I'm indebted to Kevin Kay for information in his charts on instrumental music. See at www.padfield.com

Two books, Music Matters by Aubrey Johnson (20^th Century Christian, 1995) and Sing His Praise! By Rubel Shelley (20^th Century Christian, 1987) were also helpful in compiling the material.

1. "And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives." (Mt. 26:30; Mk. 14:26)

2. "But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them." (Acts 16:25)

3. "For this reason I will confess to You among the Gentiles, And sing to Your name." (Rom. 15:9)

4. "I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding." (I Cor. 14:15)

5. "Do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord." (Eph. 5:18-19)

6. "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord." (Col. 3:16)

7. "I will declare Your name to My brethren; In the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to You." (Heb. 2:12)

8. "Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms." (Jas. 5:13)

The purpose of congregational singing

We should also remember that a song written by a human can be unscriptural in content. Though we understand the concept of "poetic license" (the liberty a writer takes in expression, to derive a desired effect), the content of the song must still be still be truthful. The elders of a local church need to be watchful in this regard; singing a lie is no different, really, than speaking one. The books we have used through the years have greatly reduced this problem, since Christians edit them. The book we use at Folsom, for example, is edited by two men who are committed to the truth, R. J. Stevens and Dane Shepard. Sometimes, though, a verse or two of a song may be in doubt. There is nothing wrong with singing fewer verses than the song has, either because the omitted verses are doubtful, or because it is more convenient to do so.

Controversy

One of the most noticeable differences in most churches of Christ and denominations one might visit is the omission of the use of instruments of music in the assembly. Today, we are in a tiny minority. Yet, there is broad admission by historians and religious scholars that instrumental music was not used in the early days of the church and most admit that the passages cited above do not envision its use. Below, we answer the arguments offered to defend instrumental music today.

David used instrumental music, because it was commanded by the Lord (2 Ch. 29:25)

1. The OT law which authorized instrumental music has been replaced by the gospel of Christ (Rom. 7:4, 6-7; Gal. 3:23-25; Eph. 2:14-16; Col. 2:14-15; Heb. 7:11-12, 18-19; 8:6-13).

2. The NT only authorizes singing (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16; Jas. 5:13)

3. If we can use instrumental music in worship because David did, can we:

a. Offer animal sacrifices? (Ps. 20:3; 66:13, 15)

b. Dance before the Lord (2 Sam. 6:14)

c. Keep the sabbath? (Ex. 20:8)

d. Have many wives? (2 Sam. 5:13)

1. He cared when Lot’s wife looked back (Gen. 19:12-17, 26; Lk. 17:32)

2. He cared when Nadab and Abihu offered strange fire (Lev. 10:1-3)

3. He cared when Moses failed to give Him credit (Num. 20:1-13; Psa. 106:32-33)

4. He cared when Saul offered the sacrifice at Gilgal (1 Sam. 13:8-14)

5. He cared when Uzzah touched the ark of the covenant (2 Sam. 6:1-7; 1 Ch. 13:1-10)

6. He cared when the man of God from Judah believed a lie and disobeyed Him (1 Kings 13:11-24)

7. He cared when Uzziah offered incense on the altar (2 Ch. 26:16-23)

1. Instrumental music was not used in the early church

2. Instrumental music was introduced many years after the church was established

3. Instrumental music was opposed when it was first introduced

4. Instrumental music has been opposed by many respected religious leaders and scholars

"There is no record in the NT of the use of instruments in the musical worship of the church. In this regard, early believers followed the practice of the Hebrew synagogue music." ("Music," Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia, p. 1163)

"The primitive Christian community held the same view, as we know from the apostolic and post-apostolic literature: instrumental music was thought unfit for religious services; the Christian sources are outspoken in their condemnation of instrumental performances. Originally, only song was considered worthy of direct approach to Divinity." ("The Music of Post-Biblical Judaism," The New Oxford History of Music, Vol. I, p. 135)

Edward Dickinson: "While the Greek and Roman songs were metrical, the Christian psalms were antiphons, prayers, responses, etc., were unmetrical; and while the pagan melodies were always sung to an instrumental accompaniment, the church chant was exclusively vocal." (Music in the History of the Western Church, p. 54)

Frank Landon Humphreys: "One of the features which distinguishes the Christian religion from almost all others is its quietness; it aims to repress the outward signs of inward feeling . The early Christians discouraged all outward signs of excitement, and from the very beginning, in the music they used, reproduced the spirit of their religion -- an inward quietude. All the music employed in their early services was vocal." (Evolution Of Church Music, p. 42)

Dr. Frederic Louis Ritter: "We have no real knowledge of the exact character of the music which formed a part of the religious devotion of the first Christian congregations It was, however, purely vocal. Instrumental music was excluded, at first, as having been used by the Romans at their depraved festivities; and everything reminding them of heathen worship could not be endured by the new religionists." (History Of Music From The Christian Era To The Present Time, p. 28)

