Augustine
of
Hippo (354-430)
Letter LV. or Book II. of Replies to Questions of Januarius. (a.d. 400.)
While God gave the Sabbath as a day of rest to keep people away from the pagan sabbaths, and made it every seventh day, he deliberately called Israel away from astrology which governed and still governs some in the observance of says and seasons.
12. We are therefore bound to denounce with abhorrence and contempt the ravings of the astrologers (music from the music of the spheres), who, when we find fault with the empty inventions by which they cast other men down into the delusions where into they themselves have fallen, imagine that they answer well when they say, "Why, then, do you regulate the time of the observance of Easter by calculation of the positions of the sun and moon?"
as if that with which we find fault was the arrangements of the heavenly bodies, or the succession of the seasons,which are appointed by God in His infinite power and goodness,
and not their perversity in abusing,for the support of the most absurd opinions,
those things which God has ordered in perfect wisdom.If the astrologer may on this ground forbid us from drawing comparisons from the heavenly bodies
for the mystical representation of sacramental realities,
then the augurs may with equal reason prevent the use of these words of Scripture, "Be harmless as doves;" and the snake-charmers may forbid that other exhortation, "Be wise as serpents; "while the play-actors may interfere with our mentioning the harp in the book of Psalms.
Let them therefore say, if they please, that,
because similitudes for the exhibition of the mysteries of God's word are taken from the things which I have named,
we are chargeable either with consulting the omens given by the flight of birds, or with concocting the poisons of the charmer,
or with taking pleasure in the excesses of the theatre,-a statement which would be the clime of absurdity.XVIII: 34. I am surprised at your expressing a desire that I should write anything in regard to those ceremonies which are found different in different countries, because there is no necessity for my doing this; and, moreover,
one most excellent rule must be observed in regard to these customs,
when they do not in any way oppose either true doctrine or sound morality,
but contain some incentives to the better life, viz., that wherever we see them observed, or know them to be established, we should not only refrain from finding fault with them,but even recommend them by our approval and imitation,
unless restrained by fear of doing greater harm than goodby this course, through the infirmity of others. We are not, however, to be restrained by this,
if more good is to be expected from our consenting with those who are zealous for the ceremony, than loss to be feared from our displeasing those who protest against it.In such a case we ought by all means to adopt it,
especially if it be something in defence of which Scripture can be alleged:
as in the singing of hymns and psalms,
for which we have on record both the example and the precepts of the Lord and of His apostles.In this religious exercise, so usefl for inducing a devotional frame of mind and inflaming the strength of love to God, there is diversity of usage,
and in Africa the members of the Church are rather too indifferent in regard to it; on which account the Donstists reproach
us with our grave chanting of the divine songs of the prophets in our churches,
while they inflame their passions in their revels by the singing of psalms of human composition,
which rouse them like the stirring notes of the trumpet on the battle-field.(In the assembly) But when brethren are assembled in the church, why should not the time be devoted to singing of sacred songs, excepting of course while reading or preaching is going on, or while the presiding minister prays aloud, or the united prayer of the congregation is led by the deacon's voice?
(outside the assembly) At the other intervals not thus occupied, I do not see what could be a more excellent, useful, and holy exercise for a Christian congregation.
From Summa Theologica by Aquinas
- b. 1224/25, Roccasecca, near Aquino, Terra di Lavoro, Kingdom of Sicily
- d. March 7, 1274, Fossanova, near Terracina, Latium, Papal States;
OF TAKING THE DIVINE NAME FOR THE PURPOSE OF INVOKING IT BY MEANS OF PRAISE
Aquinas poses objections to audible "singing" when everyone knew that Paul never commanded singing orpraising but teaching:
Objection 1: It would seem that God should not be praised with song. For the Apostle says (Col. 3:16): "Teaching and admonishing one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual canticles."
Now we should employ nothing in the divine worship,
save what is delivered to us on the authority of Scripture.
Therefore it would seem that, in praising God, we should employ, not corporal but spiritual canticles.Reply to Objection 1: The name of spiritual canticle may be given not only to those that are sung inwardly in spirit, but also to those that are sung outwardly with the lips, inasmuch as such like canticles arouse spiritual devotion.
Objection 2: Further, Jerome in his commentary on Eph. 5:19, "Singing and making melody in your hearts to the Lord," says: "Listen, young men whose duty it is to recite the office in church: God is to be sung not with the voice but with the heart. Nor should you, like play-actors, ease your throat and jaws with medicaments, and make the church resound with theatrical measures and airs." Therefore God should not be praised with song.
