Theater - Music in Religion: Jeff Walling, George Whitefield

clanging and harp-players

Must ye always rejoice, and go into my holy places continually, as they that keep a feast?
and must ye go with a PIPE, as those that rejoice into the mountain of the Lord,
to the God of Israel Isaiah 30:29 LX

And it shall happen to him from every side, that they from whom their hope of assistance was, in which he trusted,
         themselves shall war against him in turn with DRUMS and with HARP. Isaiah 30:32 LXX

For Tophet is ordained of old; yea, for the king it is prepared; he hath made it deep and large:
        the pile thereof is fire and much wood;
        the BREATH [Spirit] of the LORD, like a stream of brimstone, doth KINDLE it. Is. 30:33

The singers and instrument players in evelation 18 are called SORCERERS and the WILL BE or ARE BEING CAST ALIVE INTO THE LAKE OF FIRE. It needs no proving that men who write and deliver their on songs or sermon SILENCE the voice of Jesus in Holy Scripture.

Jeff Walling and George Whitefield knew that by using the artifices of mimesis and comedy they pointed out and defused their opponents' anxieties about music, theater, and sexuality, creating a space for players in the cultural mainstream."

SCRIPTURE AND RECORDED HISTORY CALLS IT SORCERY:

Plato, Euthydemus

[289d] On what proof do you rely? I asked.

I see, he said, certain speech-writers who do not know how to use
        the special arguments composed by themselves,
        just as lyre-makers in regard to their lyres:
in the former case also there are other persons
        able to use what the makers produced,
Hence it is clear that in speech likewise there are two distinct ARTS one of making and one of using.

I think you give sufficient proof,
I said, that this art of the speech-writers cannot be that whose acquisition would make one happy.
And yet I fancied that somewhere about this point would appear the knowledge which we have been seeking all this while.

[289e] For not only do these speech-writers themselves, when I am in their company,
        impress me as prodigiously clever,
        Cleinias, but their art itself seems so exalted as to be almost inspired.
However, this is not surprising;
        for it is a part of the SORCERER'S art, epōdōn tekhnēs

Latin 289e:
kai mentoi ouden thaumaston: esti gar tēs tōn epōdōn tekhnēs morion mikrō te ekeinēs hupodeestera.

Thaumaston Is a Lying wonder which claims that your rituals are ordained by God.

-epōdē , Ion. and poet. epa^oidē , hē, A.song sung to or over: hence, enchantment, spell, LADEN BURDEN
ou pros iatrou sophou thrēnein epōdas pros tomōnti pēmati
of the Magi, Hdt.1.132
oute pharmaka..oud' au epōdai” Pl.R. 426b ; thusiai kai e. ib.364b ;
charm for or against.., “toutōn epōdas ouk epoiēsen patēr” A.Eu.649.

epōd-os , on, （epadō）
A.singing to or over, using songs or charms to heal wounds, “epōdoi muthoi”

b. Subst., enchanter, “e. kai goēs” E.Hipp. 1038 (but “goēs e.” Ba.234): c. gen., a charm for or against, “ethusen hautou paida epōdon Thrēkiōn aēmatōn” A.Ag.1418 ; e. tōn toioutōn one to charm away such fears, Pl.Phd.78a.
c. c. dat., assisting, profitable, 2. Pass., sung to music, “phōnai” Plu.2.622d ; fit for singing, “poiētikēn e. parekhein
2. epōdos, ho, verse or passage returning at intervals, in Alcaics and Sapphics, D.H.Comp.19 ; chorus, LADED BURDEDN, refrain,

Pl.Lg.903b Athenian
Let us persuade the young man by our discourse that all things are ordered systematically by Him who cares for the World—all with a view to the preservation and excellence of the Whole, whereof also each part, so far as it can, does and suffers what is proper to it. To each of these parts, down to the smallest fraction, rulers of their action and passion are appointed to bring about fulfillment even to the uttermost

hupodeestera. somewhat deficient, inferior;
I. of persons, lower in degree,

See Jeff Walling transformed and applauded by the NACC
See Jeff Walling on Instrumental music: using the PSALLO word to sow discord is blasphemy

See the meaning of Charismatic in either rhetoric or music
See Max Lucado and Rubel Shelly on Learning how to Dance with God.
Which is the ancient and modern pagan Dionysia

See the Tulsa Workshop and the Sexual performances: When God pours out His wrath he makes people into JESTERS and BUFFOONS.

