If music had the capability and power to send
clear or unclear messages to the people of ancient Israel and during New Testament
times, surely it has no less power over audiences today. Therefore all Christian musicians must take
great care about the musical techniques they use in their musicing unto God.
Ancient cultures, including their philosophers, believed that music had great
power and expressed meaning. It has been
only modern philosophers in the second half or the twentieth century, including
many church musicians, who have believed that music was (and is) not capable of
saying anything.
I
am well aware that this mention of music is found in the midst of St. Paul’s
discussion of the controversy over known and unknown tongues. However, Paul
made part of his point by this discussion of music and musical instruments. I
believe that there is absolutely no reason to discount what this great linguist
wrote here, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, about the message of
music having distinction if the notes are played accurately. It is a mistake thing to try to write musical
meaning into places in the Bible where music is not mentioned, but it is just
as big a mistake to ignore music when it is mentioned as succinctly as it is here
in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians.
I might also point out that the musical discourse in the sixteenth
chapter of I Samuel, which is a discussion of music therapy, also does not
mention singing any words. The musical
that David’s kinnor produced when he played with his fingers was efficacious
without the use of vocal music. The
therapeutic effect was produced by the sounds i.e. the notes produced on the
kinnor.
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