Reply to Objection 2: Jerome does not absolutely condemn singing, but reproves those who sing theatrically in church not in order to arouse devotion, but in order to show off, or to provoke pleasure. Hence Augustine says (Confess. x, 33):
"When it befalls me to be more moved by the voice than by the words sung, I confess to have sinned penally, and then had rather not hear the singer."
Objection 4: Further, in the Old Law God was praised with musical instruments and human song, according to Ps. 32:2,3: "Give praise to the Lord on the harp, sing to Him with the psaltery, the instrument of ten strings. Sing to Him a new canticle." But the Church does not make use of musical instruments such as harps and psalteries, in the divine praises, for fear of seeming to imitate the Jews. Therefore in like manner neither should song be used in the divine praises.
Reply to Objection 4: As the Philosopher says (Polit. viii, 6), "Teaching should not be accompanied with a flute or any artificial instrument such as the harp or anything else of this kind: but only with such things as make good hearers."
For such like musical instruments move the soul to pleasure rather than create a good disposition within it. In the Old Testament instruments of this description were employed, both because the people were more coarse and carnal---so that they needed to be aroused by such instruments as also by earthly promises---and because these material instruments were figures of something else.
Erasmus 1469-1536 was a Catholic who opposed the professional clergy along with instruments before the Campbells who also opposed both:
"We have brought into our churches certain operatic and theatrical music; such a confused, disorderly chattering of some words as I hardly think was ever in any of the Grecian or Roman theatres. The church rings with the noise of trumpets, pipes, and dulcimers; and human voices strive to bear their part with them. Men run to church as to a theatre, to have their ears tickled." -- Erasmus, Commentary on I Cor. 14:19
born Nov. 10, 1483,
Eisleben, Saxony [Germany]
died Feb. 18, 1546, Eisleben
In Law and Gospel
"Why may not the church, for good causes, devise ceremonies to decor the sacraments, and others [of] God's services?"
TRUE PREACHERS COMMISSIONED BY GOD
8. These words are blows and thrusts for the false apostles [PAGE 227] and preachers. Paul is mortal enemy to the blockheads who make great boast,
pretending to what they do not possess and to what they cannot do;
who boast of having the Spirit in great measure; who are ready to counsel and aid the whole world;
who pride themselves on the ability to invent something new.
It is to be a surpassingly precious and heavenly thing they are to spin out of their heads,
as the dreams of pope and monks have been in time past.
"We do not so," says Paul. "We rely not upon ourselves or our wisdom and ability. We preach not what we have ourselves invented. But this is our boast and trust in Christ before God,
that we have made of you a divine epistle; have written upon your hearts, not our thoughts, but the Word of God.
We are not, however, glorifying our own power, but the works and the power of him who has called and equipped us for such an office; from whom proceeds all you have heard and believed.
9. It is a glory which every preacher may claim, to be able to say with full confidence of heart:
"This trust have I toward God in Christ, that what I teach and preach is truly the Word of God."
Likewise, when he performs other official duties in the Church--baptizes a child, absolves and comforts a sinner--it must be done in the same firm conviction that such is the command of Christ.
16. Now, Paul's thought here is that nothing should be taught and practiced in the Church
but what is unquestionably God's Word.
It will not do to introduce or perform anything whatever
upon the strength of man's judgment. Man's achievements,
man's reasoning and power, are of no avail save in so far as they come from God.
As Peter says in his first epistle (ch. 4:11): "If any man speaketh, speaking as it were oracles of God; if any man ministereth, ministering as of the strength which God supplieth."
In short, let him who would be wise, who would boast of great skill, talents and power, confine himself to things other than spiritual;
with respect to spiritual matters, let him keep his place and [PAGE 230] refrain from boasting and pretense. For it is of no moment that men observe your greatness and ability; the important thing is that poor souls may rest assured of being presented with God's Word and works, whereby they may be saved.
"Who also made us sufficient as ministers of a new covenant; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life."
John Calvin
- b. July 10, 1509, Noyon, Picardy, France
- d. May 27, 1564, Geneva, Switz.
Warning about "predestination" Institutes 3-31: For Scripture is the school of the Holy Spirit, in which as nothing useful and necessary to be known has been omitted, so nothing is taught but what it is of importance to know.
