Justin Martyr (150 AD) Condemned Instrumental Music in Worship?
9.27.13 Paul warned that people who corrupt the Word or sell learning at retail are defined by the word "prostitute." They may believe their own lies but the text says that they are ancient spirits unleashed by Abaddon or Apollyon who is the Musical Worship Leader.
Any discussion of "Mechanical Instruments of Music in Worship" proves that the many or most are called but FEW are chosen simply cannot define the EKKLESIA or Assembly nor do they understand the meaning of WORSHIP.
From the wilderness onward Christ the Rock defined the Ekklesia or assembly as a place to REST FROM the normal seventh day "worship", to READ and to REHEARSE what God delivered through Moses. The primary resource was The Book of the Covenant of Grace: this was the only spiritual covenant made by God in Christ to Abraham.
The synagogues continued that in all of the isolated villages and while in Babylon the synagogue continued. Jesus practiced the Synagogue by "standing up to read and then quiet decently SAT DOWN." The assembly defined by Paul in synagogue terms is defined in Romans 15 to exclude self-pleasure which included all of the performers so that THE PATTERN could take place: "Using one mind and one mouth to speak that which is written for our learning." Jesus commanded the resource as what He commanded to be taught and observed: that included the Prophets by the Spirit OF Christ and the Apostles or "that which is written."
Adults do not go to hear from Jesus (only) when the elders teach that which has been taught to be subjected to the outrage of singing, clapping, body dancing and playing instruments. Any Bible student sees the hypocritic arts as the MAJOR effort to "make the lambs dumb before the slaughter." Simple Simons knew that music PREVENTS learning which requires meditation (Melet not Melos). They also knew that instrumental performers intended to fleece the silly lambs.
Lack of understanding is clear from the text which can be read by people with "A" holy spirit or "A" good conscience. How do you GET READY for teaching:
Ephesians 5:17 Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.Both ODE and PSALLO have connotations of making war, making perverted sex and defines enchantment or SORCERY.
Ephesians 5:18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;
Jesus said My Words are SPIRIT and they are LIFE. The only Resource is the Will of the Lord.Ephesians 5:19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,
Colossians 3:16 Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom
The Word or LOGOS is defined as the Regulative or Governing Principle from God to people who are not fit to claim authority to get paid for their own performances: the Greeks and Paul called that PROSTITUTION.
Col 3:16 teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;
Col 3:16 singing with grace IN your hearts to the Lord.Romans 15:4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning,
that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope
Romans 15:6 That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Even simple people understand that the CENI is:
SPEAK to yourselves using "that which is written for our LEARNING: what a Disciple does." Some Psalms are called teaching psalms and one might blaspheme by claiming that the Spirit just did not KNOW to added SING that which is for out entertainment.
The ODE and PSALLO is in the PLACE of the human heart: We worship ONLY in the spirit or mind.
The MARK of the end-time Apollo, Abaddon or Apollyon is that he is the LEADER of the MUSES.
Recorded history notes that "evil people set their lies to melodies to cheat the simple minded.
Recorded history also notes that music HINDERS learning and intends to HURT: Psallo and SOP have the same root meaning.
The Purpose is to Teach, Comfort and Glorify God with "that which is written for our learning." If simple reading cannot eleminate the external Instrumental Noises, perhaps word definitions can help:Logos computation, reckoning 2. statement of a theory, argument, ouk emeu alla tou l. akousantas prob. in Heraclit.50; logon ēde noēma amphis alētheiēs discourse and reflection on reality,
IV. inward debate of the soul, reflection, deliberation
Regulative and formative forces, derived from the intelligible and operative in the sensible universe,
Opposite to epithumia
A. desire, yearning, longing after a thing, desire of or for it, Theaomai :--gaze at, behold, mostly with a sense of wonder, 3. view as spectators
Opposite Pathos A. that which happens to a person or thing, incident, accident,
Opposite Poiein to excite passion, Arist.Rh.1418a12; V. Rhet., emotional style or treatment,
Opposite Enthousi-astikos , ē, on, A. inspired, “phusis” Pl.Ti.71e; esp. by music,
Prose, OPPOSITE -poiêsis, Id.R.390a;
VI. verbal expression or utterance, lego, lexis
-Lexis A.speech, OPPOSITE ôidê
-ôidê, 1.art of song OPPOSITE Lexis
5. = eppsdê, spell, incantation
4. text of an author, OPPOSITE exegesis
Arist.En1142a26
OPPOSITE -poiêtikê, D.H.Comp.6; opp. poiêmata, onomatopoeic word
OPPOSITE emmetra Modus 2. The measure of tones, measure, rhythm, melody, harmony, time; in poetry, measure, metre, mode:Mūsĭcus a, um, adj., = mousikos.
X. the Word or Wisdom of God, personified as his agent in creation and world-government,THE END-TIME PROPHECY IS THAT APOLLO, ABBADON OR APOLLYON AND THE LOCUSTS OR MUSES WILL BE UNLEASHED. THEIR JOB IS TO DRIVE OUT THE GODLY PEOPLE AND HOLD THE UNGODLY CAPTIVE WITH THE MUSES JOHN CALLS SORCERERS.
Mousa_geta_s , a, ho, Dor. for Mousēgetēs (v. infr.), A.leader of the Muses, epith. of Apollo, Pi.Fr.116; “ho m. kai arkhagetas tas poiētikas theos” (Delph. Mousēgetēs , Pl.Lg. 653c, D.S.1.18, Jul.Or.4.132a, al.; voc. Mousēgeta^ , IG12(5).893 (Tenos); also Epithet of Heracles, in dat. Mousagētē ,
Strabo Geography [-10.3.10] And on this account Plato, and even before his time
the Pythagoreians, called philosophy music;andthey say that the universe is constituted in accordance with harmony,
assuming that every form of music is the work of the gods.
And in this sense, also, the Muses are goddesses,
and Apollo is leader of the Muses,
and poetry as a whole is laudatory of the gods.And by the same course of reasoning they also attribute to music the upbuilding of morals, believing that everything which tends to correct the mind is close to the gods.
Now most of the Greeks assigned to Dionysus, Apollo, Hecate, the Muses (9 women team), and above all to Demeter, everything of an orgiastic or Bacchic or choral nature, as well as the mystic element in initiations; and they give the name "Iacchus" not only to Dionysus but also to the leader-in-chief of the mysteries, who is the genius of Demeter.Rev. 9:11 And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.
Apollo is considered to have dominion over plague, light, healing, colonists, medicine, archery, poetry, prophecy, dance, reason, intellectualism, Shamans, and as the patron defender of herds and flocks. Apollo had a famous oracle in Crete and other notable ones in Clarus and Branchidae.
Apollo is known as the leader of the Muses ("musagetes") and director of their choir. His attributes include: swans, wolves, dolphins, bows and arrows, a laurel crown, the cithara (or lyre) and plectrum. The sacrificial tripod is another attribute, representative of his prophetic powers.
The swan and grasshopper symbolize music and song; the hawk, raven, crow and snake have reference to his functions as the god of prophecy.The chief festivals held in honour of Apollo were the Carneia, Daphnephoria, Delia, Hyacinthia, Pyanepsia, Pythia and Thargelia.
Thalrgelia in Greek religion, one of the chief festivals of Apollo at Athens, celebrated on the sixth and seventh days of Thargelion (May-June). Basically a vegetation ritual upon which an expiatory rite was grafted, the festival was named after the first fruits, or the first bread from the new wheat.