Lars P. Qualben: "Singing formed an essential part of the Christian worship, but it was in unison and without musical accompaniment." (A History Of The Christian Church, p. 112)

Joseph Otten: "For almost a thousand years Gregorian chant, without any instrumental or harmonic addition was the only music used in connection with the liturgy. The organ, in its primitive and rude form, was the first, and for a long time the sole, instrument used to accompany the chant " (The Catholic Encyclopedia, 1913, Vol. 10, p. 657)

James Pierce: "I come now to say somewhat of the antiquity of musical instruments. But that these were not used in the Christian Church in the primitive times is attested by all the ancient writers with one consent ....From what has been said, it appears no musical instruments were used in the pure times of the church." (A Vindication Of The Dissenters, n.p.)

George A. Klingman: "The earliest reference is to the use of the flute and the harp in the second century. At Alexandria, Clement (155-c. 220) forbade the use of the flute, on the ground that it was ‘too worldly’ and substituted the harp. Ambrose is said to have introduced instrumental music in the West in the fourth century." (Church History For Busy People, pp. 92-93)

The American Cyclopedia: "Pope Vitalian is related to have first introduced organs into some of the churches of Western Europe about 670; but the earliest trustworthy account is that of one sent as a present by the Greek emperor Constantine Copronymus to Pepin, king of the Franks, in 755." (Vol. 12, p. 688)

Chambers’ Encyclopedia: "The organ is said to have been introduced into church music by Pope Vitalian I in 666. In 757, a great organ was sent as a present to Pepin by the Byzantine emperor, Constantine Copronymus, and placed in the church of St. Corneille at Compiegne." (Vol. 7, p. 112)

Phillip Schaff: "The use of organs in churches is ascribed to Pope Vitalian (657-672). Constantine Copronymos sent an organ with other presents to King Pepin of France in 767. Charlemagne received one as a present from the Caliph Haroun al Rashid, and had it put up in the cathedral of Aixla-Chapelle....The attitude of the churches toward the organ varies. It shared to some extent the fate of images except that it never was an object of worship....The Greek church disapproved the use of organs. The Latin church introduced it pretty generally, but not without the protest of eminent men, so that even in the Council of T rent a motion was made, though not carried, to prohibit the organ at least in the mass." (History Of The Christian Church, Vol. 4, p. 439)

John Kurtz: "At first church music was simple, artless, recitative. But the rivalry of heretics forced the orthodox church to pay greater attention to the requirements of art. Chrysostom (c. 344-407) had to declaim against the secularization of church music. More lasting was the opposition of the church to the introduction of instrumental accompaniment." (Church History, Vol. I, p. 376)

Edward Dickinson: "In view of the controversies over the use of instrumental music in worship, which have been so violent in the British and American Protestant churches, it is an interesting question whether instruments were employed by the primitive Christians. We know that instruments performed an important function in the Hebrew temple service and in the ceremonies of the Greeks. At this point, however, a break was made with all previous practice, and although the lyre and flute were sometimes employed by the Greek converts, as a general rule the use of instruments in worship was condemned. Many of the fathers, speaking of religious song, make no mention of instruments; others, like Clement of Alexandria and St. Chrysostom, refer to them only to denounce them. Clement says: ‘Only one instrument do we use, viz. the word of peace wherewith we honor God, no longer the old psaltery, trumpet, drum, and flute.’ Chrysostom exclaims: ‘David formerly sang in psalms, also we sing today with him; he had a lyre with lifeless strings, the church has a lyre with living strings. Our tongues are the strings of the lyre, with a different tone, indeed, but with a more accordant piety.’ St. Ambrose (c.339-397) expresses his scorn for those who would play the lyre and psaltery instead of singing hymns and psalms; and St. Augustine (354-430) adjures believers not to turn their heart to theatrical instruments. The religious guides of the early Christians felt that there would be an incongruity, and even profanity, in the use of the sensuous nerve-exciting effects of instrumental sound in their mystical, spiritual worship. Their high religious and moral enthusiasm needed no aid from external stimulus; the pure vocal utterance was the more proper expression of their faith." (Music In The History Of The Western Church, pp. 54-55)

McClintock & Strong: "Neither Ambrose, nor Basil, nor Chrysostom in the noble encomiums which they severally pronounced upon music make any mention of instrumental music. Basil indeed, expressly condemns it as ministering only to the depraved passions of men....Even Gregory the Great, who towards the end of the 6th century added greatly to the existing church music, absolutely prohibited the use of instruments." (Cyclopedia Of Biblical, Theological, And Ecclesiastical Literature, Vol. 6, p. 759)

