While Paul
spoke volumns as he warned against worshipping the Unknown
God, he also warned modern "ceremonial legalists" that while
their devotion to the human performing arts may attract a
large crowd of those always searching but never coming to the
knowledge of the truth, the watching world will usually attend
and applaud for the comic content. After all, we have shown
that the applause or hand clap has always been a way to
ridicule the loosers.
In the same way, his
usually-misunderstood message of speaking in tongues and
"emotional warfare" worship which "does more harm than good"
(1 Cor. 11:17), has a rich background in the Classical
literature of the time which Paul understood. He could see
ancient paganism making inroads into the young Christian
churches.
Speaking to the
gods or into the air
For he that speaketh in
an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto god: for no man understandeth
him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries. 1 Corinthians 14:2
So likewise ye, except
ye utter by the tongue words easy to be understood, how
shall it be known what is spoken? for ye shall speak
into the air. 1 Cor 14:9
Therefore if I know
not the meaning of the voice, I shall be unto him that
speaketh a barbarian, and he that speaketh
shall be a barbarian unto me. 1Co.14:11
TONGUES AS THE
EVIDENCE OF THE SPIRIT
There are some
Pentecostals who make tongues as THE proof that one is saved
or filled with the spirit. Many wait for this evidence to
occur and when it does not they look desperately to find
whatever flaw or sin is holding back his Spirit from coming
and become saved.
The bible does not teach
tongues is the evidence for salvation, but one of the many
evidences of someone possessing the Holy Spirit. Their
patience in striving and expecting is for naught. Paul
states rhetorically in 1 Cor.12:29 are all prophets are all
apostles and teachers? Answer is NO! Do all have gifts of
healings? Do all speak in tongues? again the answer is NO!
In Chapter 14 he says he'd rather they prophecy and in vs.5:
"I wish you all spoke in tongues but even more that you
prophesied. At the beginning of Chpt.12 he states the Lord
gives out the gifts as he wills and that they are all
different gifts not everyone has the same gift vs.11. the
gift of tongues is listed last. In Rom.12 and Eph.4 it is
not mentioned at all, giving us the impression that it is a
insignificant gift compared to the others. Tongues were
never intended to be the common denominator of spiritual
gifts to all believers, to make this as such is divisive.
(Jesus said you shall be
my witnesses, literally martyrs. What if we were to give the
same credence to being killed for Christ as a measure of
spirituality. This certainly would clear the air about being
spiritual. Imagine someone saying you don't have salvation
because you haven't died for him).
Many say God does not
change so what he did before he will do today, this is used
for Jesus healing all as well (Heb.13:8). It is not a matter
of what He will or will not do but what He has chosen to do
in His Church. The truth is God has changed the way he does
some things, but it is His nature that does not change.
Strabo
Geography 10.3.13
Barbarians
Her. I very much approve.
Soc. That objects should be
imitated in letters and syllables, and so find expression,
may appear ridiculous, Hermogenes, but it cannot be
avoided- there is no better principle to which we can look
for the truth of first names.
Deprived of this, we
must have recourse to divine help, like the tragic poets,
who in any perplexity have their Gods waiting in
the air;
and must get out of
our difficulty in like fashion, by saying that "the Gods
gave the first names, and therefore they are right."
This will be the best
contrivance, or perhaps that other notion may be even
better still, of deriving them from some barbarous people, for the barbarians
are older than we are; or we may say that antiquity has
cast a veil over them, which is the same sort of excuse as
the last;
for all these are not
reasons but only ingenious excuses for having no
reasons concerning the truth of words.
And yet any sort of
ignorance of first or primitive names involves an ignorance of
secondary words; for they can only be explained by the
primary.
Clearly then the
professor of languages should be able to give a very
lucid explanation of first names, or let him be assured
he will only talk nonsense about the rest. Do you not
suppose this to be true?
Now, we have to understand
which generic "god" they might possibly be speaking to:
As for you, you were
dead in your transgressions and sins, Eph 2:1
in which you used to
live when you followed the ways of this world and of the
ruler (god) of the kingdom of the
air, the spirit who is now at work in those
who are disobedient. Eph 2:2
All of us also lived
among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our
sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts.
Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. Eph
2:3
Lucifer and the powers of the air hovering around it... try
in vain to tear down the cross and to silence the
importunate clangour of the bells... baffled demons
leave the Cathedral unharmed and... through the gloom
the Archangel Michael with drawn sword is seen flaming
in gold and crimson on the panes of the lighted windows,
while, as they recede into the distance, they are
pursued in their flight by the pealing music of the
organ and the voices of the choir chanting." (Frazer,
James George, Folk-Lore in the Old Testament,
Macmillian, p. 419, 1923)
Throughtout the
Middle Ages and down to modern times the sound of
church bells was also in great request for the purpose
of routing witches and wizards, who gathered unseen in
the air to play their wicked pranks on man and beast."