On the first day of the festival, one or two men (or a man and a woman), representing the deity but also acting as scapegoats for community guilt, were first led through the city and then driven out. Occasionally, as in times of heavy calamity, they were sacrificed, being either thrown into the sea or burned on a funeral pyre. On the second day of the festival, there were a thanks offering, a procession, and the official registration of adopted persons.
-Apollo Apollo exercises an elevating and inspiring influence on the mind as god of music, which, though not belonging to him alone any more than atonement and prophecy, was yet pre-eminently his province.
In Homer he is represented only as a player on the lyre,
This elevating and inspiring influence on the mind is the Laded Burden Jesus came to put down or the Self-pleasure or "creation of mental excitement" outlawed by Paul in Romans 15 SO THAT teaching that which is written for our learning is possible.
while song is the province of the Muses;
but in course of time he grows to be the god, as they are the goddesses, of song and poetry,
and is therefore Mousagetês (leader of the Muses) as well as master of the choral dance,
which goes with music and song. And as the friend of all that beautifies life he is intimately
associated with the Graces [Graces meaning CHARIS meaning Charismatic
meaning the MARK of homosexual "worship"]
God Condemns Mechanical Instruments in Worship from Genesis to Revelation
Justin Martyr condemned instrumental music which was only used by the Jews and Pagans. However, Danny slipped a gear because he used the right number of the question but the WRONG writer. Christians had no occassion to condemn instrumental music prior to sometime afterthe year 373 when singing as an ACT was introduced but the same writer reminds us of the musical fall from grace at Mount sinai.
NEW WINE SKINS: JAY GUIN'S SUMMARY OF RICK ATCHLEY AND CHRIS SEIDMAN: "How to boil a frog."
New. Jay Guin guest Editor New Wineskins
New Wineskins Instrumental Music by Jay Guin: the series.
Part Two: using Galatians to authorize imposing instruments
Part Three: using the Kingdom to Authorize instrumental music.
Review: Jay Guin Defending Danny Corbitt
Review: Danny Corbitt: Missing More than Music
Review: On the word Psalmos
Review: Danny Corbitt Denying Justin Martyr
Matt Dabbs--Danny Corbitt Ripening Issues
DON'T LET ELDERS TURNED WOLVES and doctors of thelaw DRAG YOU OFF INTO THE BUSHES WITH LIES. Psallo never meand "play-a-harp." The Holy Spirit knew a dozen words to tell us to play a harp but did not. That is because all instrument playing was marked as witchcraft or sorcery of evil men and women trying to pick your pockets.
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Kat-auleō ,A. charm by flute-playing, tinos Pl.Lg.790e, cf. R.411a; tina Alciphr.2.1: metaph., se . . -ēsō phobō I will flute to you on a ghastly flute, E.HF871 (troch.):—Pass., of persons, methuōn kai katauloumenos drinking wine to the strains of the flute, Pl.R.561c; k. pros khelōnidos psophon to be played to on the flute with lyre accompaniment,
2. make a place sound with flute-playing, Thphr.Fr.87:— Pass., resound with flute-playing, “nēsos katēuleito” Plu.Ant.56.II. in Pass., [ton monokhordon kanona parekhein tais aisthēsesi . . katauloumenonsubdued by a flute accompaniment, to be piped down, ridiculed, “gelōmenoi kai -oumenoi”
III. c. acc. rei, play on the flute, “ta mētrōa” , to have played to one as an accompaniment on the flute, -“oumenoi pros tōn hepomenōn ta mētrōa melē”
Eph. 5:18 And be not drunk [methuōn] with wine, wherein is excess;Basic reading proves that the SPEAKING is external or "using one mind and one mouth to teach that which is written for our learning. Both ODE and PSALLO have ugly and warfare and witchcraft connotations so we Let them be IN the mind meaning SILENT. The WORD made Visible and Audible by Jesus of Nazarth is the LOGOS of God: The LOGOS is called the Regulative principle. Jesus commanded that we teach and observe what HE heard from the Father and commanded. How can you find Jeus commanding rather than condemning all of the hypocritic arts and crafts.
but be filled with the Spirit; (The Word of Christ Col 3:16; John 6:63)
Eph. 5:19 Speaking to yourselves
\ in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,
\ singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;
Eph. 5:20 Giving thanks [praying] always for all things unto God and the Father
in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;
-LOGOS or rational discourse of God: The Regulative Principle, The Governing Principle Logos is 4.speech, delivered in court, assembly [We don't discourse with BANJOS]
VI. verbal expression or utterance, lego, lexis
-Lexis A.speech, OPPOSITE ôidê
-ôidê, 1.art of song 5. = eppsdê, spell, incantation OPPOSITE -Lexis
4. text of an author, OPPOSITE exegesis [Peter's private interpretation outlaws exegesis]Arist.En1142a2Logos is the OPPOSITE emmetra, ib.1450b15 (pl Id.Rh.1404a31Hymns are prayers: you cannot be worshiping God if you are getting eraptured over the boy and girl singers always a mark of gender confusion by the leaders.
There is NO meter in the Bible: you could not "sing" it tunefully if your life depended on it: that is PREDESTINED.
John 3:34 For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him
OPPOSITE -Metron II. metre, Ar.Nu.638, 641, etc.; opp. melos (music) and rhuthmos (time), Pl.Grg.502c, etc.; logous psilous eis metra tithentes putting into verse, Id.Lg.669d; “ta en metrō pepoiēmena epē” X.Mem. 1.2.21.
OPPOSITE -Frango [same as the SOP as the root meaning of PSALLO]
B. Transf., in gen., to break up small, to grind, bruise, crush, corrupta oratio maxime comprehensione obscura, compositione fracta consistit, id. 8, 3, 57: “effeminata et fracta impudicis modis (musice),” id. 1, 10, 31.
-Impudicus I.Shameless, impudent ( = impudens;) II.Unchaste, immodest, lewd, id. cat. 2, 5, 10
OPPOSITE -Modus 2. The measure of tones, measure, rhythm, melody, harmony, time; in poetry, measure, metre, mode: “vocum,” Cic. Div. 2, 3, 9: “musici,” Quint. 1, 10, 14: “lyrici,” Ov. H. 15, 6: “fidibus Latinis Thebanos aptare modos,” Hor. Ep. 1, 3, 12: Bacchico exsultas (i. e. exsultans) modo, Enn. ap. Charis. p. 214 P. (Trag. v. 152 Vahl.): “flebilibus modis concinere,” Cic. Tusc. 1, 44, 106: saltare ad tibicinis modos, to the music or sound of the flute, Liv. 7, 2: “nectere canoris Eloquium vocale modis,” Juv. 7, 19.—Fig.: “verae numerosque modosque ediscere vitae,” moral harmonies, Hor. Ep. 2, 2, 144.—
OPPOSITE Mūsĭcus a, um, adj., = mousikos.
A. Adj.: “leges musicae,” the rules of music, Cic. Leg. 2, 15, 39: “sonus citharae,” Phaedr. 4, 18, 20: “pedes,” Plin. 29, 1, 5, § 6.— 2. mūsĭ-ca , ōrum, n., music: “in musicis numeri, et voces, et modi,” Cic. de Or. 1, 42, 187: “dedere se musicis,” id. ib. 1, 3, 10: “et omnia musicorum organa,” Vulg. 1 Par. 16, 42.—
It may be blasphemy to say that the Spirit of Christ who promised to Guide Paul into all truth did not know that psallo means PLUCK WITH YOUR FINGERS and you need PSALLO and the name of an instrument OR simple people knew that you USED compound words if you wanted to make instrumental noises when Jesus comes to teach.
