Although the use
of the musical reference in the fourteenth chapter of I Corinthians is in the
middle of another discussion, it is still a musical reference. Verse six explains that distinct speaking
brings about clear communication.
Likewise, verse seven explains that clear production of musical sounds brings
about a clear musical message or meaning.
Therefore, one may safely conclude that music is at least a
meta-language in that it communicates meaning in an analogous manner to
language. Musicians are cautioned by
this verse that clear production of musical tones will insure a clear message
much like clear language communicates an understandable message.
I want to make it clear that I am not saying that clearly
spoken language and clearly produced musical tones function exactly alike. As I said before they function
similarly. Therefore, I conclude that
music functions only as a meta-language.
The import of the use of this musical reference in I Corinthians 14:7 is
that clearly produced music can and does communicate meaning to the performer
and the auditor. Therefore, the music
part of music does matter because it communicates real understandable
meaning. A careful look at verse seven
reveals that the inspired Word of God teaches that music that gives a clear
distinction in its sounds has the potential to cause the performer and the
auditor to “know” i.e. gain information and meaning from the musical sounds.
If music was totally benign, knowledgably mute, sealed in
a “bubble”, and therefore helpless to communicate any meaning, the writer of
this first letter to the Corinthian Christians would not have used the Greek
word ginosko (1097) which means “to perceive” or “to understand”. As I said earlier in this discussion, music
alone (music without text) is not capable of communicating clearly like a
spoken known language, but it does have the power and ability to communicate
meaning—thus the term meta-language is applied here to music being able to “say
something” or communicate meaning.
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