(Frazer, James George, Folk-Lore in the Old Testament,
p. 422-423, Macmillian, 1923)
Gods are called by
many names and "at another time, again, he maintains
that they are gods of the air, and are termed heros; at another, following the
opinion of the ancients, he says that the Lares are ghosts, as it were a kind of
tutelary demon, spirits of dead men." (Arnobius Against the
Heathen, Ante-Nicene, VI, p. 475).
Like modern performance
"worship" the Corinthians had things mixed up: they were
supposed to speak Biblical Truth (Eph 5:19; Col 3:18f) to
one another because God didn't need instructions nor
entertainment. The Corinthian
women, just out of paganism, were imitating this so that the
watching believer would understand them to be "enthused" or
mad or insane just as they had been in paganism. Paul
errected a "wall" between the Christian and any pagan
practice.
"Music was understood to
drive away hostile chthonic demons who loved tranquility and
quiet. this concept of music's magical power is found in
the formula of a love spell published by S. Eitrem:
"X.X. is bound with
the tendons of the holy phoenix so that you will love
N.N. with your whole heart and no barking dog or braying
ass, cock or conjurer, the clash of cymbals or the noise
of flutes or anything else under the heavens will ever
set you free."
"The harmful screaming
of those who were to be killed in sacrifices was
particularly attractived to the wicked demons,
........... with whom the pagans believed
the air (1 Corinthians 14:9) was filled.
Consequently, music was
found to be especially appropriate at the time of
sacrifice as a means of driving away the evil spirits who would destroy its
efficacy. From this it can also be seen why music had to
be uninterrupted during the actio. It was not necessary, then,
that music drown out cries of pain but rather that it
simply drive away the demons who had been attracted by
those cries." (Quasten, Johannes, Music and Worship in
Pagan and Christian Antiquity, pgs 16-17)
No, but the sacrifices
of pagans are offered to demons (who distribute
fortunes or gifts of spirits), not to God, and I do not
want you to be participants with demons. 1
Corinthians10:20
So it is with you.
Unless you speak intelligible words with your tongue,
how will anyone know what you are saying? You will
just be speaking into the air. 1 Corinthians 14:9
"In Greek ritual the
sacrifice was accompanied by the invocatory cries
of women.
........... Their purpose was to call the good gods so that they cound enjoy the sacrifice.
Music had the same character of epiclesis.
It was understood to "call down" the good gods. Menander
attests to the attribution of this significance to music.
According to Plutarch, the inhabiants of Argos blew trumpets
on the feast of Dionysos so as to call the god up from the
depths of the river Lerne
for the sacrifice. Because song and music increased the
efficacy of the epiclesis the words of epiclesis were nearly
always sung to instrumental accompaniment.
Thus the Dionysian
fellowship used the ritual of women in order to obtain the appearance of their
god. Arnobius alludes to such songs of the
pagans performed to flute accompaniment, and he mockingly
asks whether the sleeping deities will be awakened by
them." (Quasten, Johannes, Music and Worship in Pagan and
Christian Antiquity, p. 17)
Paul pokes fun at the
Corinthians using irony. He has already told them that the
Divine plan was that not everyone was given the gift of
speaking in tongues nor could everyone be a king.
Nevertheless, Paul wishes that they were all kings so that
he could reign with them; and he wishes that they could all
speak in tongues. Don't take that as a sober-side of Paul
but as "comic relief."
And even things without
life (lifeless instruments or carnal instruments) giving
sound, whether pipe or harp, except they give a
distinction in the sounds, how shall it be known what is
piped or harped? 1 Corinthians 14:7
For if the trumpet
give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to
the battle? 1 Corinthians 14:8
So likewise ye,
except ye utter by the tongue words easy to be
understood, how shall it be known what is spoken? for ye shall speak
into the air. 1 Corinthians 14:9
Just as the Athenians
worshipping the unknown gods was not positive. Remember also
that Paul warned the women about their uncovered
"prophesying" outside of the assembly in 11:5
But every woman that
prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered
dishonoureth her head: for that is even all one as if she
were shaven. 1 Corinthians 11:5
Paul understood that
musical prophesying throughout the ancient world was
equivalent to prostitution:
"I saw in Byblos a great
temple of Aphrodite of Byblos, in which they perform
ceremonies in memory of Adonis, and I was told about the
ceremonies. They say that the story of Adonis and the boar
actually took place in their country, and in memory of
this unhappy incident, they beat their breasts each year
and wail and perform certain rites, and hold a great
funeral ceremony throughout the whole land.