Katapsallō ,
A. play stringed instruments to, [“sumposion kataulein kai k.” Pass., have music played to one, enjoy music, ib.785e; of places, resound with music,Id.Ant.56.2. Pass., to be buried to the sound of music, Procop.Pers.2.23.3. metaph., katapsalletai . . ho dēmiourgosis drummed out, Porph.
Hab. 2:19 Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake; to the dumb stone, Arise, it shall teach! Behold, it is laid over with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in the midst of it.
Hab. 2:20 But the LORD is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him.
Danny Corbitt: Christians once believed that Justin Martyr, writing only two to three generations after the Apostles, had revealed that musical instruments had been removed from praise in New Testament times. Maybe you’ve heard the quote. Perhaps you will be surprised as I was to learn that scholars have considered that quote to be spurious for over a hundred years.
False: Justin Martyr could read the text and understood that NEVER in Scripture did God call people out on the REST day to engage in congregational singing with or with instruments.
If we read the Bible we understand that there is not a jot or tittle about instrumental music in connection with Godly Jews or Christians. In fact instruments are used as the MARK of people who tell God "I will not listen to your words." The practice of music when Jesus comes to be our Teacher and we DISCIPLES of christ should need no laws against.
Justin Martyr was an early Christian apologist and philosopher. Born in 100 AD in the city of Flavia Neopolis in Samaria,12 but was probably of Roman descent.3 He was converted in Asia Minor (possibly in Ephesus) in about 132 AD.4 Scholars today identify his “Dialogue with Trypho, a Jew” and his first and second “Apologies” as authentic works.5 His outspoken defense of Christianity even in Rome itself led to his martyrdom there around 165 AD. he knew the Jewish religion. He was not, however, a Jew by race,
Certainly, no one argues that Justin Martyr’s writings carry the weight of scripture. Still, given his second-century vantage point, not to mention his familiarity with Greek philosophy and the Jewish religion, his Christian perspective on just about any topic would be of interest to us today.
This is why so much attention has been paid to a quote purported to have come from him regarding his view of musical instruments in worship. Those today who oppose the use of musical instruments in Christian assemblies frequently lead with this quote in their websites, sermons, and even an occasional book. Depending on the translator, Justin Martyr is said to have written something like this:
Simply singing is not agreeable to children, but singing with the lifeless instruments and dancing and clapping; on which account the use of this kind of instrument and others agreeable to children is removed from the songs in the churches, and there is left remaining simply singing.That does not say that INSTRUMENTS were ever MOVED INTO any Christian church: most of the trouble with believers was OUTSIDE OF THE ASSEMBLY which is never defined as using SINGING at that time since the text does not include any meter or singable resurce.
Some of those who cite this quotation will give its source: question 107 in a lengthy work entitled, “Questions and Answer to the Orthodox.”6
6Allan McNabb, Music in the Church, retrieved February 25, 2010, from Bible Study Guide website: www.biblestudyguide.org/ebooks/mcnabb/music.PDF [reads, “Justin's Questions and Answer to the Orthodox, Ques. 107, pg. 462.]”
Also, John Price, Old Light on New Worship (Avinger, Texas: Simpson Publishing Company, 2007), p. 108.
Well, a similar quote comes from Theodoret after singing as an ACT (that legalism word) was imposed in the year 373. However, it was in Justin Martyr's papers according to George Girardeu
Thus the unknown author of a treatise among Justin Martyr's works:
Quest. If songs were invented by unbelievers with a design of deceiving, and were appointed for those under the law, because of the childishness of their minds, why do they who have received the perfect instructions of grace, which are most contrary to the aforesaid customs, nevertheless sing in the churches just as they did who were children under the law?
Ans. Plain singing is not childish, but only the singing with lifeless organs, with dancing and cymbals, etc. Whence the use of such instruments and other things fit for children is laid aside, and plain singing only retained.'Corbitt does not grasp that ALL musical terms and names of instruments carry the idea of witchcraft or sorcery because tinkling or mechanical sounds induce fear and anxiety making fleecing the lambs easier.
MEN SET THEIR LIES TO MELODIES AND USE INSTRUMENTAL SOUNDS TO SUBVERT THE SIMPLE.
"But we have already spoken of spectacles: there remains one thing which is to be overcome by us,
that we be not captivated by those things which penetrate to the innermost perception. (emotions only)
For all those things which are unconnected with words, (just speaking in tongues)
that is, pleasant sounds of the air and of strings,
may be easily disregarded, because they do not adhere to us, and cannot be written...Is God, therefore, the contriver both of the mind, and of the voice, and of the tongues, unable to speak eloquently? Yea, rather, with the greatest foresight,
He wished those things which are divine to be without adornment,
that all might understand the things which He Himself spoke to all."
Therefore God made all things to supply a contest between two things.Those enticements of pleasures, then, are the instruments of that whose only business it is to subdue virtue, and to shut out justice from men.With these soothing influences and enjoyments it captivates their souls;
for it knows that pleasure is the contriver of death. (Lactantius, The Divine Institutes, Ante-Nicene Fathers, VII, p. 188).THE ANCIENTS BEFORE THE POST-LITERATE ERA OF THEOLOGIANS KNEW THE MEANING OF MUSIC
The LOGOS or WORD is called the Regulative or Governing Principle: that is why the command was to PREACH the Word by READING the Word on the REST DAYS: rest from religious observations to which Jesus said the Kingdom DOES NOT COM.
Aristot. Nic. Eth. 1102b.1 But there also appears to be another element in the soul, which, though irrational, yet in a manner participates in rational principle. In self-restrained and unrestrained1 people we approve their principle, or the rational part of their souls, because it urges them in the right way and exhorts them to the best course; but their nature seems also to contain another element beside that of rational principle, which combats and resists that principle. [16] Exactly the same thing may take place in the soul as occurs with the body in a case of paralysis: when the patient wills to move his limbs to the right
LITERATE PEOPLE UNDERSTOOD THE REGULATIVE PRINCIPLE:
Aristot. Nic. Eth. 1102b.20 they swerve to the left; and similarly in unrestrained persons their impulses run counter to their principle. But whereas in the body we see the erratic member, in the case of the soul we do not see it; nevertheless it cannot be doubted that in the soul also there is an element beside that of principle, which opposes and runs counter to principle （though in what sense the two are distinct does not concern us here）. [17] But this second element also seems, as we said, to participate in rational principle; at least in the self-restrained man it obeys the behest of principle—and no doubt in the temperate and brave man it is still more amenable, for all parts of his nature are in harmony with principle. [18]
1 According to the psychology here expounded, the intellect ‘has a plan or principle,’ in the sense of understanding principle, and being able to reason and make a plan: in other words, it is fully rational. The part of man's nature ‘has a plan or principle’ in so far as it is capable of following or obeying a principle.
It happens that this relationship of following or obeying can itself be expressed by the words
to have logos’ in another sense of that phrase, viz. ‘to take account of, pay heed to.’
To be precise the writer should say that the part logon ekhei tou logou ‘has logos （takes account） of the logos.’ The phrase has yet a third sense in mathematics, where “to have logos” （ratio） means ‘to be rational’ in the sense of commensurable.
