.67; “ n. hippios” Pi.O. 1.101;
“ Apoll;n hageito pantoi;n n.” Id.N.5.25;
“ n. polemikoi” Th.5.69;
“ eplalaxan Arai ton oxun n.” A.Th.952
(lyr.); “ krektoi n.” S.Fr. 463,
cf. AP9.584:
metaph., “ tous Haidou n.” S.Fr.861.
Pindar, Odes 5. The most beautiful chorus of
Muses sang gladly for the Aeacids on Mt. Pelion,
and among them Apollo, sweeping the seven-tongued
lyre with a golden plectrum, [25][25] led all types of
strains. And the Muses began with a prelude to Zeus, then sang first of divine
Thetis and of Peleus; how Hippolyte, the opulent
daughter of Cretheus, wanted to trap him
with deceit
2. esp. a type of early melody created
by Terpander for the lyre as an accompaniment to Epic
texts, “n. orthios” Hdt.1.24;
“n. Boi;tios” S.Fr.966;
“n. kithar;dikoi” Ar.Ra.1282,
cf. Pl.Lg.700d,
Arist.Po.1447b26,
Pr.918b13, etc.;
also for the flute, “n. aul;dikos” Plu.2.1132d; without sung
text, n. aultikos ib.1133d, cf. 138b, Poll.4.79;
later, composition including both words and melody,
e.g. Tim.Pers.
[40] The fortune that is
born along with a man decides in every deed. And
you, Euthymenes from Aegina, have twice fallen
into the arms of Victory and attained
embroidered hymns.
Psauô humnos, Mousa 1 [*maô]
I. the Muse, in pl. the Muses, goddesses
of song, music, poetry, dancing, the drama, and all fine
arts, Hom.: the names of the nine were Clio,
Euterpe, Thalia, Melpomene, Terpsichore, Erato,
Polymnia or Polyhymnia, Urania, and Calliope,
Hes.,
|
|
-Plato.Symposium"On the road Socrates, immersed in
thought, lags behind, and Aristodemus arrives at
Agathon's alone. Not till they are half-way through
the meal does Socrates appear; and Agathon rallies
him on his devotion to sophia.
-Sophia , Ion. -iē, h(,
prop. A.
cleverness or skill in
handicraft and art, as in carpentry, tektonos, hos rha te pasēs eu eidē s. Il.15.412;
of the Telchines, Pi.O.7.53;
hē entekhnos s., of Hephaestus
and Athena, Pl.Prt.32
1d;
of Daedalus and Palamedes, X.Mem.4.2.33,
cf. 1.4.2;
in music and singing, tekhnē kai s. h.Merc.483,
cf. 511;
in poetry, Sol.13.52,
Pi.O.1.117,
Ar.Ra.882,
X.An.1.2.8,
etc.; in driving, Pl. Thg.123c;
in medicine or surgery, Pi.P.3.54;
in divination, S.OT 502
"The proposal of Pausanias to
restrict the potations, in view of yesterday's
banquet, and that of Eryximachus to dismiss the
flute-girl and amuse themselves by logoi, are unanimously
agreed to. Then Eryximachus propounds an idea of
Phaedrus,
logos , o(, verbal
noun of legō
Opposite. kata pathos, Preacher's tales
Opposite human
reasoning
Opposite Music
Opposite
poetry
Opposite epagōg-ē
2. bringing in to one's AID, introduction,
4. allurement, enticement b.
incantation, spell,
Logos verbal
noun of legō Opposite. muthos, as history to
legend, prose, opp. poiêsis, Id.R.390a;
Opposite to emmetros opp. poiêtikê, D.H.Comp.6;
opp. poiêmata, ib.15; koinakaipoiêmatônkailogôn Only the words
of lyric or dramatic poetry.
X. the Word or Wisdom of God,
personified as his agent in creation and
world-government,
d The varying nomoi concerning Eros
may be classified thus:—
(1) In all Greek states
except Athens the nomos is simple,
either (a) approving
paederastia, as in Elis and Boeotia; or (b） condemning it, as
in Ionia and states subject to barbarian rule,
where it is held to foster a dangerous spirit of
independence (e.g. Harmodius and Aristogiton).