John Calvin (1509-1564) (Presbyterian): "Musical instruments in celebrating the praises of God would be no more suitable than the burning of incense, the lighting up of lamps, and the restoration of the other shadows of the law. The papists, therefore, have foolishly borrowed this, as well as many other things, from the Jews. Men who are fond of outward pomp may delight in that noise; but the simplicity which God recommends to us by the apostle is far more pleasing to Him." (Calvin’s Commentary on the 33rd Psalm)

John Girardeau (Presbyterian): "It has thus been proved, by an appeal to historical facts, that the church, although lapsing more and more into defection from the truth and into a corruption of apostolic practice, had no instrumental music for twelve hundred years; and that the Calvinistic Reformed Church ejected it from its services as an element of Popery, even the Church of England having come very nigh to its extrusion from her worship. The historical argument, therefore, combines with the Scriptural and the confessional to raise a solemn and powerful protest against its employment by the Presbyterian Church. It is heresy in the sphere of worship." (Instrumental Music In Public Worship, p. 179)

Charles Hadden Spurgeon (1834-1892)(Baptist): "David appears to have had a peculiarly tender remembrance of the singing of the pilgrims, and assuredly it is the most delightful part of worship and that which comes nearest to the adoration of heaven. What a degradation to supplant the intelligent song of the whole congregation by the theatrical prettiness of a quartet, bellows, and pipes! We might as well pray by machinery as praise by it." (Commentary on Psalms 42)

Benedict (Baptist): "In my earliest intercourse among this people, congregational singing generally prevailed among them....The introduction of the Organ among the Baptists....This instrument, which from time immemorial has been associated with cathedral pomp and prelatical power, and has always been the peculiar favorite of great national churches, at length found its way into Baptist sanctuaries, and the first one ever employed by the denomination in this country, and probably in any other, might have been standing in the singing gallery of the Old Baptist meeting house in Pawtucket, about forty years ago, when I then officiated as pastor (1840)....Staunch old Baptists in former times would as soon tolerated the Pope of Rome in their pulpits as an organ in their galleries, and yet the instrument has gradually found its way among them....How far this modern organ fever will extend among our people, and whether it will on the whole work a RE-formation or DE-formation in their singing service, time will more fully develope." (Fifty Years Among Baptists, pp. 204-207)

John Spencer Curwen: "Men still living can remember the time when organs were very seldom found outside the Church of England. The Methodists, Independents, and Baptists rarely had them, and by the Presbyterians they were stoutly opposed. But since these bodies began to introduce organs, the adoption of them has been unchecked. Even the Presbyterians are giving away, and if we read the future by the past, we can hardly doubt that, in a few years, unaccompanied singing will very seldom be heard. Yet, even in the Church of England itself, organs did not obtain admission without much controversy." (Studies in Worship Music, p. 179)

Adam Clarke (Methodist): "I believe that David was not authorized by the Lord to introduce that multitude of musical instruments into the divine worship of which we read; and I am satisfied that his conduct in this respect is most solumnly reprehended by this prophet: and I farther believe that the use of some instruments of music, in the Christian Church, is without the sanction and against the will of God; that they are subversive of the spirit of true devotion, and that they are sinful. If there was a woe to them who invented instruments of music, as did David under the law, is there no woe, no curse, to them who invent them, and introduce them into the worship of God in the Christian Church. I am an old man, and an old minister, and I here declare that I never knew them productive of any good in the worship of God; and have reason to believe that they were productive of much evil. Music, as a science, I esteem and admire: but instruments of music in the house of God I abominate and abhor. This is the abuse of music; and here I register my protest against all such corruptions in the worship of the Author of Christianity. The late venerable and most eminent divine, John Wesley, who was a lover of music, and an elegant poet, when asked his opinion of instruments of music being introduced into the chapels of the Methodists said, in his terse and powerful manner, ‘I have no objection to instruments of music in our chapels, provided they are neither heard nor seen.’ I say the same, though I think the expense of purchase had better be spared." (Adam Clarke’s Commentary, Vol. 4, p. 686)

Martin Luther: "The church rings with the noise of trumpets, pipes and dulcimers; and human voices strive to bear their part with them. Men run to the church as to a theater, to have their ears tickled" (Commentary on I Corinthians 14:19)

Albert Barnes: "Psallo…is used, in the NT only in Rom. 15:9 and 1 Cor. 14:15, where it is translated sing; in James 5:13, where it is rendered sing psalms, and in the place before us. The idea here is that of singing in the heart or praising God from the heart."(Comment on Eph. 5:19, Notes On The New Testament, via Earl Robertson, "Instrumental Music In Worship," p. 26)

J. W. McGarvey: "And if any man who is a preacher believes that the apostle teaches the use of instrumental music in the church by enjoining the singing of psalms, he is one of those smatterers in Greek who can believe anything that he wishes to believe. When the wish is father to the thought, correct exegesis is like water on a duck’s back." (Biblical Criticism, p. 116, "Instrumental Music In Worship," p. 26)