Aristot. Nic. Eth. 1175b.1
But things that are akin to things of different kinds must themselves differ in kind.
[3] A still clearer proof may be drawn
from the hindrance that activities
receive from the pleasure derived from other activities.
For instance, persons fond of the flute
cannot give their attention to a philosophical discussion [The LOGOS or Regulative Principle]
when they overhear someone playing the flute,
because they enjoy music more than the activity in which they are engaged;
therefore the pleasure afforded by the music of the flute
impairs the activity of study.SO SEEKING SOME LEGALISTIC END RUN TO JUSTIFY SOWING OF DISCORD MAKES PEOPLE BLIND TO THE TRUTH.
If it was Theodoret he spoke for just about everyone with the equivalent statement. Not knowing who wrote similar statements does not make them invalid based on all other commentss.
THEODORET " Theodoret of Cyrus or Cyrrhus c. 393 – c. 457) 107 . Question: If songs were invented by unbelievers to seduce men, but were allowed to those under the law on account of their childish state, why do those who have received the perfect teaching of grace in their churches still use songs, just like the children under the law?
Answer: It is not simple singing that belongs to the childish state, but singing with lifeless instruments, with dancing, and with clappers. Hence the use of such instruments and the others that belong to the childish state is excluded from the singing in the churches, and simple singing is left." (Theodoret, a bishop of Cyrhus in Syria, Questions and Answers for the Orthodox)
Book II Chapter 1 That excellent pair Flavianus and Diodorus,(1) though not yet admitted to the priesthood and still ranked with the laity, worked night and day to stimulate men's zeal for truth. They were the first to divide choirs into two parts, and to teach them to sing the psalms of David antiphonally. Introduced first at Antioch, the practice spread in all directions, and penetrated to the ends of the earth. Its originators now collected the lovers of the Divine word and work into the Churches of the Martyrs, and with them spent the night in singing psalms to God.
Danny Corbitt: The growing popularity of the quote among laymen makes its absence in scholarly writings all the more striking. Here we find a quote condemning musical instruments in the church supposedly written near the year 150 AD, and yet scholars on both sides of the debate unanimously agree that condemnation of musical instruments in worship was born some 250 years later, around 400 AD. Everett Ferguson, who opposes the use of instruments in “public worship,” reflects on the silence of the early centuries regarding instruments in worship and writes,
The conclusion that the early church did not employ instrumental music in worship does not rest, however, on inferences from silence. There are explicit statements from early Christian writers to the effect that Christians did not use instrumental music. …Statements written near the year 400 from both the Greek and Latin halves of Christendom declare the absence of instrumental music in Christian worship.7Corbitt is STILL claiming that the ABSENCE means that some legalistic sectarian REMOVED them. This is NOT RATIONAL.7Everett Ferguson, A Cappella Music in the Public Worship of the Church (Revised Edition), (Abilene, TX: Biblical Research Press, 1972), pp. 52, 53.
We know that many of the church fathers were not silent and made similar comments: it would not be until after the year 1200 that we know that instruments were placed in some cathedrals by patrons but never by a church leader.
Like the NACC instrumentalists which split the Disciples, it would not be very rational to expect anyone to begin to object until the instruments began to be installed and the owners told to get over it or get our.
ALL FAITHFUL BIBLE STUDENTS KNEW THAT THERE WAS NO MUSIC WORDS USED IN CONNECTION WITH THE SYNAGOGUE OR EKKLESIA. IT TOOK ALMOST 400 YEARS BEFORE ANYONE TRIED IT AND THERE WAS NO NEED TO FIGHT IT.
Christ outlawed musical performance for the Church in the wilderness: that never changed because the church is defined as a school (only) of the Word of God (only) as Romans 15, Ephesians 5 and Colossians 3 make clear.
Ro.15:2 Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification.
Aedificatio, III. Figurative, building up, instructing, edification. Absolute: loquitur ad Aedificationem Ecclesiae, Vulg. 1 Cor. 14, 12 ; ib. Eph. 4, 12.
The phrase loquitur ad Aedificationem Ecclesiae defines THE meaning of the ekklesia or church and the same METHOD excludes music of any kind. Singing would be the ODE which defines "Hebrew cantillation" which means SPEAK as in the word SPEAK.
Loquor a. [Sanscr. lap-, to talk, whisper; Gr. lak-, elakon, laskô], to speak, talk, say (in the language of common life, in the tone of conversation; language of the ekklesia
B. Act. 1. To speak out, to say, tell, talk about, mention, utter, name, declare, show, indicate or express clearly
Ecclesia ekklêsia, an assembly of the (Greek) people
This is how you SPEAK for EDUCATION in the ECCLESIAE.
Greek: lŏquor , cātus (quūtus), lŏqui (
I. inf. loquier, Naev. ap. Gell. 1, 24, 2), v. dep. n. and a. [Sanscr. lap-, to talk, whisper; Gr. lak-, elakon, laskô], to speak, talk, say (in the lang. of common life, in the tone of conversation;
B. Act.
1. To speak out, to say, tell, talk about, mention, utter, name
A. To speak, declare, show, indicate or express clearlylogik-os , ê, on, ( [logos] )
A. of or for speaking or speech, merê l. the organs of speech, Plu.Cor.38: logikê, hê, speech, opposite to mousikê, D.H. Comp. 11; l. phantasia expressed in speech, Stoic.2.61 . Opposite to poetry or rhetoric.
Mousikos II. of persons, skilled in music, musical, III. of things, elegant, delicate, brômata Diox.1 ; professional musicians, mousikos kai melôn poêtês, hêdion ouden, oude -ôteron Philem.23 ; harmonious [in tune], fitting, trophê
employed the forms of Greek poetry...
Until near the end of the fourth century, in the services of the Catholic Church
only the Old Testament Psalms and
the hymns or canticles from the New Testament were sung:Hymns of Ephraim the Syrian: First singing as Act in 373the other hymns were for personal family, or private use.Gradually there were prepared versical paraphrases of the Psalms, hymns
with lines of equal length, and hymns which were acrostic." (Latourette, Christianity. p. 207).
To Ephraim pertains the high and unique distinction of having originated-or at least given its living impulse to-a new departure in sacred literature; and that, not for his own country merely, but for Christendom.
From him came, if not the first idea, at all events the first successful example,
of making song an essential constituent of public worship,
and an exponent of theological teaching;and from him it spread and prevailed through the Eastern Churches, and affected even those of the West.
To the Hymns, on which chiefly his fame rests, the Syriac ritual in all its forms owes much of its strength and richness; and to them is largely due the place which Hymnody holds throughout the Church everywhere.
HOWEVER EPHRAEM REPUDIATED INSTRUMENTS
9. But when Moses came down, he saw their heathenism revelling in the wide plain with drums and cymbals.
Speedily, he put their madness to shame by means of the Levites and drawn swords.So likewise here, our Lord concealed His knowledge for a little when the sinful woman approached Him, that the Pharisee might form into shape his thought,
........... as his fathers had shaped the pernicious calf.
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series I, Vol. XIV, John Chrysostom, Homily I (c. 349–407 [1.] They that are spectators of the heathen games, when they have learned that a distinguished athlete and winner of crowns is come from any quarter, run all together to view his wrestling, and all his skill and strength; and you may see the whole theater of many ten thousands, all there straining their eyes both of body and mind, that nothing of what is done may escape them. So again these same persons, if any admirable musician come amongst them, leave all that they had in hand, which often is necessary and pressing business, and mount the steps, and sit listening very attentively to the words and the accompaniments, and criticising the agreement of the two. This is what the many do.