(2) At Athens the nomos is complex. (a) Eros is
approved, and its excesses condoned, when
directed towards superior youths approaching
manhood. (b) It appears to be
condemned, in so far as parents forbid their boys
to hold converse with “erastae.” The explanation
of this ambiguous attitude must be sought in the
principle laid down above, that the moral quality
of an act depends upon the conditions of its
performance. The Athenian nomos provides a
test for distinguishing between good and bad forms
of Eros: the test of time shows whether or not the
right motive (desire for aretē)
actuates both the lover and his object. This
motive alone justifies all erotic pursuits and
surrenders, even mutual deception: hence we
conclude that kalon aretēs heneka kharizesthai.
bad links below
gnêsi-os mêtêr tôn erôtikôn logôn, of Aphrodite, Luc.Am.19; g. aretai
real, unfeigned virtues, Pi.O.2.11; g. humnoi inspired song, B.8.83; e. melos a love song
mêtêr tôn erôtikôn logôn Mother of erôt-ikos A. of or caused by
love, orgê, or Aphrodite: ou rhaidiôs
dietethê : was handled not softly, i.e. cruelly
killed (ou rhaidiôs, kakôs Hesych. and
Phot.).
humnos , ho, A.hymn, ode, in
praise of gods or heros, u. Haidou, of one whose songs
are death, E.Ba.72
(lyr.).]
Daughters of Zeus ruling on high, famed for the
lyre, ... Pierian Muses ... weave [5] Isthmian
land ... son-in-law of wise Nereus ... ... of the island ...
[10] god-built gates of Pelops' shining island ... |
And as flawed as this logic is, even
more mistaken is the idea of applying the Regulative
Principle to the Patristics! In the second quote above,
Ferguson actually insists on a prohibition inferred from
the silences of the Early Church Fathers.
But the Church Fathers were NOT SILENT as
God
was not silent from "Lucifer as the singing and harp-playing
prostitute in the garden of Eden to the Babylon mother of
harlots in Revelation 17 using "lusted after fruits" as
speakers, singers and instrument players John called
sorcerers.
Perhaps Ferguson understands that church was, and affirmed by
the Campbells--a School of Christ and worship was "reading and
musing the Word from the wilderness onward. It is a fact
that Corbitt and all of those sowing musical discord appeal to
the church fathers to actually ENDORSE the use of instruments
in the assembly.
The Meaning of
Worship
Worship is in MIND with TRUTH - According to Jesus and
Paul
John Calvin Worship and the Bible
Thomas Campbell Worship
is In Spirit and Personal
Thomas Campbell Worship
- Fuller Account
Dance and John Chrysostom
Basil the Great (329-379) - De Spiritu
Sancto - Spiritual Worship
Thomas Aquinas - Praise with the lips
Thomas Aquinas Singing and Instruments
Since we know and boast about sowing discord
to achieve unity as well as music in the temple are two things
God hates. We would not make this an issue unless one
had an AGENDA to try to restructure everyone to their own
views.
Many throughout Church history have followed the example of
the Bereans in measuring oral traditions against Scripture.
Notice carefully how Irenaeus, writing as early as the 2nd
century, recognized that what was "one time proclaimed in
public, and, at a later period, by the will of God, handed
down to us in the Scriptures." He is saying plainly that what
was once inspired oral tradition in the Apostolic era was by
the will of God written down at some time.
Irenaeus (ca. 150)
Against Heresies 3.1.1
“We have learned from none others the plan of our
salvation, than from those through whom the
gospel has come down to us, which they did at one time
proclaim in public, and, at a later period, by the will of
God, handed down to us in the Scriptures, to be the
ground and pillar of our faith.”
Clement of Alexandria (d. 215)
The Stromata, 7:16
“But those who are ready to toil in the most excellent pursuits,
will not desist from the search after truth, till they get
the demonstration from the Scriptures themselves.”
Gregory of Nyssa (d.ca, 395)
“On the Holy Trinity”, NPNF, p. 327
“Let the inspired Scriptures then be our umpire, and
the vote of truth will be given to those whose dogmas are
found to agree with the Divine words.”