When they have given
their breasts a good beating and done enough weeping,
they first bring presents to Adonis as though to a dead
man;
but then, the morning
after, they say that he is alive and up in the air. Then they shave their
heads as the Egyptians do at the death of Apis. As for the women, all
those who do not wish to be shaved pay the following
forfeit: for one day, they must put their beauty on
sale, but the market is open only to strangers, and the
price is used for a sacrifice to Aphrodite." (de Vaux,
p. 224-225)
Paul told us how to keep the "wind"
doctrines from blowing us off our secure position:
But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the
head, even Christ: Ephesians 4:15
From whom the whole body fitly
joined together and compacted by that which every joint
supplieth, according to the effectual working in the
measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto
the edifying
of itself in love. Ephesians 4:16
When the the churches were, like Elihu
recorded in Job, still under those "filling their bellies
with hot air from the East" or pagan rituals they were still
in danger of being blown about by the winds of change. The
only solution is to shut down what the pagans called
"worship" and come together for edification which is
education.
To silence the Corinthian worshippers of
the gods and godesses of the air, Paul compared their
practices in chapter 13 to the air gods and then demanded
that they teach doctrinal truth to build up the church
rather than to "god" or the "air" to build up themselves.
The "worship" ritual of the wind gods was "speaking in
tongues" but not speaking languages. For an excellent parody
on singing or speaking to the air or clouds click here.
THOUGH I speak with the
tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am
become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. 1 Corinthians 13:1
Sounding
is from the Greek:
Echeo (g2278) ay-kheh'-o; from
2279; to make a loud noise, i.e. reverberate: - roar, sound.
Echos (g2279) ay'-khos; of
uncert. affin.; a loud or confused noise ("echo"), i.e. roar: fig.
a rumor: - fame, sound.
This is the meaning of sounds like that of
many waters:
And there shall be signs
in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon
the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; Luke 21:25
Aristophanes Thesmophoriazusae
Something strange
happened to the nymph Echo: her speech was curtailed by
Hera, so that she merely repeated the
concluding phrases of a speech and returned the words she
heard. Echo was a nymph. Hera did this because Echo, holding the goddess in long
talk, prevented
her to catch the NYMPHS who had been in company with
her husband.
"That tongue of yours,
by which I have been tricked, shall have its power curtailed and enjoy the briefest use
of speech." [Hera]
Echo was educated by the NYMPHS, and taught to play music
by the MUSES. Some say Echo fled from all males, whether
men or Gods, because she loved virginity. Seeing that, Pan took occasion to be angry at
her, and to envy her music because he could not come at
her beauty.
Therefore he turned mad the shepherds and goatherds, and they, like dogs and wolves, tore her to pieces and
flung them about them all over the earth.
Gaia buried them, preserving their
musical property, and by a decree of the MUSES they
breathe out a voice, imitating all things.
But it is also said that
she, because of grief, faded away with the exception
of her voice. This happened when Echo fell in love
with Narcissus and he spurned her love.
Narcissus was, according to some, the
son of the River God Cephisus & the Nymph Liriope, or
according to others, the son of Endymion and Selene (Moon). When Narcissus was born
the seer Tiresias was asked whether this child would live
a long life and the seer replied:
"If he
never know himself"
When Echo fell in love
with him and her love was not returned, she disappeared
from woods and mountains and faded away. Some say not even
her bones remained because they were turned into stone.
Sounding Brass
and Tinkling Cymbals
Chorus Echo, the nymph of Cithaeron, returns thy words, which resound beneath the dark vaults of
the thick foliage and in the midst of the rocks of the
forest; the ivy enlaces thy brow with its tendrils charged
with flowers.
`cymbalum': cymbala were hollow hemispheres of
metal a few inches in diameter, held one in each hand by
the aid of small rings or thongs attached to the center of
their convex surfaces. Struck together, they gave a sharp, clanging sound that fitted
well with that of the tympana and tibiæ; cf. Catul. 64.262
``tereti tenuis tinnitus ære ciebant''; Ov. Fast. 4.184
``æra tinnitus ære epulsa dabunt''; Ov. Fast. 4.189
``sonus æris acuti''; Aus. Epist. 24.23 ``tinnitus
atinnitus aëni.eumlaut;ni.''
|
|
-
|
|
RISD 25.078,
Attic red figure lekythos, c. 500-475 B.C. Hera
seated on a throne. Photograph by Maria Daniels,
courtesy of the Museum of Art, RISD, Providence,
RI 45
|
|
Brass
is:
Chalkos (g5475) khal-kos'; perh.
from 5465 through the idea of hollowing out as a vessel (this metal being chiefly
used for that purpose); copper (the substance, or some
implement or coin made of it): - brass, money.