"Again; those who are skilled in rhetoric do just the same with respect to the sophists, for they too have their theaters, and their audience, and clappings of hands, and noise, and closest criticism of what is said.
"And if in the case of rhetoricians, musicians, and athletes, people sit in the one case to look on,
in the other to see at once and to listen with such earnest attention;
what zeal, what earnestness ought ye in reason to display,
when it is no musician or debater who now comes forward to a trial of skill,but when a man is speaking from heaven, and utters a voice plainer than thunder? for he has pervaded the whole earth with the sound; and occupied and filled it, not by the loudness of the cry, but by moving his tongue with the grace of God.
And what is wonderful, this sound, great as it is, is neither a harsh nor an unpleasant one, but sweeter and more delightful than all harmony of music, and with more skill to soothe; and besides all this, most holy, and most awful, and full of mysteries so great, and bringing with it goods so great, that if men were exactly and with ready mind to receive and keep them, they could no longer be mere men nor remain upon the earth, but would take their stand above all the things of this life, and having adapted themselves to the condition of angels, would dwell on earth just as if it were heaven.
[2.] For the son of thunder, the beloved of Christ, the pillar of the Churches throughout the world, who holds the keys of heaven, who drank the cup of Christ, and was baptized with His baptism, who lay upon his Master's bosom with much confidence,
this man comes forward to us now; not as an actor of a play, not hiding his head with a mask, (for he hath another sort of words to speak,) nor mounting a platform, nor striking the stage with his foot, nor dressed out with apparel of gold, but he enters wearing a robe of inconceivable beauty. For he will appear before us having "put on Christ" (Rom. xiii. 14; Gal. iii.
27), having his beautiful "feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace" (Eph. vi. 15); wearing a girdle not about his waist, but about his loins, not made of scarlet leather nor daubed outside3 with gold, but woven and composed of truth itself.
Now will he appear before us, not acting a part, (for with him there is nothing counterfeit, nor fiction, nor fable,) but with unmasked head he proclaims to us the truth unmasked; not making the audience believe him other than he is by carriage, by look, by voice,
needing for the delivery of his message no instruments of music, as harp, lyre, or any other the like, for he effects all with his tongue, uttering a voice which is sweeter and more profitable than that of any harper or any music.
All heaven is his stage his theater, the habitable world; his audience, all angels; and of men as many as are angels already, or desire to become so, for none but these can hear that harmony aright, and show it forth by their works;
"all the rest, like little children who hear, but what they hear understand not, from their anxiety about sweetmeats and childish playthings; so they too, being in mirth and luxury, and living only for wealth and power and sensuality, hear sometimes what is said, it is true,
but show forth nothing great or noble in their actions through fastening themselves for good to the clay of the brickmaking. By this Apostle stand the powers from above, marveling at the beauty of his soul, and his understanding, and the bloom of that virtue by which he drew unto him Christ Himself, and obtained the grace of the Spirit. For he hath made ready his soul, as some well-fashioned and jeweled lyre with strings of gold, and yielded it for the utterance of something great and sublime to the Spirit. Homily 1,THEODORET " Theodoret of Cyrus or Cyrrhus c. 393 – c. 457) 107 . Question: If songs were invented by unbelievers to seduce men, but were allowed to those under the law on account of their childish state, why do those who have received the perfect teaching of grace in their churches still use songs, just like the children under the law?
Answer: It is not simple singing that belongs to the childish state, but singing with lifeless instruments, with dancing, and with clappers. Hence the use of such instruments and the others that belong to the childish state is excluded from the singing in the churches, and simple singing is left." (Theodoret, a bishop of Cyrhus in Syria, Questions and Answers for the Orthodox)
"The strict order of the Church Fathers that only one instrument should be employed, i.e., the human voice, has been observed in the Syriac, the Jacobite, the Nestorian, and the Greek churches to the present day.
So also the synagogue did not use any instrument in the services up to 1810,
in which year the organ was introduced in Seesen, Germany" (Idelsohn, quoted by James Bales, Instrumental Music, p. 259).Danny Corbitt: Similarly, of his own compilation for Music in Early Christian Literature, James McKinnon assures us,
Thus, in an important area like liturgical psalmody, virtually every passage known to the author that makes a unique contribution to the subject, however slight, is included.8
8James McKinnon, Music in Early Christian Literature (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987), p vii.
McKinnon quotes Justin Martyr, noting that Martyr makes no mention of singing at all in his detailed description of a second century Christian assembly,9 but McKinnon says nothing of the quote from “Questions and Answers to the Orthodox.”
9Ibid., p. 20And on the day called Sunday, (th tou Hliou legomenh hmera.) all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place,
and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits; then, when the reader has ceased, the president verbally instructs, and exhorts to the imitation of these good things.Never did faithful people SERMONIZE or further expound (private interpretation) the Inspired Word of God. Rather, preaching was simply making sure that everyone understood that which was read and exhorted to keep. To Timothy the EVANGELIST:
Till I come, give attendance to (public) reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.1Ti.4:13
Then we all rise together and pray, and, as we before said, when our prayer is ended,
THIS is the pattern defined for the Church in the Wilderness: the only comments made by anyone was to exhort people to OBEY what they had heard read and mutually confessed. There was no Self-speak or Self-sing or Self-play or Self-Juggling permitted.
From First Apology Chapter XIII.-Christians Serve God Rationally. [IN the Mind or Spirit]
147 osh dunamij autw.-a phrase over which there has been much contention, but which seems to admit of no other meaning than that given above. [No need of any "contention." Langus renders, Pro virili sud, and Grabe illustrates by reference to Apost. Const., lib. viii. cap. 12. Our own learned translators render the same phrase (cap. xiii., above) "to the utmost of our power."
Some say this favours extemporary prayers, and others object. Oh! what matter either way? We all sing hymns, "according to our ability."]
Apost. Const. Then let the high priest say: It is very meet and fight before all things to sing an hymn to Thee, who art the true God, who art before all beings, "from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named;"
If one belonging to the theatre
(1) come, whether it be man or woman, or charioteer, or dueller, or racer, or player of prizes, or Olympic gamester, or one that plays on the pipe, on the lute, or on the harp at those games, or a dancing-master or an huckster,
(2) either let them leave off their employments, or let them be rejected. If a soldier come, let him be taught to "do no injustice, to accuse no man falsely, and to be content with his allotted wages:"
(3) if he submit to those rules, let him be received; but if he refuse them, let him be rejected. He that is guilty of sins not to be named, a sodomite, an effeminate person, a magician, an enchanter, an astrologer, a diviner, an user of magic verses, a juggler, a mountebank, one that makes amulets, a charmer, a soothsayer, a fortune-teller, an observer of palmistry
What Justin said about the Psalms agreed with the historic practice and direct commands: the psalms were read as long as time permitted.
Athenagoras A Plea For the Christians c. 180
For poets and philosophers, as to other subjects so also to this, have applied themselves in the way of conjecture, moved, by reason of their affinity with the afflatus from God, 21 each one by his own soul, to try whether he could find out and apprehend the truth; but they have not been found competent fully to apprehend it, because they thought fit to learn, not from God concerning God, but each one from himself; hence they came each to his own conclusion respecting God, and matter, and forms, and the world. But we have for witnesses of the things we apprehend and believe, prophets, men who have pronounced concerning God and the things of God, guided by the Spirit of God.