Athanasius (c. 296–373)
Against the Heathen, 1:3
“The holy and inspired Scriptures are fully sufficient
for the proclamation of the truth.”
Basil the Great (ca.329–379)
On the Holy Spirit, 7.16
“We are not content simply because this is the tradition
of the Fathers. What is important is that the Fathers
followed the meaning of the Scripture.”
Ambrose (340–397 A.D.)
On the Duties of the Clergy, 1:23:102
“For how can we adopt those things which we do not find
in the holy Scriptures?”
St. Augustine (354–430)
De unitate ecclesiae, 10
“Neither dare one agree with catholic bishops if by
chance they err in anything, but the result that their opinion
is
against the canonical Scriptures of God.”
Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274)
Summa Theologiae, Question 1, art. 8
“For our faith rests on the revelation made to the Prophets
and Apostles who wrote the canonical books.”
Jay Guin: It’s not true that either all women are ugly
or all women are pretty. Just so, it’s hardly necessary to
conclude that either all silences are permissions or all
silences are prohibitions. Rather than pulling our
theology out of doctrines invented by Zwinglian and
Puritan disputants over how to conduct the assembly, we
should turn to the scriptures. The way to read the
silences of the scriptures is in light of the narrative of
the scriptures and God’s redemptive mission, culminating in
Christ.
Christ in Spirit
defined the church inclusively and exclusively: in Isaiah
55 He supplies the free water of the Word and in Isaiah 58
outlaws anyone "speaking their own words." That is because
the true REST was to Rest, Read and Rehears the Word of
God only.
It is a
historical fact that the Catholic church never practiced
"congregational singing with or without instrumental
accompaniment." The Mass consisted of parts and the gay
troubador monks or professionals played processionals,
intermissions or recessionals.
In fact you
CANNOT sing any of the Bible in a metrical sense since
none of it is metrical: When the Son spoke from the Father
the Words were "Spirit without Meter" as the word is most
often used.
It was only after
the Reformation that people used to attending musical
performances in the now-confiscated cathedrals that Calvin
bowed to the clamouring and permitted the Psalms (only) to
be rewritten (radically) to make unison singing even
possible. Slowly parts were added so that a simple harmony
singing of the Psalms (only) was possible. Zwingli
who had never experienced singing as an ACT, and who
understood the Greek word SPEAK continued the historic
practice of NOT singing musically.
Jay Guin: Can we seriously contend that God has been
working across the centuries to honor his covenant with
Abraham to the bless the nations — by demanding a
cappella rather than instrumental worship?
Gen. 26:2 And
the LORD appeared unto him,
and said, Go not
down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell
thee of:
Gen. 26:3 Sojourn in this land, and I will be with
thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto
thy seed, I will give all these countries, and
I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy
father;
Gen. 26:4 And I will make thy seed to multiply as the
stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these
countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations
of the earth be blessed;
Gen. 26:5 Because that Abraham
obeyed
my voice,
and kept
my charge,
my commandments,
my statutes,
and my laws.
Gen. 26:6 And Isaac dwelt in Gerar:
Abraham would undoubtedly understand that the Flood was
brought on because of the evil Lamech family. Jubal,
Jabal, Tubal-Cain and Nammah were identified in the Clay
tablets as sorcerers who used music and weapons to steal
people's property.
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"Now therefore, since you do not yet
understand how great darkness of ignorance
surrounds you, sometime I wish to explain to
you whence the worship of idols began in this
world. And by idols, I mean those lifeless images
which you worship, whether made of wood, or
earthenware, or stone, or brass, or any other
metals: of these the beginning was in this wise.
Certain
angels having left the course of their
proper order, began to favour the vices of
men, and in some measure to lend unworthy aid
to their lust,
"in
order
that by these means they might indulge their
own pleasures the more; and then, that they
might not seem to be inclined of their own accord
to unworthy services, taught men that demons
could, by certain arts--that is, by magical invocations--be made to obey
men; and so, as from a furnace and workshop of
wickedness, they filled the whole world with the
smoke of impiety, the light of piety being
withdrawn." (Reognitions of Clement, Book IV, Chapt
XXVI, Ante Nicene Fathers, Vol 8, p. 140)
"Under
the
assumption that a common pattern of 'myth
and ritual' prevailed in the ancient Near
East, it has been argued that the enthronement psalms belonged in the
cultic setting of a 'throne-ascension festival,' held every New
Year, when Yahweh's kingship over Israel, the
nations, and the cosmos was celebrated in song,
ritual, and pagent (play)."