Chalao (g5465) khal-ah'-o; from
the base of 5490; to lower (as into a void): - let down,
strike
Paul compares the
practices of the goddess of the air, ECHO, to the empty
sounding echos or reverberation of musical instruments.
And then he compares the musical noise to speaking in
tongues directed to some god and were therefore just
"speaking into the air." All of these, difficult to be
understood teachings of Paul, directly link the
Corinthian worship to the paganism out of which they had
just come.
Ovid Metamorphoses 7.346.
against the magic-making
sound of gongs
O wonder-working Moon, I draw you down
against the magic-making sound of
gongs
and brazen vessels of Temesa's
ore;
I cast my spells and veil the jeweled
rays
of Phoebus' wain, and quench Aurora's fires.
"At my command you tamed the flaming bulls
Strabo
defines the choral dance the Jewish Clergy tried to
induce into Jesus as they "played their pipes" but
He refused to fall into their effeminate form of
worship:
Strabo
Geography 10.3.13
The poets bear
witness to such views as I have suggested. For
instance, when Pindar, in the dithyramb which begins
with these words, In earlier times there marched the
lay of the dithyrambs long drawn out, mentions
the hymns sung in honor of Dionysus, both the ancient and
the later ones, and then, passing on from these, says,
To perform the
prelude in thy honor, great Mother, the whirling of
cymbals is at hand, and among them, also,
the clanging of
castanets, and the torch that blazeth beneath
the tawny pine-trees, he bears witness to the common
relationship between the rites exhibited in the worship
of Dionysus among the Greeks and those in the
worship of the Mother of the gods among the Phrygians,
for he makes these rites closely akin to one
another. And Euripides does likewise, in his
Bacchae, citing the Lydian usages at the same time
with those of Phrygia, because of their similarity:
But ye who left Mt.
Tmolus, fortress of Lydia, revel-band of mine, women whom I brought from the
land of barbarians as my assistants and travelling
companions,
uplift the tambourines native to Phrygian
cities, inventions of mine and mother Rhea. And
again, happy he who, blest man, initiated in the mystic rites, is pure in his life,
. . . who, .. for me the triple-crested Corybantes
in their caverns invented this hide-stretched circlet, and blent its
Bacchic revelry with the
high-pitched,
sweet-sounding breath of Phrygian flutes, and in Rhea's hands
placed its resounding noise, to accompany the
shouts of the Bacchae, and from Mother Rhea frenzied Satyrs obtained it and
joined it to the choral dances of the Trieterides, in
whom Dionysus takes delight. And in the Palamedes
the Chorus says, Thysa, daughter
of Dionysus, who on Ida rejoices with his dear
mother in the bacchic revels of tambourines.
While we might all wish to have
supernatural power, Paul demanded that charity demands
that we instead of
seek to be able to teach that which Christ has already
inspired and spoken. The church did not come together to
"worship" in the legal or pagan sense to feed, clothe,
house or entertain God. Rather, the Christian assembly
is directed toward the assembly: to allow Christ to
speak to the church through the Word. Look at 1
Corinthians 14:
|
Wrong Direction
|
FOLLOW (pursue) after
charity, and desire (have a warm feeling)
spiritual gifts
|
|
Right Direction
|
but rather (instead of) that ye may prophesy. 1
Corinthians 14:1
|
|
Wrong Direction
|
For he
that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh
not unto men, but unto god: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in
the (his own)
spirit he speaketh mysteries (imposed silence). 1 Corinthians 14:2
|
|
Right Direction
|
But he
that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation,
and comfort. 1 Corinthians 14:3
|
|
Wrong Direction
|
-
He
that speaketh in an unknown tongue
- edifieth (builds his own house) himself;
|
|
Right Direction
|
but he
that prophesieth (teaches) edifieth (builds
the whole body) the church. 1 Corinthians 14:4
|
Next, Paul defines prophesying as
speaking the reveled Words of Christ:
I would that ye all
spake with tongues, but rather that ye prophesied: for greater is he that
prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues, except
he interpret, that the church may receive edifying. 1
Corinthians 14:5
(Note: Pavarotti might say "I wish
you all could sing opera" but, like Paul in chapter
12, he would say "but you don't all have the gift,
do you?")