Let us, I say, allow the Christian to unlock his mind and ears to all the words of God which are addressed to him, provided he do it with this moderation,
viz., that whenever the Lord shuts his sacred mouth, he also desists from inquiry.In The Necessity of Reforming the Church (1543) Calvin wrote:
The best rule of sobriety is, not only in learning to follow wherever God leads,
but also when he makes an end of teaching, to cease also from wishing to be wise. The danger which they dread is not so great that we ought on account of it to turn away our minds from the oracles of God.There is a celebrated saying of Solomon, "It is the glory of God to conceal a thing," (Prov. 25: 2.) But since both piety and common sense dictate that this is not to be understood of every thing, we must look for a distinction, lest under the pretence of modesty and sobriety we be satisfied with a brutish ignorance.
This is clearly expressed by Moses in a few words, "The secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us, and to our children for ever," (Deut. 29: 29.)
We see how he exhorts the people to study the doctrine of the law in accordance with a heavenly decree,
because God has been pleased to promulgate it, while he at the same time confines them within these boundaries, for the simple reason that it is not lawful for men to pry into the secret things of God.
"In inveighing against ceremonies themselves, and also in abrogating a great part of them, we confess that there is some difference between us and the prophets.
They inveighed against their countrymen for confining the worship of God to external ceremonies, but still ceremonies which God himself had instituted;
we complain that the same honor is paid to frivolities of man's devising. They, while condemning superstition, left untouched a multitude of ceremonies
which God had enjoined, and which were useful and appropriate to an age of tutelage;
our business has been to correct numerous rites which had either crept in through oversight,
or been turned to abuse and which, moreover, by no means accorded with the time.For, if we would not throw everything into confusion,
we must never lose sight of the distinction between the old and the new dispensations, and of the fact that ceremonies, the observance of which was useful under the law,
are now not only superfluous, but vicious and absurd.
But in regard to the former, it is plain that
they are destitute of authority from the scriptures,
as well as of any approved example of such intercession; while, as to the latter,Paul declares that none can invoke God, save those who have been taught by his word to pray. On this depends the confidence with which it becomes pious minds to be actuated and imbued when they engage in prayer.
But is it not altogether at variance with reason that the ploughing oxen should starve, and the lazy asses be fed? They will say, however, that they serve at the altar. I answer, that the priests under the law deserved maintenance, by ministering at an altar;
but that, as Paul declares, the case under the New Testament is different.
And what are those altar services, for which they allege that maintenance is due to them? Forsooth, that they may perform their masses and chant in churches, for example,
partly labor to no purpose,
and partly perpetrate sacrilege, thereby provoking the anger of God.
See for what it is that they are alimented at the public expense!
Westminster Confession of Faith CHAPTER XXI
Of Religious Worship, and the Sabbath Day
I. The light of nature showeth that there is a God, who hath lordship and sovereignty over all, is good, and doth good unto all, and is therefore to be feared, loved, praised, called upon, trusted in, and served, with all the heart, and with all the soul, and with all the might.
But the acceptable way of worshiping the true God is instituted by himself,
and so limited by his own revealed will,that he may not be worshiped according to the imaginations and devices of men,
or the suggestions of Satan, under any visible representation,
or any other way not prescribed in the Holy Scripture.And Zwingli wanted to get rid of:
"traditional forms or ceremonies (added) simply on the ground that they were not actually forbidden by Scripture
Zwingli began his duties in Zurich on his thirty-sixth birthday (Jan. 1, 1519) by a sermon on the genealogy of Christ, and announced that on the next day (which was a Sunday) he would begin a series of expository discourses on the first Gospel. From Matthew he proceeded to the Acts, the Pauline and Catholic Epistles; so that in four years he completed the homiletical exposition of the whole New Testament except the Apocalypse (which he did not regard as an apostolic book).
He made it his chief object "to preach Christ from the fountain," and "to insert the pure Christ into the hearts. He would preach nothing but what he could prove from the Scriptures, as the only rule of Christian faith and practice.
This is a reformatory idea; for the aim of the Reformation was to reopen the fountain of the New Testament to the whole people, and to renew the life of the Church by the power of the primitive gospel.
By his method of preaching on entire books he could give his congregation a more complete idea of the life of Christ and the way of salvation than by confining himself to detached sections. He did not at first attack the Roman Church, but only the sins of the human heart; he refuted errors by the statement of truth.
Christians are not bound to any works which Christ has not commanded. They may eat at all times all kinds of food.