See the Greek meaning and background to "charismatic" which includes singing and dancing.

"Of particular interest is the way that early modern playwrights, music theorists, and theater apologists addressed this conflated language of the "enemy," by echoing the same connections between sexuality and playing found in the most virulent antitheatrical tracts.

"As this paper will demonstrate, by "playing" with the conflated language, these writers defended their art,

justifying their existence in a society that was both seduced and repulsed by them. By claiming the polemical antitheatrical language, these players escaped from the ideological margins to which their opponents had tried to relegate them.

Using the artifices of mimesis (imitation) and comedy they pointed out and

defused their opponents' anxieties about music, theater, and sexuality,
creating a space for players in the cultural mainstream."

The History of Heredotus, Chapter Six reads:

"When at length the day arrived which had been fixed for the espousals, and Clisthenes had to speak out and declare his choice, he first of all made a sacrifice of a hundred oxen, and held a banquet, whereat he entertained all the suitors and the whole people of Sicyon.

After the feast was ended, the suitors vied with each other
in music and
in speaking on a given subject.

Presently, as the drinking advanced, Hippoclides, who quite dumbfoundered the rest,

called aloud to the flute-player, and bade him strike up a dance; which the man did, and Hippoclides danced to it.

And he fancied that he was dancing excellently well; but Clisthenes, who was observing him, began to misdoubt the whole business.

Then Hippoclides, after a pause, told an attendant to bring in a table; and when it was brought, he mounted upon it and danced first of all some Laconian figures, then some Attic ones; after which he stood on his head upon the table, and began to toss his legs about.

Clisthenes, notwithstanding that

he now loathed Hippoclides for a son-in-law,

by reason of his dancing and his shamelessness,

still, as he wished to avoid an outbreak, had restrained himself during the first and likewise during the second dance;

when, however, he saw him tossing his legs in the air, he could no longer contain himself, but cried out,"Son of Tisander, thou hast danced thy wife away!" "What does Hippoclides care?" was the other's answer. And hence the proverb arose.<>

The Britannica notes that: The art of the theatre is essentially one of make-believe, or mimesis. Drama also requires plausibility, but in drama it must be conveyed not by a narrator but by the actors' ability to make the audience "believe in" their speech, movement, thoughts, and feelings.

This plausibility is based

on the connection between the impression made by the actors
and the preconceptions of the auditors.

As "worship", therefore, the theatrical is "standing in the holy place claiming to be God." And many come to believe that "we are the mediators between man and God."

One dramatist noted that: "We love drama because we know that it isn't true."

"For instance, when you attend a musical concert it is not the actual performance which you admire; it is the preprogrammed expectations you hold. If you attend an event understanding that it is just "let's pretend" then it is innocent. However, if you attend expecting some heady truth to be revealed you will, as in all religious spectacle, momentarily lose your mind or "go out of yourself." In some events it seems clear that a programmed event can be so mind altering that you will never be able to recover. This is the story of Enoch as pointed to by Jude and embodied in numerous ancient documents. Once Lucifer was able to get the Jubal or Genun character to use mixed-sex choirs and instruments the Sethites were never able to "return to God's Holy Mountain." Enoch warns, and Jude defends his warning, that God will come with ten thousand Host specifically to judge those who used music to keep people away from the Words of God. Don't believe it? That is ok. It is only important that you understand that there is "no other traditions" about musical instruments as worship than that they came from the demons or satans. Theatrical performance is not evil but it is not spiritual either.

