II. Music, singing and church history
    A. Old Testament period
      There was singing at the creation of all things
           -Job 38:7

      After escaping from the Egyptians and crossing the Red Sea, the people of Israel sang a song to the Lord God
           -Ex. 15

      Singing was part of Israel's formal worship in both the Tabernacle and the Temple.
          -1 Chron. 6:31-32; 16:42

      Isaiah composed songs, including one celebrating the Lord's deliverance of those  who trust Him
         -Isa. 26:1-6

      Ezekiel was regarded as 'One who was a beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument.'
        -Ezek. 33:32

      The Psalms bear rich testimony that in joy and sorrow, in praise and lament, the faithful raise their voice in song to God.

      Israel was phobic about borrowing anything from the surrounding pagan culture.
        -Mosaic Law had 613 rules, many of them spelled out in detail how not to behave like the nations around them.
         Rules about diet, dress and all kinds of  things.
       -But, when it comes to music, it seems nothing is forbidden. They used the same instruments and styles in music as their
        neighbors. The only difference  was they used that music to worship the One true God and to celebrate Life  in Him.

    Zeph. 3:17
       -God rejoices over his people with singing. Our God is a singing God, who sings with great joy!

     B. New Testament period
          Hymn singing was practiced by Jesus and His disciples.
            -Matt. 26:30

         Music was a vital part of the worshipping life of the New testament Believers.
                -Paul tells them to sing Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual songs.
               -We may not know exactly what they all entailed but we know there were to sing.

         From historical documents we have found a letter from Pliny the Younger written  to the Governor in the year 112.
              -He reports that Christians gathered at dawn to sing  'hymns to Christ as God'.

        It is believed my many scholars that there are hymns in the NT that perhaps our English  translations miss.
           -2 Tim. 2:11-13; Rom. 10:9ff; 1 Cor. 12:3; Eph. 5:14; Phil. 2:6-11; Col. 1:15-20; 2:6; 1 Tim. 3:16;
            Luke 1:46-55; 1:67-79; 2:29-32

     C. Ancient Church
          The Psalter, or Psalms, was the hymnbook of the early Christian church.

          However, the early Christian church was surrounded by a pagan society which also used music  for it's ritual worship.
             It's music was often sensuous in nature and was often used in religious orgies. (McElrath, 142)

          It is not surprising then to find that the early Christian did not use musical  instruments in general and that they stayed
          away from music that was too closely related to the pagan  religious culture around them.

          Generally, the music of the early church was Psalmic in nature, and  unaccompanied.
          It was comparatively simple and was used as a modest vehicle for praise to God.

     D. The Patristic Period
          The first important era of growth in church music was in the period between  Constantines Edict of Milan and the
          beginning of the papacy of Gregory I .
               -This Edict of Milan made Christian worship legal and this caused it to expand.

        By the time of Ambrose, the songs of the worship service included Psalms and hymns which caused tension in the church.

           Hymns were written by those supporting the Gnostic and Arian heresies during this time and the 'true' church had to
           respond with hymns of 'orthodox'  doctrine.
                -This was seen in the hymnody of  Ephraem Syrus (307-373).  What  Syrus did was adapt the music of the Gnostic
                  and Arian hymns to more orthodox words.  (Miller, 109)
               -It is interesting that this period often saw the 'orthodox' borrowing from the 'heretical' and this was deemed OK by
                the church.

        Ambrose, himself, introduced an new ' metrical ' hymn into western worship but the Council of Laodicea  (343-381)
        prohibited all non-scriptual hymns. But as the clerical singers were given free rein,  the hymns were sung
        anyway.(McElrath, 145)

      Of even greater tension was the use of instruments in worship. The early church fathers had to comment on something that
      was Scriptural (there are numerous references to a variety of  instruments used in worship in the Bible) but also worldly
     (the frivolous  and sensuous use of  instruments by the theatrical world).
            -They had to be cautious in admitting their use in the church. (McElrath, 144)
            -Justin and Clement of Alexandria among others were is support of the use of instruments in the church.
            -While Augustine and Chrysostom were strongly against their use.
           -The latter won out and the use of instruments was prohibited from church use until around 1000. (McElrath, 145)

     E. Medieval Church
          Church music would once again see a change under the papal leadership of Gregory I.
               -Gregory I laid the foundation for the enlargement of the use of music in the church.
                   -He developed the Gregorian Chant which modified the scales and all voices  sang in unison.
                   -All musical instruments were banned during this time and only men were allowed to sing in worship. (Miller, 110)
                   -The Gregorian Chant gained it's final form under the rule of Charlemagne and became know as 'sacred' music,
                     the official music of the church.