Even the organs were removed, and the Latin singing of the choir abolished, but fortunately afterwards replaced by congregational singing of psalms and hymns in the vernacular (in Basle as early as 1526, in St. Gall 1527, in Zurich in 1598). "Within thirteen days," says Bullinger, "all the churches of the city were cleared; costly works of painting and sculpture, especially a beautiful table in the Waterchurch, were destroyed. The superstitious lamented; but the true believers rejoiced in it as a great and joyous worship of God."
He "commanded the preachers of the canton to teach the Word of God, and to be silent about the traditions of men (1520).
They took an active part in the early stages of the Reformation, prematurely broke the fasts, and stood in the front rank of the image-stormers. They went ahead of public opinion and the orderly method of Zwingli. They opposed the tithe, usury, military service, and the oath.
They denied the right of the civil magistracy to interfere in matters of religion.
They met as "brethren" for prayer and Scripture-reading in the house of "Mother Manz," and in the neighborhood of Zurich, especially at Zollicon.
John Knox: foremost leader of the Scottish Reformation, who set the austere moral tone of the Church of Scotland and shaped the democratic form of government it adopted.
b. c. 1514,near
Haddington, Lothian, Scot.
d. Nov. 24, 1572, Edinburgh
"Why may not the church, for good causes, devise ceremonies to decor the sacraments, and others [of] God's services?"
Knox replied, "Because the kirk ought to do nothing but in faith: and ought not to go before, but is bound to follow the voice of the true Pastor."
Later during the exchange, Knox added:
"It is not enough that man invents a ceremony, and then gives it a signification, according to his pleasure.
But if anything proceeds from faith, it must have the word of God for the assurance; for you are not ignorant that "faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."
Now, if you will prove that your ceremonies proceed from faith, and do please God,
you must prove that God in expressed words has commanded them; or else you shall never prove that they proceed from faith, nor yet that they please God;
but they are sin, and do displease him, according to the words of the apostle,
"Whatsoever is not of faith is sin." John Knox, Works, 1:195-96.
John Locke: English philosopher who was an initiator of the Enlightenment in England and France, an inspirer of the U.S. Constitution
b. Aug. 29, 1632, Wrington, Somerset, Eng. d. Oct. 28, 1704, Oates, Essex
Reasonableness of Christianity
A Letter Concerning Toleration.
It
is clear that the most intolerant effort within the American Restoration
Movement is to become sectarian in order to attract the entertainment-based
people and thereby exclude those who know that you
can build spiritual life only on Christ at the center
rather than the theatrical performance of preacher and
musical team at the center. John Lock wrote:
Alexander Hislop, Presbyterian, on Instrumental Music
When you deny inspiration God sends you strong delusions to blind you and make you DEAF!
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But since men are so solicitous about the true church, I would only ask them here, by the way, if it be not more agreeable to the Church of Christ
to make the conditions of her communion consist in such things, and such things only,
as the Holy Spirit has in the Holy Scriptures declared, in express words, to be necessary to salvation;I ask, I say, whether this be not more agreeable to the Church of Christ
than for men to impose their own inventions and interpretations upon others as if they were of Divine authority, and to establish by ecclesiastical laws, as absolutely necessary to the profession of Christianity, such things as the Holy Scriptures do either not mention, or at least not expressly command?Whosoever requires those things in order to ecclesiastical communion,
which Christ does not require in order to life eternal,he may, perhaps, indeed constitute a society accommodated to his own opinion and his own advantage; but how that can be called the Church of Christ which is established upon laws that are not His, and which excludes such persons from its communion as He will one day receive into the Kingdom of Heaven, I understand not.
Thomas Campbell Repeating History
3. That in order to this, nothing ought to be inculcated upon Christians as articles of faith;nor required of them as terms of communion,
but what is expressly taught and enjoined upon them in the word of God. Nor ought anything to be admitted, as of Divine obligation, in their Church constitution and managements, (Locke LT)but what is expressly enjoined by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ and his apostles upon the New Testament Church; either in express terms or by approved precedent
4. That although the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are inseparably connected, making together but one perfect and entire revelation of the Divine will, for the edification and salvation of the Church, and therefore in that respect can not be separated;
yet as to what directly and properly belongs to their immediate object, the New Testament is as for the worship, discipline, and government of the New Testament Church, and as perfect a rule for the particular duties of its members,
as the Old Testament was for the worship, discipline, and government of the Old Testament Church, and the particular duties of its members. (Declaration And Address)
Alexander Hislop, Presbyterian, on Instrumental Music
1858
The worship of the Christian Church has not been left to be determined by the mere judgments and imaginations of men. There are principles laid down, there are precepts given, there are examples recorded, which show the mind and will of Christ in this matter; and the statements of Paul, in regard to "will-worship" (Col. 2:18-23), decisively prove that those who violate the purity of Christian worship,
are not only those who introduce practices which God has forbidden,
but those who introduce what God has not authorised, or commanded.There can be no meaning attached to the term, "will-worship," but that such "worship" rests, not on the "will" of God, but on the mere "will" or fancy of man.