"Jeff Walling earned his Bachelor's degree from the University of California at Irvine in speech and communications with an emphasis in theatre." It comes as no surprise, therefore, the theatrical training and the preconditioning or expectations of a great performance contributes to success. Perhaps all preaching in the non-Biblical or established sense is based upon theatrical ability because the dullest person in the congregation could read the Word which is how Thomas Campbell defined the teaching process.

An eternal thesis is that "You cannot have a spiritual awakening until you put the old sacred cows to death: to the slaughter pen, yet." We have reviewed some of Jeff Walling's views based upon Internet postings, a posted chapter of his book and sermons from various Jubilees in Nashville, Tennessee. Our goal is simply to refute the notion that the church of Christ's sacred cows which need slaughtered are: Doctrinal teaching, dominant women, musical instruments, baptism, and several other beliefs. The only popular views right now express an "antiism" through manipulation with drama, comedy and ridicule. If you get a band of idle men to laugh at the ridicule of the non-use of instruments it is highly likely that they will return to their campus too psychologically cowed to ever mention it again.

Our reviews of the Dance principle goes well beyond the spiritual concept of dancing with God. Why is this important? It is important because literal dancing on the podium (holy place in cathedrals) has caused some to claim to be priests and to "be mediators between man and God." Therefore, we need to show that what Joseph Campbell called Affect Images have real, mystical power.

Jeff Walling: Eight Points Of Antiism for Campus Ministers
Review: Daring To Dance With God Part One
Review: Daring To Dance With God Part Two
Review: Daring To Dance With God Part Three

This is so important because those who go beyond the symbolism of dancing with God have only children, women, David and the Dionysus worshipers as models.

Jubilee 99 Navigating the Winds of change

The Judas Bag was for carrying the mouthpieces of wind instruments. This is a picture of those who dared to try to dance with God in a literal sense. The little box on the flute case is identified in the classical literature by the same name given to the Judas Money Bag. The komo or dance drama when used against Jesus had the Jews piping expecting that Jesus would sing and dance the Dionysus choral dance which would have looked like this illustration.

In the Dead Sea Scroll version of Psalm 41 which predicts Judas attempt to "triumph over" Jesus, triumph involved blowing the wind instruments and making a joyful noise which was very powerful in causing your enemies to panic in battle. This version includes the statements:

And they, teachers of lies and seers of falsehood,
have schemed against me a devilish scheme,

<>to exchange the Law engraved on my heart by Thee
for the smooth things which they speak to Thy people. <>
And they withhold from the thirst the drink of Knowledge, (Amos 5, 6, 8; Isaiah 5)
and assuage their thirst with vinegar,
that they may gaze on their straying,

on their folly concerning their feast-days (Jubilee, Feast of Tabernacles)
on their fall into their snares.

They have overtaken me in a narrow pass (gap) without escape
And there is no rest for me in my trial.
They sound my censure upon a harp
and their murmuring and storming upon a zither." Ps.41:11

Nevertheless, In Victory:

I will groan with the zither of lamentation
in all grief-stricken mourning and bitter complaint
until iniquity and wickedness are consumed
and the disease-bringing scourge is no more.
Then will I play on the zither of deliverance and harp of joy,
on the tabors of prayer and the pipe of praisewithout end.

Therefore, in translating Psalm 41 the Essenes saw the Levites who were under the King and commanders of the army as "standing in the gap" to try to defeat Jesus with singing and musical instruments. When He gains the victory the military music will cease and Jesus as our model will worship with "the fruit of His lips" even as we "groan in our spirit."

There is a lot of theatrical background in Paganism. Therefore, it is important that we not pick the wrong model for Christian worship. This has nothing to do with Jeff Walling but helps us understand that actors and other artists have a lot of power and it is important to close our eyes and listen to the words.

