Introduction: Is Singing Really a Spiritual Activity?

Though Jesus warned that the motives behind any activity, even giving, praying, and fasting, could be corrupt,[1] music and song have often faced extraordinary suspicion and been perceived as inherently seductive.  Augustine (354-430) was surprisingly ambivalent about music, considering the significant role it had played in his own conversion: “I vacillate between dangerous pleasure and healthful exercise. I am inclined … to approve the use of singing in church, so that by the delights of the ear the weaker minds [!!] may be stimulated to a devotional mood.”[2]

A Brief Overview of Three Thousand Years of Tradition

Old Testament: It doesn’t help that Genesis Four depicts musical instruments originating with Cain’s descendants!  Still, the down-to-earth Hebrews enjoyed music and song, and even dancing.  They were familiar with stringed, wind, brass, and percussion instruments, and the final Psalm envisages boisterous praise with all of these.  David played his lyre (Greek: kithara, from which we derive guitar) or harp, and composed and sang psalms to Yahweh, but when his kingdom was secure, he also instituted a choir and orchestra in the Holy Sanctuary, as well as an order of prophets accompanied by lyres![3]

Intertestamental Era:  Yet in reaction to pre-exilic idolatry and to an aggressive Hellenistic culture, synagogue worship was intentionally austere.  Psalms and prayers were chanted à capella, i.e. without instrumental accompaniment, since this might involve sabbath-breaking or introduce pagan influence.  Women’s voices were also considered to be dangerously seductive and alluring![4] 

New Testament:  Christ and the apostles sang traditional Judean hymns.[5] The first Christian liturgies were synagogue services with a new Christology and with the Lord's Supper.  Distinctive hymns to Christ soon appeared.[6]  In his letters to Gentile churches, Paul, while certainly concerned about pagan influences,[7] does not legislate what kinds of music and song are allowed.  Christians should simply “sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs,” together or alone.  In this way we are “filled with the Spirit,” and we “let the word of Christ dwell in [us] richly.” [8]

Early Church Era:  Pliny, governor of Pontus-Bithynia, wrote to Trajan in 112 that Christians “were accustomed to meet on a fixed day before dawn and sing responsively a hymn to Christ as to a god.”[9]  Persecution necessitated simplicity.  After 313, imperial patronage encouraged more sophistication.  For non-literate peoples, songs promoted a faith that was informed and heartfelt.  Eusebius of Caesarea (275-339) tells of “hymns poured forth everywhere … both morning and evening.“[10]  Ambrose of Milan (340-397) composed magnificent hymns that moved both heart and mind, most notably Augustine’s.  However, they were sung in unison and often à capella, since instrumental accompaniment and distinct female voices were still suspect, especially in the east. 

Medieval Era:  When the western empire disintegrated, the church’s music was preserved and shaped by monastic orders.  Gregorian chant developed for singing Psalms.  Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) wrote notable hymns.  Pipe organs and polyphony (harmony) were introduced late in the era, and more complex Renaissance music could then be written for courts and cathedrals.

Modern Era:  Some of the Reformers embraced this new music; others reacted against it:  Luther (1483-1546) saw great potential in good music and vernacular hymnody.  Zwingli (1484-1531), an accomplished musician, rejected all music and song as unscriptural!  Calvin (1509-1564) allowed only à capella metrical renditions of the Psalms.  Anabaptists sang psalms and hymns à capella. The Anglican, Cranmer (1489-1556), like Luther, appreciated music, but lacked composers and poets to write hymns.

Luther’s views bore ultimate fruit in the classical work of J. S. Bach (1685-1750).  Isaac Watts (1674-1748) spurred English hymn-writing, followed by Charles Wesley (1707-1788), who, like Ambrose, wrote theologically rich hymns to teach the faith and to move hearts and minds.  John Mason Neale (1818-1866), researched our ancient ecumenical heritage, and translated many Greek and Latin hymns for use in English.

Across the Atlantic, 19^th century frontier revivalism and later urban revivalism transformed church music.  Preachers exploited the emotional power of music and song to prepare hearers for conversion.  Churches across the spectrum adopted a revivalist model:  choirs, ensembles and performers, now singing less of what God has done for us, and more of how I feel about God.  As James F. White puts it, “’Jesus, Lover of My Soul’ became ‘My Soul, Lover of Jesus.’”[11] 

In the late 20^th century, some churches have assimilated popular culture, adopting entertainment industry paradigms.  Contemporary evangelical worship can resemble a pop concert; mainline churches, on the other hand, maintain liturgical and musical tradition(s), but struggle to engage youth and the church “consumer” culture.  However, growing numbers of Christians—weary of this polarization and its either/or mentality—would like to draw from our common ecumenical tradition but also contemporize it,[12] much as some Celtic musicians have done with their own tradition.

Some Conclusions

- Melody, harmony and rhythm add an expressive intensity, focus, and memorability to words that words alone cannot achieve, helping us where sometimes our joy and sorrow transcend words.

- Style and taste in church music and song inevitably reflect circumstances and personal preferences, but are sometimes defended against equally inevitable change by prejudice and/or poor exegesis!

- Christian music and song is at its finest when it is neither rootless nor rootbound, i.e. neither severed from connection with the tradition, nor imprisoned within the tradition’s dated forms.

- Since we are obviously intended to worship together with music and song, we should continually be learning a common repertoire of songs in mutually agreeable and appropriate style(s).

- Good music and words, rooted in scripture and informed by the tradition, help us to:

1) hear the voice of God to us as individuals coming together to learn how to live in community.

2) express ourselves back to God with mind and heart, articulating and reflecting on:

a)  our understanding and appreciation of all God is to us and has done for us.

b)  common experiences of joy and sorrow we share in all seasons of life and faith.