          Music was so important to the life  and ministry of St. Francis of Assisi (1182-1226) that he once proclaimed himself
          to be 'God's gleeman'

          Attempts were made to enlarge to base of church music and by the 13th century the age of polyphony had dawned.
          It was professional in nature and was restricted to professional choirs and was not sung in church by the people.

          Perhaps most important was the introduction of the Motet to the church music.
               -The motet was a secular form of popular music that had found its way to be used in worship with the Gregorian
                 chant and other polyphonic music.
               -It was a real mixture of the sacred and the secular in worship. (McElrath147)
              -Not unlike what is what is happening in current church music practice.

          During the end of the 14th and 15th centuries the professionalism of church music developed to a much greater extent.
               -Only professional choirs sang in the churches worship services and the common folk were extremely limited in what
                 musical participation they had.
              -This contributed to their desire to sing religious music outside the church.
              -During this period the development of the secular Folk Song was prominent among the commoners both Christian
                and pagan.
             -So, taking their example from the 12th century troubadours men like Francis of Assisi wrote simple songs of devotion
               and praise and these sprang up as important parts of the religious life of the common Italian people. (McElrath, 147)
            -The Christian communities in Italy and Germany invented their own simple songs.
                   -This was also seen in the English Carols.

        It was inevitable that the church would have to adopt these forms into their service.

        Even back in the Middle Ages, there was the need for the people to sing religious songs  in ways that were familiar to
        them. Again, this is not unlike the situation today.

     F. Reformation Church
         In some senses the Reformation was not only one of theological reform but also of  musical freedom. The Reformers as a whole wanted the congregations to sing the praises of the church. They wanted all people to sing in their own language and in     music simple enough for the people to learn. This means the production of a whole new kind of music.

        This musical reformation began with John Huss (1373-1415).
           -He opposed all polyphonic and instrumental music and only would support the singing of devotional and simple songs
            in unison. He stated that unison makes all men equal in worship. (McElrath, 151)
           -I believe Huss took a step forward in the use of popular songs for the common people, but by rejecting the use of
            polyphony and instrumental music he took a step backward in music's overall influence on the church.

       The Bohemians, Moravians and followers of Huss put such an emphasis on popular praise in music that in 1504 a
       hymnbook was published for use by the common  people.

       Luther, however, took a position of adapting the use of popular, secular tunes with  the truth of  Scripture.
            -He also believed that there was room in the church service for the use of instruments, especially the organ, polyphonic
             choir singing as well as congregational singing in the vernacular. (Norman,)

ILL: Luther said ' Please omit all new-fangled court expressions, for to win popularity a song must be in the most simple and common language.' (Miller, 113)

ILL: Luther also said  'I Dr. Martin Luther, wish all lovers of the unshackled art of music and peace from God the Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ! I truly desire that all Christians would love and regard as worth the lovely gift of music, which is a precious, worthy and costly treasure given to mankind by God. The riches of music are so excellent and so precious that words fail  me whenever I attempt to discuss and describe them...In summ, next to the Word of God, the noble art of music is the greatest treasure in the world. It controls our thoughts, minds, hearts and spirits...Our dear fathers and prophets did not desire without reason that music be always used in the churches. hence we have so many songs and psalms.

 This precious gift has been given to man alone that he might thereby remind himself that God has created man for the express purpose of praising and extolling God. However, when man's natural musical ability is whetted and polished to the extent that it becomes an art, then do we note with great surprise the great and perfect wisdom of God in music, which is, after all, His product and His gift; we marvel when we hear music in which  one voice sings a simple melody, while three, four or five other voices play and trip lustily around the voice that sings its simple melody and adorn this simple melody wonderfully with artistic musical effects, thus reminding us of a heavenly dance, where all meet in a spirit of friendliness, caress and embrace.

 A person who gives this some thought and yet does not regard music as a marvelous creation of God must be a clodhopper indeed and does not deserve to be called a human being; he should be permitted to hear nothing but the braying of asses and the grunting of hogs.'

      Luther got his inspiration for his music from the popular German ballads of his day. The tunes were borrowed from
      German folk songs. (Leupold,196)  Luther was not so concerned with the associations of origins of the tunes as
       he was with their ability to communicate Biblical truth. (Miller, 113)

ILL: Luther went as far as to say ' The devil has no need of all the good tunes for himself.' He further stated that 'For the youth's sake we must read, sing, preach, write and compose verse, and whenever it was helpful and beneficial I would let all the bells peal, all the organs thunder and everything sound that could sound'. (Miller, 114)

      Luther cared only to communicate biblical truth and to set hearts on fire for the Lord. Is this not the cry of those who
      support the use of a variety of instruments as well as musical styles in church today?

      Others did not agree with Luther.
           -Zwingli reacted against the use of any instruments that had association with the Catholic church. In fact, Zwingli
            removed all music from worship.