"In
the
Babylonian
cult, for instance, hymns of praise had an important
place. Every New Year, when the cycle of the
seasons returned to its beginning, the worshipers
reexperienced and reactualized the victory of the
powers of life over the powers of death. The creation myth of
Enuma elish depicted the victory of the god
Marduk over the dragon of Chaos, Tiamet.
Not only was
the myth recited, but the battle
was reenacted during the festival. At the
climax of the celebration worshipers joined in
the acclamation, 'Marduk has become king!'
This is interpreted to mean that he had reascended his
throne for another year."
(Anderson, p. 522).
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"The rectangular central shrine of
the temple, known as a 'cella,' had a brick altar
or offering table in front of a statue of the
temple's deity. The cella was lined on its long
ends by many rooms for priests and priestesses. These mud-brick
buildings were decorated with cone geometrical
mosaics, and the occasional fresco with human and
animal figures. These temple complexes eventually
evolved into towering ziggurats.
"The temple was
staffed by priests, priestesses, musicians, singers, castrates and hierodules (including Temple
Prostitutes or ministers). Various public
rituals, food sacrifices, and libations took place
there on a daily basis. There were monthly feasts
and annual, New Year celebrations. During the
later, the king would be married to Inanna
as the resurrected fertility god
Dumuzi..."
Asherah: Queen of Heaven,
Ashtoreth, Athirat, Astarte, and Ishtar. Her "male" priestesses were known as kelabim, the faithful "dogs" of the Goddess, who
practiced divinatory arts, danced in processions, and
served as hierodules, qedeshim, in the company of
other priestesses.
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"The ancient
Middle East made a place for homosexuality and bestiality in its myths and
rites. In the Asherah cult the qedeshim priests had a reputation for
homosexual practices, even as the qedeshot priestesses for
prostitution. Israel eventually banned both the
qedeshim and qedeshot, while in Ugarit the and kohanim were priestly guilds in
equally good standing. Baal is portrayed
in Ugaritic mythology as impregnating a heifer to
sire the young bull god. The biblical book of
Leviticus (18:22--27) bans homosexuality and
bestiality expressly because the Canaanite
population had been practicing those rites, which
the Hebrews rejected as abominations. Middle Eastern Religion
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Hercules
is Herakles worshipped at TYRE.
See 2Maccabees to the worship in Jerusalem
where the Pipers hoped to Get people (Jesus) to lament and
dance the "ouchie" initiation while the clergy PIPED.
The
Greeks also built one of their gymnasia
(these were notorious throughout the ancient world for
their association with homosexual practices)
in Jerusalem, which 'attracted the noblest young men
of Israel...subduing
them under the petaso' (emphasis ours -- 2 Macc. 4:12). In the
traditional Latin translation the above phrase is
rendered 'to put in brothels' (Riley:15).
The
tensions which led to the Jewish revolt were
exacerbated when the Jewish high priest, a Hellenist
himself, offered a sacrifice to Heracles
(Hercules) who was a Greek symbol of homosexuality.
Riley adds,'The Jewish temple itself became the scene
of pagan sacrificial meals and sexual orgies [including
homosexuality].' The final insult (for which
Antiochus is identified in the Bible as the archtype
of the antichrist)'was the installation in the
temple of a pagan symbol, possibly a representation
of Zeus [Baal], called by a sardonic pun 'the
abomination of desolation'' (ibid.:16).
God didn't use the 'music' word in His redemptive scheme.
The Israelites fell from grace because of musical idolatr at
Mount Sinai. That is because they PROFANED the Sabbath.
The Redemptive purpose was to to preach the GOSPEL OF THE
KINGDOM which is the Church. All of the epistles define the
church both inclusively and exclusively. The God ordained
leaders were specificially to PREVENT musical and theatrical
performers to invade the School of the Word: the only worship
words mean "to give attention to the Word of God."