Now, brethren, if I
come unto you speaking with tongues, what shall I
profit you, except I shall speak to you either by revelation, or by knowledge, or by prophesying, or
by doctrine? 1 Corinthians 14:6
Even a lifeless harp can be blown
about by the wind and give out unknown tongues. And the
unlearned believed that it was the god inside of the
instrument. Paul knew this, so how are you any better
than a trumpet blown by a child in the middle of the
battle?
And even things without life (lifeless instruments
are carnal weapons) giving sound, whether pipe or
harp, except they give a distinction in the sounds,
how shall it be known what is piped or harped? 1
Corinthians 14:7
For if the trumpet
give an uncertain (hidden from the troops) sound,
who shall prepare himself to the battle? 1
Corinthians 14:8
|
Right Direction
|
-
So
likewise ye, except ye utter by the tongue
words easy to be understood, how shall it be known what
is spoken?
|
|
Wrong Direction
|
for ye
shall speak into the air (Aer to breath unconsciously from the natural flesh.) 1
Corinthians 14:9
|
Peter warned that Paul's words can be easily perverted
and destroy people. Therefore, we have to hear Paul
speaking within the language and religion of the
Corinthians out of which they had just come. The Greekk
"god of the air" lived in Corinth.
Paul always compared this to the
actions of children:
When I was a
child, I talked like a child, I thought like a
child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man,
I put childish ways behind me. 1 Corinthians 13:11
Paul, too, could speak the gibberish
but he could also speak the languages of the Roman
empire. However, in Corinth he would just insult them
if he spoke English:
Yet in the church
I had rather speak five words with my understanding,
that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten
thousand words in an unknown tongue. 1 Corinthians
14:19
Brethren, be not
children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye
children, but in understanding be men. 1
Corinthians 14:20
The developed believer is a mature
adult. Therefore, if they speak in tongues in Corinth
where everyone understood Greek, the unbeliever would
see them as mad or insane which was the charismatic
ecstasy of the god of the air:
If therefore the whole church be come together into
one place, and all speak with tongues, and there
come in those that are unlearned, or unbelievers, will they
not say that ye are mad? 1 Corinthians 14:23
People come to the Christian church
to hear the words of Christ or it is not Christian.
When the seekers came to "church" in Corinth they
could easily tell whether they were worshipping the
god of the air practiced down the street or were
devoted to the spirit or mind or the rational nature.
The world recognized 5 languages
and 70 minor dialects which were called TONGUES. The
Corinthian church is believed to have met at
Cenchrea since history knows of no church meeting IN
Corinth proper. There was a canal and causeway which
ran from West to East. This kept ships from having
to take a long, dangerous voyage. Women like Phoebe
was a Greek official charged with giving traveler's
aid, finding jobs or homes if they wished to remain
in Greece. This meant that most of the church people
were NOT city folk. They usually had their own
tongue or dialect and everyone believed that prayers
or chants had more power in their magical language.
However, Koine Greek was almost universal language.
If they all spoke in their foreign tongues they
could not be understood without an interpreter.
Therefore, Paul said to pray in your spirit in your
own dialect, but if so pray so that YOU might
interpret.
When speaking in tongues it had to
be one person at a time with another person to judge
whether he was inspired or just a worshipper of the
god of the air. However, in the mature church
preaching gives way to dialog. If everyone can teach
and no one is involved in singing, dancing, shouting,
playing instruments and looking insane, then the
unbeliever would see this as a sign of God's Spirit
presence:
But if all
prophesy, and there come in one that believeth not,
or one unlearned, he is convinced of all, he is
judged of all: 1 Corinthians 14:24
And thus are the
secrets of his heart made manifest; and so falling
down on his face he will worship God, and report
that God is in you of a truth. 1 Corinthians 14:25
When people lifted up holy hands as
one might be holding up a book, the view was that God
was personally speaking throught His Word. Another
view is that "prophesying" was either a charismatic,
musical outrage or it was "giving heed" to reading the
Word so that you could say, "Thus saith the Lord."
In the mature church the unbeliever
is a child of the community to be taught by all and
not a spectator to be preached to or sung to which is
still just speaking in tongues.
Aeolus - Human Who Became
God of the Air
in Greek mythology, mythical king of Magnesia in
Thessaly, the son of Hellen (the eponymous ancestor of
the true Greeks, or Hellenes) and father of Sisyphus
(the "most crafty of men"). Aeolus' daughter Canace and son Macareus committed
incest and then took
their own lives. Their story provided the subject of
Euripides' lost Aeolus. Aeolus gave his name to
Aeolis, a territory on the western coast of Asia
Minor.