       -Calvin was also in opposition to Luther's 'liberal' use of music in worship.
            -Calvin felt that instruments were only tolerated in the Old Testament because the people of God were only infants
             then.
         -He opposed the use of instruments and the singing in parts. (unison singing only)
         -He also eliminated any lyric not found in Scripture. (Norman)
        -But Calvin realized that music can be used to help people learn doctrine better than just by teaching it alone.
         The sound and rhythm aided the  memory.
        -Calvin also believed that music in worship be comprehensible to the humblest member of the body
         (that it seek , in essence, the lowest common  denominator) He even borrowed music from secular sources to
          accompany his Psalms.

NOTE: When Handel's Messiah first was played, he was condemned in the conservative pulpits all over London. How dare he profane the Word of God by using the same musical styles employed by Italian Operas. And to make matters worse, he premiered this word NOT in the church but in the theater, a house of secular entertainment. Many Christians of that day found this absolutely shocking.
 

     G. The Post-Reformation Period
          Two strands of church music, that which is 'sacred' resulted from the reformation: Germany  followed Luther in the
          singing of hymns and the use if instruments while England and Scotland followed Calvin's psalm only singing with out
           instruments.

       John Bunyon's attempt to introduce hymn singing into his church  resulted in a split and at his death in 1691 the church
       finally agreed to a compromise.
            -Those who opposed  to  hymn singing could either sit in the vestibule or sit quietly through it until that part of the
              service was done. (kind of like what happens today during the choruses singing.)

      During this time, Isaac Watts (1674-1748) returned from church and complained to his father that the Psalm singing was
      boring. Worship during this time had become a duty for most, rarely a  joy for any. His father challenged him to
      compose  something better. And did he ever! He wrote over 750 hymns and psalms and had such an impact and influence
      on hymnology that he is called the 'Father of English Hymnody'. (Miller, 120-121)
        -Watts was not so readily accepted.
        -There were those who though  he was placing his own human words above the Word of God.
        -There were also  those who felt poetry used in any sense was evil as it aroused the sensual  pleasures of man and was
         too worldly to be used  in church.
       -Churches split, pastors were thrown out of their churches and many people were enraged over Watts hymns and their use
         in the church.

     The funny part of all this was that even though the acceptance of Watts hymns was  slow,  it did happen. When hymn singing
    was fully embraced by the church in Europe as well as  in the US, tradition set in and no other type of song  would be
    sung in the churches by Watts hymns.

     H. The Wesleyan Revival
      John Wesley was the spiritual father of Methodism. He preached about having a  vibrant and exciting relationship with
      Jesus Christ. He was evangelistic  and highly energetic in his preaching.

      His brother Charles was the musician in the family.
           -In relation to the Psalm singing of the old Puritan tunes, the music of Charles Wesley was considered  'pop' .
           -Wesley's music  is tuneful, with dance like  melodies. (McElrath, 157)
           -Much of his music had secular origins and influences.
                -He adopted new melodies from the  popular opera and English folk melodies. (Miller, 125)
           -Wesley had no problems mixing the secular and sacred when it came to writing songs to communicate a biblical
             message.

      Music during this time stressed the experience of redemption more than the older hymns did.
           -Wesley, Toplady and others wrote songs sung from ones own personal subjective experience such as:
             'And Can It Be that I Should Gain', 'Rock of  Ages Cleft for Me'

      There were many during this time period who thought that these hymns were too  subjective, too  popular in style and not
      doctrinally reliable.

     I. Gospel Songs of the 19th Century
          The gospel songs of the 19th century had it's beginnings in the revivalist camp meetings in rural America.
               -The camp meeting songs were characterized by deep emotions, phrase repetition and choruses. (Eskew, 171)
               -The term gospel hymn or song was popularized by the Moody-Sankey revivals in 1875 in England.
                -D.L. Moody  had been called the greatest evangelist in the 19th century and he believed that singing  played a vital
                 role in evangelism.

ILL: Moody said  'If you have singing that reaches the heart, it will fill the church every time...Music and song have not only accompanied all scriptural revivals, but are essential in deepening the spiritual life. Singing does at least as much as preaching to impress the Word of God upon people's minds. Ever since God first called me, the importance of praise expressed in song has grown upon me.' (Miller, 130)

      Moody realized that he needed something new as the rural camp songs would not reach the urban people he was targeting.
      So he found Sankey. Moody and Sankey clothed sacred songs in a style that was indistinguishable from popular tunes.
      They found that this enhanced the power of  their ministry.

      Again, not all were impressed with Moody and Sankey.
           -The Scots were deeply entrenched in the Psalm singing of Calvin and had even rejected the wonderful hymn writing of
            their own Horatius Bonar. The Scots considered organ music to be of the devil.
           -Someone once said that if Moody kept singing songs like he was doing, pretty soon he would have the people dancing.
             (Miller, 133)
         -In the end, the music of Moody and Sankey was to have a incredible influence on the revival in Scotland and England.

