Thomas Thrasher Third Affirmative
I have previously
demonstrated that the New
Testament of Jesus Christ teaches that Christians are to sing praises to God: Acts
16:25, “Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God.” Romans 15:9, “I will confess to You among the Gentiles, and sing to Your name.” 1
Corinthians 14:15, “I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding.”
Ephesians 5:19, “Speaking to one another in psalms and
hymns and spiritual songs, singing
and making melody in your heart to
the Lord.” Colossians 3:16, “Teaching and admonishing one another in psalms
and hymns and spiritual songs, singing
with grace in your hearts to the Lord.” Hebrews 2:12, “In the midst of the assembly [church] I will sing praise to You.” James 5:13, “Is
anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms.” In each case we find the first century
Christians sang, but we never read that they played on mechanical instruments
in worship. Nowhere does the NT
approve the use of “mechanical instruments
of music in New Testament worship.”
The
Lord observed concerning the worship of some: “And
in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men” (Matthew
15:9). The Bible, in both Old and New Testaments, has condemned the practice
of adding to God’s law. Deuteronomy 4:2, “You shall not add to the word which I
command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you.” Numbers 22:18, “Then Balaam answered …, ‘Though
Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond
the word of the Lord my God, to do less or more.’”
Proverbs 30:5-6, “Every word of God is
pure; ... Do not add to His words, lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar.”
Revelation 22:18-19, “For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of
this book: If anyone adds to these
things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if
anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take
away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in
this book.” Consequently, we must not
add pianos, organs, guitars, trumpets, and other mechanical instruments of
music to the singing authorized in
New Testament worship! To transgress the
doctrine of Christ is sin! 2 John 9, “Whoever transgresses and does
not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God.” 1 John 3:4, “Sin is the transgression of the law.”
Therefore,
our worship today is limited to what has been revealed by God in the New Testament (Matthew 26:28; 2 Corinthians 3:6; Hebrews 9:15). We
must not accept the preaching of a
so-called apostle or angel in place of it (Galatians
1:6-9). We must not exalt any man
above it (1 Corinthians 4:6). We must
not transgress it (2 John 9). We must not add to or take away from it (Revelation 22:18-19).
In
attempting to overcome the force of these simple Bible facts, Jason has
resorted to arguments based upon his assertions about the meanings of Greek
words. He alleges that the Greek words authorize instrumental music in NT
worship. I have witnessed such efforts on many occasions, and entire books have
been published to refute such claims (e.g., M. C. Kurfees’ Instrumental Music in the Worship). I wonder how many in our
audience can read, speak, or write Greek? My first affirmative contained not
one appeal to Greek but rather to the English translations that all of us can
understand. Although I have studied Greek extensively for 40 years, including
university courses, and I have taught Greek courses on numerous occasions, I agree
with the person who stated: “Any proposition in the realm of religion that
cannot be proved by our English Bible is not true—it cannot be proved.”
Jason
says that he gave the testimony that psalms are “songs
sung to musical accompaniment.” Let us see how various translations render the
Greek words using, as an example, Ephesians 5:19 (bold emphasis is mine):
KJV:
“Speaking to yourselves in psalms
and hymns and spiritual songs, singing
and making melody in your heart to
the Lord.”
ASV:
“speaking one to another in psalms
and hymns and spiritual songs, singing
and making melody with your heart to
the Lord.”
NASB:
“speaking to one
another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody
with your heart to the Lord.”
NKJV:
“speaking to one
another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in
your heart to the Lord.”
Weymouth
NT: “Speak to one another with
psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. Sing
and offer praise in your hearts to
the Lord.”
Young’s
Literal Translation: “speaking to
yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in
your heart to the Lord.”
NIV:
“speaking to one
another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from
your heart to the Lord.”
Every
one of these translations in our English language tells us to speak to one
another by singing and making melody in our hearts—no mention of a piano,
organ, guitar, etc.
My
friend admits, “No one is saying that ‘singing’ IS playing.” Okay. Since he agrees that “singing” is not “playing,”
then no passage that mentions “singing” authorizes “playing,” because playing
is a different action from singing—an unauthorized
one for NT worship!
Jason
argues that if someone says, “I’m going to ‘sing’
you a song,” and then they play the guitar while they sang, no one would think
that strange. That’s because those people are basing their conclusions on
common practice TODAY. Most so-called “Christians” would not think it strange
if they went to a “baptism” and water was sprinkled or poured on the individual
being “baptized.” That’s common practice as the word “baptize” is used TODAY.
But that’s not the way it was used in the New Testament (Romans 6:4; Colossians
2:12; John 3:23; Acts 8:38).
Jason says that “‘a
cappella’ and ‘unaccompanied’ are found nowhere
in the Bible.” Actually, Jason is the one who introduced those terms in the
discussion (first negative). That’s why I used those terms in responding.
However, the important thing is that “SINGING” is found in the NT as an act of
worship, but “PLAYING” is “found nowhere”
in the NT! Would my friend admit that “a cappella” or “unaccompanied” singing
occurred in Acts 16:25?—“And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God.”