To this we could add the testimony of every known theologian including all of the founders of denominations.
|
We repeat Rubel Shelly's
statement: Rubel Shelly: "Where
the Bible speaks, we speak; where the
Bible is silent, we are silent."
|
When you deny inspiration God sends you strong delusions to blind you and make you DEAF!
We believe that any Bible student grasps that the Christian religion is informed by the Christian documents delivered from the Spirit which is the Mind of Christ (1 Cor 2).
Not all of us can take the seven facts about Jesus and using Narrative Theology compose our own story by "taking liberties" as Rubel Shelly claims to have the power to do.
Seemingly, all but the Post-Modern, Neo-Apostles believe that the New Testament is normative for faith and practice. And because it reveals a new form of worship which rids believers of the "spiritual anxiety created by religious ritual" which Jesus Christ defined as the "burdens" of the Jewish clergy, the how we worship is part of the "good news" or "gospel."
The almost-universal opinion of all theologians has been that God expresses his will through commands, examples or inferences. Alexander and Thomas Campbell continued this long historical and Biblical view.
Therefore, it is the neo-symps only who stand outside of the Bible and all historical evidence except the Catholic church which gives itself the right to go beyond what they acknowledge to be the Biblical facts.
While there will always be differences of opinion when men introduce things about which God is silent, or invent a new hermeneutic which includes 7 "ones" as the core gospel and rejects everything else from Christ the Spirit as the faulted interpretations of fallible apostles.
The "core" issue and motivation for the "core" gospel is to provide authority for instrumental music as the works of men's hands suitable to worship God or lead others into His presence.
The Catholic Encyclopedia disagrees with Dr. Shelly about the legal loopholes about time and place; and about commands:
(a) The first testimony is found in the Epistle of St. Paul to the Ephesians (v, 19): "Speaking to yourselves in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual canticles, singing and making melody in your hearts to the Lord".
Cardinal Bona finds in these words a witness to the fact that
"from the very beginnings of the Church, psalms and hymns were sung in the assembly of the faithful", and understands them to refer to an alternated chant (mutuo et alterno cantu). [That excludes Fanny Crosby]
McEvilly in his "Commentary"
applies them to public and private meetings. St Augustine (Ep. cxix, ch. xviii) says:
"As to the singing of psalms and hymns, we have the
proofs, the
examples, and the
instructions of the Lord Himself, and of the Apostles". (Cf. also Col., iii, 16; I Cor., xiv, 26.)
That means that the early church did not recognize a legal versus an illegal venue and it means commands, examples and inferences. And the Catholic Encyclopedia seems to have said something about Direct commands, examples and inferences.
To permit some of the people to worship with instruments some of the time is a legalism derived from a legal loop-hole by legalistic minds.
While Navigating the Winds of Change demands "prayerful brinkmanship" it is not surprising that musical churches still preach A Capella but practice instrumental in some of its events. A further, almost violent, navigating tool is to dismiss anyone who still rejects lifeless or carnal instruments as simply ignorant or worse.
Commands, examples and inferences have been the almost-universal means of determining the will of God for our lives. The word "inference" is not always used but it is cler that Spiritual minded people will want to listen carefully to hear God's will and follow it.
What can we conclude? We can conclude one of two things: first, those who are labeled "Thought Leaders" simply don't read the Bible or church history and therefore "know not what they do" when they organize a band to destroy churches of Christ for doing what has been done for 2000 years and believing that the Bible commands if you want unity. Therefore, they have no right to be followed.
Or, two, these Phd's actually know better and are trying to destroy the impact of the inspired Word and the reason almost always boils down to the lust to add musical worship which is the oldest form of idolatry known. Therefore, they need to be repudiated because they have the MARK.
KENNETH
SUBLETT EMAIL IN CONFIDENCE
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