Speak is the opposit
Jay Guin: How on earth can we argue that God’s
redemptive mission, fulfilled in Christ, rejects worship
because it’s accompanied by a lute or a lyre? Is
this truly the nature of a God who so loves the world that
he sent his Son to die on a cross, revealing the self-emptying,
loving, serving nature of God, Creator of the
Universe?
Self-Centered and
Self-fulfilling is the mark of those intentionally
"infiltrating and diverting" happy churches into letting
their singy-clappy boys and girls expose themselves as the
only possible center of attraction.
Jay Guin: No, Ferguson’s position fails, foremost,
because it’s predicated on a legalistic God who
makes up arbitrary rules, hidden amongst the silences
and unrevealed hermeneutical suppositions. I reject
that view of God and therefore that view of how to read
silences.
Jay Guin: Were Ferguson to address the Regulative
Principle in the same manner as he addresses instrumental
music, he’d ask whether the Early Church Fathers ever
taught the Regulative Principle. And he asks no such
thing, as he takes it as axiomatic — too obvious to require
a defense — and yet it’s obviously not required logically.
And when they shall say
unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits
(Old, empty wineskins), and
unto wizards that peep, and that mutter (these people used musical
devices and said that the gods lived inside of them): should not a people seek unto their God? for the
living to the dead? Isaiah 8:19
To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word,
it is because
there is no light in them. Isaiah 8:20
For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the
wise, and
will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. 1 Cor 1:19
Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not
God made foolish the wisdom of this world?1Co.1:20
For after that in
the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it
pleased God
by the foolishness of preaching to save them that
believe. 1 Cor 1:21
Jay Guin: And the Early Church Fathers never defend
their opposition to instrumental music based on lack of
authority or the Regulative Principle.
In fact, ALL
of the church fathers defend Apostolic Church as being
faithful to what the Apostles revealed.
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Chapter XV.-Exhortation to
Confess Christ by Silence as Well as Speech.
It
is better for a man to be silent and be [a
Christian], than to talk and not to be one. It is
good
to teach, if he who speaks also acts.
There
is then one Teacher, who spake and it was done;
while even those things which He did in silence are worthy of the
Father. He who possesses the word of Jesus, is truly able to hear
even His very silence, that he may be perfect, and may both act as
he speaks, and be recognised by his silence.
There is
nothing which is hid from God, but our very
secrets are near to Him.
Let us
therefore do all things as those who have
Him dwelling in us, that we may be
His temples, and He may be in us as our God, which indeed He is, and will manifest
Himself before our faces. Wherefore we justly
love Him.
It
is better for a man to be silent and be [a Christian],
than to talk and not to be one. "The kingdom
of God is not in word, but in power." Men "believe with
the heart, and confess with the mouth," the
one "unto righteousness," the other "unto
salvation." It is good to teach, if he who speaks also acts. For he who shall both
"do and teach, the same shall be great in the
kingdom." Our Lord and God, Jesus Christ, the Son of
the living God, first did and then taught, as Luke
testifies, "whose praise is in the Gospel through
all the Churches." There is nothing which is hid from
the Lord, but our very secrets are near to Him. Let
us therefore do all things as those who have Him dwelling in us, that we may be His
temples, and He may be in us as God.
Let Christ speak in us, even as He did in
Paul.
Let the Holy Spirit teach us to speak the things of Christ in like manner as He
did.
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Chapter IX.-Ye Have Given No
Heed to False Teachers.
Nevertheless,
I
have
heard
of
some
who
have
passed
on
from
this
to you, having false doctrine, whom ye did not suffer to sow among you, but stopped your ears, that ye might not receive those things
which were sown by them, as being stones 58 of the temple of the
Father, prepared for the building of God the Father,
and drawn up on high by the instrument of Jesus Christ, which
is the cross, 59 making use of the Holy Spirit as a rope, while your
faith was the means by which you ascended, and your
love the way which led up to God.