Substantial evidence exists that the music of the early church
was “a cappella.” For example, “A cappella music originally was … used in
religious music … Jewish and Christian music were originally a cappella” (“A
Cappella,” Wikipedia). “There is no
reference to instrumental music in the worship of the New Testament or the
worship of churches for the first six centuries” (McKinnon
[1965], The Church Fathers and Musical
Instruments [PhD Dissertation, Columbia University]). “In the early
church the whole congregation joined in the singing, but instrumental music did
not accompany the praise” (W. D. Killen, The
Ancient Church, p. 423). If space permitted, I could greatly multiply such
statements; however, the important point is that the NT says we are to “sing”
but nowhere says to play upon mechanical instruments in worship.
Jason argues that “‘Sing’
included the playing of musical instruments” in 1 Samuel 18:6-7 and Revelation
5:8-9, but he is wrong. Jason, can a person “sing” without using a mechanical
instrument of music? Obviously, yes. Therefore, a mechanical instrument does
not inhere in the word “sing.” To know that there are mechanical instruments
one must have additional information,
as I showed: 1 Samuel 18:6-7 mentions “and with instruments of musick” and
“played”; Revelation 5:8-9 mentions “harps.” There were instruments in addition to singing. Now, why didn’t
Jason find mention of such instruments in the passages authorizing singing in
NT worship? No such instruments are mentioned in any of those passages!
|
Where Is
N.T. Authority?
Singing Mechanical Instruments
Acts
16:25 Where
Romans
15:9 Is
1
Corinthians 14:15 The
Ephesians
5:19
Scripture
Colossians
3:16 ???
Hebrews
2:12
James
5:13
In New
Testament Worship
|
My
friend asserted, “James 5:13 is dealing with the Christian life. … This would
mean that … he also could not play the trumpet in the school band!” Wrong again! This verse says, “Sing praise”
(many versions)—this is individual worship
to God, not secular activity.
Furthermore,
Jason contends, “If … James 5:14 … does not exclude doctors, then how can
anyone claim that ‘let him sing psalms’
(James 5:13b) excludes musical instruments?” As I showed, and as Jason
admitted, other verses authorize doctors (Colossians 4:14; Matthew 9:12). What
other verse(s) authorize mechanical instruments of music in NT worship? He
thinks he finds it in “sing,” but playing
is a separate and additional action from singing.
One can play without singing or sing without playing. One action does not
authorize the other in NT worship!
On
the “gopher wood” issue, Jason contended that “gopher wood” was not a specific
kind of wood. If so, then why did God command Noah, “Make thee an ark of gopher wood”? Was that instruction
meaningless to Noah? The Bible makes it clear that Noah understood God’s
instruction and obeyed Him (Genesis
6:22). I argue that we should do likewise when it comes to our worship unto
God—the NT says “sing,” so that’s
what we must do to please God. We have no authority to add another kind of
music (playing mechanical instruments): “Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth
not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God” (2 John 9).
Jason
said that one can no more sing a “psalm”
without instrumental music “than a Presbyterian who sprinkles ‘baptized’ a
convert!” However, we are commanded
to sing “psalms” (Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16). Consequently, according to
Jason, it is a sin not to use
mechanical instruments in worship, for we cannot sing “psalms” without them!
My opponent
asserted, “I gave the testimony of three NT translators! Each of these men gave
us the meaning of ‘psalms’ as used in the NT, and stated that a ‘psalm’ was a ‘song sung to musical accompaniment.’” The Analytical Greek Lexicon states: “psalmos
...
impulse, touch, of the chords of a stringed instrument; in N.T. a sacred song, psalm, 1 Co. 14.26; Ep. 5.19, et al.” (p. 441). This word is a
subcategory under psallo, which is defined “in N.T. to sing praises, Ro. 15:9; 1 Co. 14.15;
Ep. 5.19; Ja. 5.13.” Other lexicographers likewise distinguish the classical
definitions for psallo from the NT meaning:
Thayer:
“a. to pluck off, pull out; b. to cause to vibrate by touching, to twang; to touch or strike the chord, to twang the strings of a musical instrument so that they gently
vibrate … in the N.T. to sing a hymn, to
celebrate the praises of God in song …” (p. 675).
Green:
“in New Testament, to sing praises.”
Bagster: “in New Testament, to sing praises.”
Robinson: “in New Testament, to sing, and construed with a dative of person, to sing in honor or in praise of any one,
to sing praises to, to celebrate in
song.”
Abbott-Smith: “in New Testament, to sing a
hymn, sing praise.”
Jason
seems not to appreciate that words often change meanings throughout the history
of a language. At one time the word psallo (translated “sing,” “sing praise,” or “make melody” [with the heart as the designated instrument]) meant “to pluck the hair” or
“to twang the bowstring” or “twitch the carpenter’s line.” Does Jason think we
ought to do those things in our worship to God today because the NT says psallo? I’m sure he doesn’t, because he realizes
that’s not what psallo meant in the NT. As I have
indicated earlier, in the NT psallo meant to sing.
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