Theatrical Background:

Nimrod and His tag-along Women, drama and music
Judas as the Anti-Christ: Attempt to Triumph over Jesus with Drama and Music
The Mystic Dance of Jesus From Sophia-Zoe
Max Lucado: Holy Spirit Song Writer Dance Master
Music, Drama and Dance as Change Agent
Inanna Steals The ME From the Drunken God, Ea
Hermes, the Inventor of the Harp and Father of Lies

Apollo (Apollyon, Abbadon): How to Seduce Ministers to your Theatrical Center at Delphi
Lucian the Oracle Monger: How to establish a Seeker Theater

Theatrics in The Sophia-Zoe Dance Group

Origin of Feminine Sophia-Zoe and Emasculated Musicians
Hypostasis of the Archons Understand "because of the angels" and performing women.

Theatrical performance was also vital in the First and Second Awakenings which were really more like

George Whitefield was an actor with unusual ability. In time, he applied acting techniques to preaching and found that his skills could create hysteria in the people. Of course, he sold this as a spiritual experience. Being trained in the theatre, Whitefield decided that the best way to succeed would be to turn his theatrics against the theater. In effect, the churches became the "spiritual" theater. When he came to a new revival, rather than primarily preaching he attacked the occupation which had given him a livelihood; turning his old standing in the community to attack the old and promote the "new way." The First Great American Awakening happened only by using theatrics to defeat those who were more rational and therefore more spiritual. One result of the Awakening was great religious division where unity had once existed.

Reincarnation?

Whitefield Satirized by Charles Macklin:

Acting attempts to overcome the rational, spoken evidence by comedy and ridicule. This was the method of George Whitefield and his theatrical descendants.

Chrales Macklin was also an actor losing "seekers" to Whitefield who understood that the way to get the "seekers" back to the theater was to ridicule George Whitefield:

"George Whitefield acquired many enemies, who assailed evangelicalism as a distortion of the gospel and attacked him and his followers for alleged moral failings. The evangelist endured many jibes at his eye disease; hence the epithet "Dr. Squintum." This satire shows an imp pouring inspiration in Whitefield's ear while a grotesque Fame, listening on the other side through an ear trumpet, makes accusations on two counts that have dogged revivalists to the present day: sex and avarice. The Devil, raking in money below the podium, and the caption raise charges that Whitefield was enriching himself by his ministry. At the lower left, Whitefield's followers proposition a prostitute, reflecting the line in the caption that "their Hearts to lewd Whoring extend."

The evidence is that Whitefield was not mercenary. However, he took great pride in being better able to manipulate people out of money for his Georgia Orphan home and his attempted "seeker center" back in England. Benjamin Franklin who had little traffic with the existing but less skillful theatrical performers, became a great fan of George Whitefield and enjoyed the show. As with all "great leaps forward" in religion, the result was great religious division, and the chart of membership growth, after a short burst, continued along the same path. There were now 4 Quaker groups and someone has counted 146 Baptists organizations many of which died or merged.

Whatever the motives of the lusted-after Cane Ridge "revival," and whatever its beginnings it rapidly deteriorated to this and had to be cancelled because they were becomming commercial trade fairs for the "fair" and not so fair.

Citizens of Zion: The Social Origins of Camp Meeting Revivalism by Ellen Eslinger shows that the pattern of growth is not based upon human performance which ignores the narrator's teaching role in the church. After the fact it was recognized that this radicalism hindered the growth of the Restoration Movement.

Even today, the hope is that because of the theatrics people will understand that "it is not true" and attend the mass religious festivals (to which Jesus would not go) just for the show.

We will add more reviews of an attempt to build a whole new religion based on theatrical worship which by the "in spirit" definition of Jesus cannot be pure worship. Therefore, it must be vain worship.

Charles Chauncy Against Noises and Theatrics
Charles Chauncy Defining The New System
Spiritual Travels of Nathan Cole Hearing Whitefield at Northampton

Musical Worship Index

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Theater - Music in Religion: Jeff Walling, George Whitefield

Plato, Euthydemus [289d] On what proof do you rely? I asked.

Plato, Euthydemus

[289d] On what proof do you rely? I asked.