And you too will admit, excelling all others as you do in intelligence and in piety towards the true God,
........that it would be irrational for us to cease to believe in the Spirit from God,
........who moved the mouths of the prophets like musical instruments
........and to give heed to mere human opinions..
You sovereigns, indeed, rear and adorn your palaces for yourselves; but the world was not created because God needed it; for God is Himself everything to Himself,-light unapproachable, a perfect world, spirit, power, reason.If, therefore, the world is an instrument in tune, and moving in well-measured time,
I adore the Being who gave its harmony, and strikes its notes, and sings the accordant strain, and not the instrument.
For at the musical contests the adjudicators
do not pass by the lute-players and crown the lutes.Whether, then, as Plato says, the world be a product of divine art, I admire its beauty, and adore the Artificer; or whether it be His essence and body, as the Peripatetics affirm,
Tertullian A.D. 197 DeSpectaculus, Religious music
Because everyone knew that there was no more rationale for music than for wine and the dancing girls, most of the literature warns against pagan theater which was worship
For such is the power of earthly pleasures, that, to retain the opportunity of still partaking of them,it contrives to prolong swilling ignorance, and bribes knowledge into playing a dishonest part. To both things, perhaps, some among you are allured by the views of the heathens who in this matter
are wont to press us with arguments, such as these: commands
(1) That the exquisite enjoyments of ear and eye we have in things external are not in the least opposed to religion in the mind and conscience; and
(2) That surely no offence is offered to God, in any human enjoyment, by any of our pleasures, which it is not sinful to partake of in its own time and place, with all due honour and reverence secured to Him.But this is precisely what we are ready to prove: That these things are not consistent with true religion and true obedience to the true God.
There are some who imagine that Christians, a sort of people ever ready to die, are trained into the abstinence they practise, with no other object than that of making it less difficult to despise life, the fastenings to it being severed as it were.
They regard it as an art of quenching all desire for that which, so far as they are concerned, they have emptied of all that is desirable;
and so it is thought to be rather a thing of human planning and foresight,
than clearly laid down by divine command.It were a grievous thing, forsooth, for Christians, while continuing in the enjoyment of pleasures so great, to die for God! It is not as they say; though, if it were, even Christian obstinacy might well give all submission to a plan so suitable, to a rule so excellent
Arnobius wrote (284 – 305). On Instrumental Music, Tongues and Idolatry
What say you, O men? Did, then, shall I repeat, the god who makes the thunder crash, lightens and hurls the thunderbolt, and draws together terrible clouds,
drink in the streams of the breast, wail as an infant, creep about, and,
that he might be persuaded to cease his crying most foolishly protracted,
was he made silent by the noise of a rattle,
and put to sleep lying in a very soft cradle, and
lulled with broken words?" (Arnobius Against the Heathen, Ante-Nicene, VI, p. 483)."Does "Apollo, having become rich, by his ambigious responses, deceived the very kings by whose treasures and gifts he had been enriched?"
"Did we declare that Mercury was a thief? that Laverna is so also and along with him presides over secret frauds?
"Is the writer Myrtilus one of us, who declares that the Muses were the handmaids of Megalcon, daughter of Macarus?"
"Did we say that Venus was a courtezan, deified by a Cyprian king named Cinyras? (Arnobius Against the Heathen, Ante-Nicene, VI, p. 484).
Who, I say, can believe that the deity reclined at men's tables, was troubled on account of his avarice, deceived his suppliants by an ambiguous reply, excelled in the tricks of thieves, committed adultery, acted as a slave, was wounded?" (Arnobius Against the Heathen, Ante-Nicene, VI, p. 485).
Danny Corbitt: In the same way, Gerhard Delling identifies the passages where Justin Martyr uses the various New Testament words for "sing" or "song," making no reference to “Questions and Answers to the Orthodox,” let alone this quote within it.10
10Gerhard Delling, “Umnos,” Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (Ann Arbor, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdman’s Publishing Co., 1972), volume VIII, 502That's fine: God has all of the answers and Danny Corbitt will find no historic scholar who thought that any musical content was involved in the School of Christ. However, a hymn is really a prayer: we don't PRAY with instrumental accompaniment.
WAS THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST TOO STUPID TO SAY WHAT HE MEANT AND UNDERSTAND BY THE SIMPLIEST?
Humn-eō, also in Prose, celebrate in a hymn, commemorate
2. descant upon, in song or speech II. tell over and over again, harp upon, repeat, recite,
ton nomon humnein recite the form of the law,
[20] Wisdom calls aloud in the street. She utters her voice in the public squares.
Prov. 1:20 Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets:
Prov. 1:21 She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates:
in the city she uttereth her words, saying,
Prov. 1:22 How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity?
and the scorners delight in their scorning,
and fools hate knowledge?
Latin Prae-dico To cry in public, make known by crying in public, to publish, proclaim. n gen., to make publicly known, to announce, proclaim, to say, relate, state, declare 3. To preach the gospel (eccl. Lat.): “evangelium,” Vulg. Matt. 4, 23: “baptismum,” id. Marc. 1, 4; absol., id. Matt. 4, 17 et saep.—
Acts 15:21 For Moses of old time
hath in every city
them that preach him,
being read in the synagogues
every sabbath day.
1Tim. 4:13 Till I come, give attendance to [public] reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.
Doctrine is teaching is imparting knowledge or the habit producted by instruction. The synagogue explained any unclear passage which had been read. Exhortation means to bring the COMFORTER'S Words to Comfort us (Rom 15)"The word that is employed for this "anaginosko, anagnosis) is the technical term for the cultic reading aloud of the Old Testament in the synagogue. By applying this terminology to the reading of his own epistles he not only ascribes the same authority to the apostolic word as to the Old Testament writings...he also combines a quotation from the Old Testament with a word of Jesus and introduces the whole with the familiar formula: 'for the Scripture says.'" (Ridderbos, Hermon, Paul, P. 483 an Outline of His Theo., Eerdmans)
"anaginosko--of written characters, know them again, and so, read, 6. Med., attach oneself to a thing, cling, cleave to, 7. Pass., to be held fast by a thing
humnos , ho, A. hymn, ode, in praise of gods or heroes (“kai ti ēn eidos ōdēs eukhai pros theous, onoma de humnoi epekalounto Pl.Lg.700b;
Plat. Laws 700b one class of song was that of prayers to the gods, which bore the name of “hymns”
Plat. Prot. 317a as outer coverings. But I do not conform to the method of all these persons, since I believe they did not accomplish any of their designs: for the purpose of all this disguise could not escape the able men of affairs in each city; the multitude, of course, perceive practically nothing, but merely echo this or that PROUNCEMENT [humnousin] of their leaders. Now to try to run away, and to fail through being caught in the act, humnousin: have in one's mouth, take up in chorus, cf. 343 b
Plat. Prot. 343b and dedicated these as the first-fruits of their lore to Apollo in his Delphic temple, inscribing there those maxims which are on every tongue [humnousin]—
“Know thyself” and “Nothing overmuch.”