Ye, therefore,
as well as all your fellow-travellers, are God-bearers, temple-bearers, Christ-bearers, bearers of holiness, adorned
in all respects with the commandments of Jesus
Christ, in whom also I exult that I have
been thought worthy, by means of this Epistle,
to converse and rejoice with you, because with
respect to your Christian life ye love nothing
but God only.
Nevertheless,
I have heard of some who have passed in among you,
holding the wicked doctrine of the strange and
evil spirit; to whom ye did not allow entrance to
sow their tares, but stopped your ears that ye
might not receive that error which was proclaimed
by them,
as being
persuaded that that spirit which deceives
the people does not speak the things of Christ,
but
his
own,
for he is a lying spirit.
Ye
are
of
your
father
the
devil,
and
the
lusts
of your father ye will do.
He was a murderer from the beginning,
and
abode
not
in
the
truth,
because
there
is
no
truth in him.
When he
speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own:
for
he
is
a
liar,
and
the
father
of
it.
Jn. 8:44
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Jay Guin: And so Ferguson takes their conclusion and
defends it on grounds foreign to their thinking — which is
also seriously flawed analysis. If they are the experts,
then we need to give heed to their stated reasoning, not
to an interpretive principle that is only 500 years old.
And this leads to the second major,
even more serious flaw in his argument. Ferguson writes on
page 35 –
Ferguson: Brother Corbitt concludes his book with a
strong call for unity. The reasonable historical and
doctrinal ground for unity would be the practice of
the church in the early centuries (continued until
today in the various Orthodox and other Eastern churches),
the practice of the Reformed and Anabaptist churches of
the Reformation (continued today in such groups as the
Reformed Presbyterian and Reformed Baptist churches and
many Mennonites), and the practice of the churches of the
Restoration Movement before division came (in part because
of the introduction of instruments).
Jay Guin: Under this logic, we should immediately
merge with the Orthodox and other named churches. After all,
they share with the a cappella Churches of Christ
the essential ground of unity: a cappella singing
on Sunday morning! But, of course, neither Ferguson nor the
editors of the Gospel Advocate have any intention
of urging merger with the Orthodox or a cappella Baptist,
Presbyterian, or Mennonite churches. Rather, a cappella
singing is just one of a very long list of
required elements for unity.
The Bible and
Churches of Christ understand that "church" is no larger
for individuals than the local congregation.
Churches of Christ have no lust to UNIONIZE with anyone:
not eve the congregation accross the streed.
In fact, what
became The Church of Christ was never "unioned"
with what became the Disciples of Christ. Because the
Christian Church or NACC sectarianized out of the
Disciples long after Churches of Christ refused to be
confiscated by the Disciples, the only people using the
UNITY stalking horse or Judas Goat are those seeking to
force Churches of Christ to conform to them. Churches of
Christ have never sought unity with anyone.
Jay Guin: A member of my congregation recently shared
a meal with the preacher for another Church of Christ near
here. The preacher assured him that the University Church of
Christ (my congregation) was involved in many great works,
doing much good for the cause of Jesus, but he — regrettably
— couldn’t fellowship us. You see, in his eyes, we are only
95% right.
We clap to the music during worship. And
this
5%
flaw
makes
us
unacceptable.
There
are,
of
course,
no
New Testament passages authorizing clapping — by command,
inference, or example — and therefore it is prohibited
and therefore it destroys unity.
If Jay is an elder then he also knew that the leadership was
actively seeking to deny all of the principles of the Churches
of Christ.
Moral people know why you don't "Stir up the flesh in body
worship." Clapping had the meaning of BOOING the
looser. It is a show of contemt when God insists that we
come before Him in reverence and godly fear. In Egypt
and in Plato when people fall into "body drumming" they are
seeking "an audible or visual orgasm."
The laded burden Jesus died to give us rest from was "the
creation of spiritual anxiety by religious rituals." The
church SPEAKS: Speak is the opposite of poetry or music.
No Simple Simon misses the fact that "Body Drumming" is in
fact a band of musical instruments. Tabering is from the
tabret which is the same meaning as Topheth: hell. Carol
Wimber of the Vineward (aka wineskins) calls for the creation
of a Climax like experience.