    J. The Salvation Army and William Booth
          William Booth (1829-1912) had a burden to reach the common people of England  who were not churched. He
          resigned his position as a Methodist minister and began to work among the poor in London. His work eventually
         became known as the Salvation Army.
                -Unique to Booth's music was his use of a wide variety of instruments: violins, viola, brass instruments, drums and
                  anything that would make a pleasant sound before the Lord. (Miller, 134)
               -Salvationists brought their instruments together and formed 'Hallelujah Bands' Not unlike the 'Praise Bands' today.
              -Most of the people he wanted to reached, the  unchurched, didn't know the church tunes popular at his day. So he
                took tunes from the local music halls. He used secular  tunes and added Christian words.
             -Booth wanted songs that were simple and in the language of the people. Songs that would stick in the minds of the
              people when they left hismeetings. He saw thousands saved who never had stepped foot in a traditional church.

          Again, however, not all saw these innovations as positive.
               -Many Victorian clergymen, the press and local officials saw this type of  music as offensive and distasteful...as well
                 as the people Booth was ministering too.
               -Others felt that the secular  tunes would remind the people of the secular words and lead them to sin.

        This didn't happen and the songs caught on like wildfire. Booth made this charge to his soldiers  in the band:

ILL: Booth said 'Music has a divine effect upon divinely influenced and directed souls. Music is to the soul what wind is to the ship, blowing her onwards in the direction in which she is steered...Not allowed to sing that tune or this tune? Indeed! Secular music, do you say? Belongs to the devil does it? Well, if it did, I would plunder him of it, for he has no right to s single note of the whole gamut.  He's a thief!...Every note and every strain and every harmony is divine, and belongs to us...So now and for all time consecrate your voices and your instruments. Bring out your harps and organs and flutes and violins and pianos and drums and everything else than can make melody! Offer them to God and use them to make all hearts about you merry before the Lord.' (Miller, 136-137)

     K. 20th Century
          Songs like 'In the Garden' were considered too romantic and sentimental to be considered sacred   music.

          John Petersons 'It took a miracle' even landed on the hit parade in the 1950's.

          Ralph Carmichael scandalized the evangelical church by using the same orchestration with gospel songs as he used when
          arranging music for Nat King Cole, Peggy Lee and others. How dare he use the harmonies of Jazz and pop music
          to interpret sacred themes.

          Bill Gaither most famous song 'He Touched Me' was roundly criticized in the late 1960's as  being too sentimental,
          too pop, too simple..the same was said about another one of his songs...'Because He Lives'

          The late 1960's saw the beginning of the Jesus Movement in the US, primarily  located in Costa Mesa Cal. and the
          Calvary Chapel pastored by Church Smith.
                -Churches had become inward focused, rigid and overly formal.
               -A new music style would free people from the tradition of the established  church.
               -Music that was more experiential and subjective and that was  concerned with expressing how  the individual felt in
                his relationship with God was what was being sung during this time.
              -These songs were often short, easy to learn and often Scripture based.
              -It was marked by using conventional pop instruments.. electric and acoustic guitars, keyboards and drums.

         Most in the tradition church thought it a fad but they were mistaken.

         It has not only lasted but  that grown and matured to the contemporary Christian music we have today. And the
         traditional church is still fighting  against it.

       Some see it as a fresh moving of the Holy Spirit while others see contemporary Christian music as a blatant compromise
       with the world. Not unlike what we have experienced throughout the history of the church. They see innovative pastors
       utilize contemporary Christian music in their worship services, youth services and evangelistic outreaches all with great
       success.  In fact, even Billy Graham has utilizes Christian pop singers in his crusades.

   Opponents say that what appears good on the surface is a thinly veiled disguise of Satan trying to weaken the structure of the
   church.  They say it shows the total lack of discernment and an embrace of all that's  worldly by the church at large. They
   want a return to the traditional pattern of  church hymnody.

  Personally, I would like to ask them which traditional pattern of hymnody are they talking about, but that is another matter.

  Historically, since the Protestant Reformation it can be shown that, with a few exceptions, every major spiritual revival has been accompanied by outpourings of  new music that have enabled the church to sing God's truth in fresh ways.
   -The Reformers sang the songs of Luther and the Geneva Psalter
   -The First Great Awakening (18th Cent) produced the rich hymns of Watts and Wesley.
   -The Pietist Movement in Germany provided songs that focused on personal experience  and edification.
   -The Second Great Awakening (19th Cent) added music associated with the various evangelistic campaigns. (Camp songs)
   -The Charismatic Movement of the 1970's brought us the outpouring of new Scripture songs in a folk style.