Spirit not smart enough to use?: humno-logos , on, A.hymn-singing, “andres
Spirit not smart enough to use?: humno-logeō ,
Anēr , III man, Opposite. youth, presbutēs man emphatically, Opposite gunaikōnA.sing hymns or praise, Sm.Ps.64(65).9, PLond.3.1029.3 (iii A. D.).II. proclaim by hymns, hoti . . Phld.Mort. 17.
Spirit not smart enough to use?: humno-logia , hē, A.hymn-singing, Sm.Jb.33.26.
Job 33:26 He shall pray unto God, and he will be favourable unto him: and he shall see his face with joy: for he will render unto man his righteousness.NOT EVEN CIVIL SOCIETY WAS IGNORANT OF THE MUSICAL CONNECTIONS:
Plat. Prot. 347c But if he does not mind, let us talk [dialegō Opposite poetry], no more of poems and verses, but consider the points on which I questioned you at first, Protagoras, and on which I should be glad to reach, with your help, a conclusion. For it seems to me that arguing about poetry is comparable to the wine-parties of common market-folk. These people, owing to their inability to carry on a familiar conversation over their wine by means of their own voices and discussions— Sumposion drinking party : "don't get "fluted down" with wine.
Plat. Prot. 347d such is their lack of education—put a premium on flute-girls by hiring the extraneous voice of the flute at a high price, and carry on their intercourse by means of its utterance.
But where the party consists of thorough gentlemen
who have had a proper education [paid-euō] ,
you will see neither flute-GIRLS nor dancing-GIRLS nor harp-GIRLS,
[prostitutes] Male religious musicians were "Drunk, perverted or just mocking]
but only the company [Suneimi] contenting themselves with their own conversation,
and none of these fooleries [paidiē paizō] and frolics— paidiōn
each speaking and listening decently in his turn,
This is the ABSOLUTE command for the sunego or synagogue or assembly
end moved to image humnosantes B
NO Fooleries paizō 4. play on a musical instrument, h.Ap.206: c. acc., “Pan ho kalamophthogga paizōn” Ar.Ra.230; dance and sing, Pi. O.1.16.NO Frolics phōn-eō , (phōnē) 4. of a musical instrument, sound, E.Or.146 (lyr.); of sounds, hēdu phōnein sound sweetly, Plu.2.1021b; but brontē like thunlder: to shock X.Ap.12.
phōn-ē , hē, 4. of sounds made by inanimate objects, mostly Poet., “kerkidos ph.” S.Fr.595; “suriggōn” E.Tr.127 (lyr.); “aulōn” Mnesim.4.56 (anap.); rare in early Prose, “organōn phōnai” Pl.R.397a;
Danny Corbitt: Scholarly disregard for this citation from Martyr is unanimous. We must ask what the scholars know that leads them to take no notice of such a potentially significant quote...
Scholarly evidence is unanimouse that any writer of that time could have written it and did write similar statements. Being late in condemning instruments proves that there was little to condemn before that. All apostacies are fought AFTER they have occurred.
The seeds of the split between the Christian Churches and the non-instrumental Churches of Christ were sown around that same time, with the Millennial Harbinger citing this "quote" from Martyr to support its opposition to musical instruments.17
This paper was in the PAPERS of Justin Martyr: Corbitt does not know WHO wrote it. However, we do know what17W.K. Pendleton, Millennial Harbinger, volume 41 (Bethany, WV: W.K. Pendleton, 1870), p. 504, retrieved from Google Books: Millennial Harbinger, 1840, Vol 41
Justine Martyr First Apology Chapter XIII.-Christians Serve God Rationally.What became the Church of Christ was never part of the Disciples of Christ even when they held "unity" meetings.What sober-minded man, then, will not acknowledge that we are not atheists, worshipping as we do the Maker of this universe, and declaring, as we have been taught, that He has no need of streams of blood and libations and incense;
whom we praise to the utmost of our power by the exercise of prayer and thanksgiving for all things wherewith we are supplied, as we have been taught that the only honour that is worthy of Him is not to consume by fire what He has brought into being for our sustenance, but to use it for ourselves and those who need, and with gratitude to Him to offer thanks by invocations and hymns 15
for our creation, and for all the means of health, and for the various qualities of the different kinds of things, and for the changes of the seasons; and to present before Him petitions for our existing again in incorruption through faith in Him.
15 pompaj kai umnouj. "Grabe, and it should seem correctly, understands pompaj to be solemn prayers. . . . He also remarks, that the umnoi were either psalms of David, or some of those psalms and songs made by the primitive Christians, which are mentioned in Eusebius, H. E., v. 28."-Trollope.Our teacher of these things is Jesus Christ, who also was born for this purpose,
Chapter XIV.-The Demons Misrepresent Christian Doctrine.For we forewarn you to be on your guard, lest those demons whom we have been accusing should deceive you, and quite divert you from reading and understanding what we say. For they strive to hold you their slaves and servants; and sometimes by appearances in dreams, and sometimes by magical impositions, they subdue all who make no strong opposing effort for their own salvation. And thus do we also, since our persuasion by the Word, stand aloof from them (i.e., the demons), and follow the only unbegotten God through His Son-we who formerly delighted in fornication,
Paul calls the musical idolatry at Mount Sina the worship of DEMONS.
Second Apology Chapter V- How the Angels Transgressed.
But if tis idea take possession of some one, that if we acknowledge God as our helper, we should not, as we say, be oppressed and persecuted by the wicked; this, too, I will solve. God, when He had made the whole world, and subjected things earthly to man, and arranged the heavenly elements for the increase of fruits and rotation of the seasons, and appointed this divine law-for these things also He evidently made for man-committed the care of men and of all things under heaven to angels whom He appointed over them.
But the angels transgressed this appointment, and were captivated by love of women, and begat children who are those that are called demons; and besides, they afterwards subdued the human race to themselves,
partly by magical writings, and partly by fears and the punishments they occasioned, and partly by teaching them to offer sacrifices, and incense, and libations, of which things they stood in need after they were enslaved by lustful passions; and among men they sowed murders, wars, adulteries, intemperate deeds, and all wickedness.
Whence also the poets and mythologists, not knowing that it was the angels and those demons who had been begotten by them that did these things to men, and women, and cities, and nations, which they related, ascribed them to god himself, and to those who were accounted to be his very offspring, and to the offspring of those who were called his brother), Neptune and Pluto, and to the children again of these their offspring.For whatever name each of the angels had given to himself and his children, by that name they called them.
The Church of Christ refused to be counted by the Disciples in the 1906 Census.
The Christian church did not SECTARIAN OUT of the Disciples until beginning in 1927 and ending in 1971.
So it is a lie to claim that not beginning to do what the church had never done split anything.
Chapter VIII.-Antiquity, Inspiration, and Harmony of Christian Teachers.
Since therefore it is impossible to learn anything true concerning religion from your teachers, who by their mutual disagreement have furnished you with sufficient proof of their own ignorance, I consider it reasonable to recur to our progenitors,
` who both in point of time have by a great way the precedence of your teachers,
and who have taught us nothing from their own private fancy,
nor differed with one another, nor attempted to overturn one another's positions,but without wrangling and contention received from God the knowledge which also they taught to us.
For neither by nature nor by human conception is it possible for men to know things so great and divine,but by the gift which then descended from above upon the holy men, who had no need of rhetorical art, nor of uttering anything in a contentious or quarrelsome manner, but to present themselves pure
to the energy of the Divine Spirit, in order that the divine plectrum itself, descending from heaven, and using righteous men as an instrument like a harp or lyre, might reveal to us the knowledge of things divine and heavenly.