"During the erotic dance
ritual, the priestess would actually become the
Goddess in all Her glory. According to the ancient
texts, during the erotic dance ritual the priestesses
would achieve visionary orgasm in which great truths were revealed.
"Het Heret was the over-arching sky cow Goddess, associated with fertility
and bounty and plenty. Married couples would go to the
temples of Het Heret for fertility rites that would hopefully lead to
a successful pregnancy. The temples were filled with sweet
smelling incense.
Typically sweets and red beer or golden ale would flow freely.
The priestesses of Het Heret would dance to the rhythms of live
drumming.
When the couples were
sufficiently aroused, they would engage in sexual
intercourse on comfortable pillows.
"The priestesses would
often enter into an altered state of consciousness during
erotic dance, becoming the Goddess manifest in
human form. On occassion the priestesses would experience
compelling
spiritual visions while in this eroticly charged
state. From Source See Bast and
Lesbians
"Women and girls from
the different ranks of society were proud to enter the
service of the gods as singers and musicians. The understanding of this
service was universal: these singers constituted the 'harem of the gods'." (Johannes Quasten. In Music and Worship
in Pagan and Christian Antiquity, beginning on page 41)
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Plutarch
in Symposium VIII comments on the
"getting drunk on wine or ignorance" where the
"crooked race" met in perverted assemblies.
That is why it, like music, is grouped as enchantment or
sorcery.
[or Jay Guin]
- For we in one
case as much as the other resign up our souls to
the impetuousness of pleasures,
- which pouring
in those potions of songs, cadences,
and tunes,more powerful and bewitching
than the best mixtures of the most skilful cook
or perfumer, conquer and corrupt us;
- and in the
meantime, by our own confession as it were, the
fault is chiefly ours.
The Devil could have never been wiser than the
invention of what
McGarvey called the Guilt Clause
- Now, as
Pindar saith, nothing that the earth and sea
hath provided for our tables can be justly
blamed; but neither our meat nor broth,
nor this excellent wine which we drink,
- hath raised
such a noisy tumultous pleasure as those
songs and tunes did, which not
only filled the house with clapping and
shouting, but perhaps the whole town.
- Therefore we
ought principally to secure ourselves
against such delights, because they are
more powerful than others;
- as not
being terminated in the body, like those
which allure the touch, taste, or smelling,
- but affecting
the very intellectual and judging
faculties.
Besides, from most
other delights, though reason doth not free us, yet
other passions very commonly divert us.
Sparing niggardliness will keep a glutton from
dainty fish, and covetousness will confine a lecher
from a costly whore. As in one of Menander's plays,
where every one of the company was to be enticed by
the bawd who brought out a surprising whore,
but each of them, though all boon companions, Sat
sullenly, and fed upon his cates.
- For to pay
interest for money is a severe punishment that
follows intemperance, and to open our purses is
no easy matter. But these pleasures that are
called genteel,
- and solicit
the ears or eyes of those that are frantic
after shows and music may be had without
any charge at all, in every place almost, and
upon every occasion;
- they may be
enjoyed at the prizes, in the theatre,
or at entertainments, at others cost.
- And therefore
those that have not their reason to assist and
guide them may be easily spoiled.
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Hand clapping in worship services is
related to RISING UP TO PLAY in the musical
idolatry at Mount Sinai. This
was a terminal sin and God turned Israel over to worship the
starry host. That is, they "prayed for musical idolatry" and
God answered their prayer by turning them loose and letting
them go.
> "Let revelry keep away from our rational
entertainments, and foolish vigils, too, that revel in
intemperance. For revelry is an inebriating pipe, the chain of an amatory bridge, that is, of sorrow. And let love, and intoxication, and senseless passions, be removed from our choir.
Burlesque singing is the boon companion of
drunkeness. A night spent over drink invites drunkeness,
rouses lust, and is audacious in deeds of shame.
For if people occupy their
time with pipes, and psalteries, and choirs, and dances, and Egyptian clapping of hands, and such disorderly
frivolities, they become quite immodest and intractable, beat on cymbals, and drums, and make a noise
on instruments
of delusion."
(Clement, Instructor, Eerdmans, p. 248)