Wherefore, as if with one mouth and one tongue, they have in succession, and in harmony with one another, taught us both concerning God, and the creation of the world, and the formation of man, and concerning the immortality of the human soul, and the judgment which is to be after this life, and concerning all things which it is needful for us to know, and thus in divers times and places have afforded us the divine instruction.
Chapter II-The Poets are Unfit to Be Religious Teachers.
Whom, then, ye men of Greece, do ye call your teachers of religion? The poets? It will do your cause no good to say so to men who know the poets; for they know how very ridiculous a theogony they have composed,-as we can learn from Homer, your most distinguished and prince of poets. For he says, first, that the gods were in the beginning generated from water; for he has written thus:
"Both ocean, the origin of the gods, and their mother Tethys"
And then we must also remind you of what he further says of him whom ye consider the first of the gods, and whom he often calls "the father of gods and men; "for he said:
"Zeus, who is the dispenser of war to men."
Indeed, he says that he was not only the dispenser of war to the army, but also the cause of perjury to the Trojans, by means of his daughter; and Homer introduces him in love, and bitterly complaining, and bewailing himself, and plotted against by the other gods, and at one time exclaiming concerning his own son: 5 -
- "Alas! he falls, my most beloved of men!
- Sarpedon, vanquished by Patroclus, falls.
- So will the fates."
- And at another time concerning Hector:
- "Ah!I behold a warrior dear to me
- Around the walls of Ilium driven, and grieve
- For Hector."
And what he says of the conspiracy of the other gods against Zeus, they know who read these words: "When the other Olympians-Juno, and Neptune, and Minerva-wished to bind him." And unless the blessed gods had feared him whom gods call Briareus, Zeus would have been bound by them. And what Homer says of his intemperate loves, we must remind you in the very words he used.For he said that Zeus spake thus to Juno:
- "For never goddess pour'd, nor woman yet,
- So full a tide of love into my breast;
- I never loved Ixion's consort thus,
- Nor sweet Acrisian Danaë, from whom
- Sprang Perseus, noblest of the race of man;
- Nor Phoenix' daughter fair, of whom were born
- Minos, unmatch'd but by the powers above,
- And Rhadamanthus; nor yet Semele,
- Nor yet Alcmene, who in Thebes produced
- The valiant Hercules; and though my son
- By Semele were Bacchus, joy of man;
- Nor Ceres golden-hair'd, nor high-enthron'd
- Latona in the skies; no-nor thyself
- As now I love thee, and my soul perceive
- O'erwhelm'd with sweetness of intense desire."
It is fit that we now mention what one can learn from the work of Homer of the other gods, and what they suffered at the hands of men. For he says that Mars and Venus were wounded by Diomed, and of many others of the gods he relates the sufferings. For thus we can gather from the case of Dione consoling her daughter; for she said to her:
- "Have patience, dearest child; though much enforc'd
- Restrain thine anger: we, in heav'n who dwell,
- Have much to bear from mortals; and ourselves
- Too oft upon each other suff'rings lay:
- Mars had his suff'rings; by Alöeus sons,
- Otus and Ephialtes, strongly bound,
- He thirteen months in brazen fetters lay:
- Juno, too, suffer'd, when Amphitryon's son
- Thro'her right breast a three-barb'd arrow sent:
- Dire, and unheard of, were the pangs she bore,
- Great Pluto's self the stinging arrow felt,
- When that same son of Aegis-bearing Jove
- Assail'd him in the very gates of hell,
- And wrought him keenest anguish; pierced with pain,
- To high Olympus, to the courts of Jove,
- Groaning, he came; the bitter shaft remain'd
- Deep in his shoulder fix'd, and griev'd his soul."
- Inana's descent to the nether world J.A. Black etal.
- Inanna Descent Wolkstein - Kramer
But if it is right to remind you of the battle of the gods, opposed to one another, your own poet himself will recount it, saying: 10
- "Such was the shock when gods in battle met;
- For there to royal Neptune stood oppos'd
- Phoebus Apollo with his arrows keen;
- The blue-eyed Pallas to the god of war;
- To Juno, Dian, heav'nly archeress,
- Sister of Phoebus, golden-shafted queen.
- Stout Hermes, helpful god, Latona fac'd."
These and such like things did Homer teach you; and not Homer only, but also Hesiod. So-that if you believe your most distinguished poets, who have given the genealogies of your gods, you must of necessity either suppose that the gods are such beings as these, or believe that there are no gods at all.
2. Phobos personified, as son of Ares, Il.13.299; Deimos te Ph. te 11.37 , cf. 4.440, 15.119, Hes.Th.934, A.Th.45; worshipped at Selinus, IG14.268.2.
to strike terror into one,edôk' Apollôn thêras phobôi Pi.P.5.61 ;
Apollôn , ho, Apollo: Apellôn, Aploun. from---
Pythian Odes 5.[12] Skillful men are better able to bear even god-given power. Great prosperity surrounds you, as you walk with justice. [15] First, since you are a king of great cities, your inborn eye looks on this as a most revered prize of honor, united with your mind; [20] and you are blessed even now, because you have already earned the boast of victory with your horses from the renowned Pythian festival, and you will welcome this victory-procession of men, [23] a delight for Apollo. And so, do not forget, when you are celebrated in song around Cyrene's sweet garden of Aphrodite,
The Roman fast day, or day of humiliation, celebrated originally in times of great distress, after the Sibylline Books had been duly consulted. The whole population, both of the towns and surrounding country, free-born and emancipated, men, women, and children, took part in the solemnity. The whole ceremony had a [p. 1509] Greek rather than a Roman colour.
From the Temple of Apollo, priests and laymen, crowned with wreaths of bay, marched in procession to the sound of singing and the notes of the lyre, visiting all the holy places, especially those where lectisternia were held. According to the rite introduced from the Oriental Greeks of Asia Minor, the Romans touched with their faces the threshold of the sanctuaries, prostrated themselves before the statues of the gods, clasping their knees and kissing their hands and feet.
Plato Cratylus connects musical harmony with these occupation of the witches in worshiping the the god Harmony and the goddess of the air (1 Cor 14:9): Hermogenes: How is that?
Socrates: I will try to tell you what I think about it; for no single name could more aptly indicate
the four functions of the god,
- touching upon them all
- and in a manner declaring his power
- in music, prophecy, medicine, and archery.
And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon. Rev 9:11
Hermogenes: Go on; you seem to imply that it is a remarkable name.
Socrates: His name and nature are in harmony;you see he is a musical god. For in the first place, purification and purgations used in medicine and in soothsaying, and fumigations with medicinal and magic drugs, and the baths and sprinklings connected with that sort of thing all have the single function of making a man pure in body and soul, do they not?
pharmakeia (g5331) far-mak-i'-ah; from 5332; medication ("pharmacy"), i.e. (by extens.) magic (lit. or fig.): - sorcery, witchcraft.
And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee; Rev 18:22
And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived. Rev 18:23
pharmakeus (g5332) far-mak-yoos'; from pharmakoån , (a drug, i.e. spell- giving potion); a druggist ("pharmacist") or poisoner, i.e. (by extens.) a magician: - sorcerer
But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. Rev 21:8
Bdelusso (g948) bdel-oos'-so; from a (presumed) der. of bdeo, (to stink); to be disgusted, i.e. (by impl.) detest (espec. of idolatory): - abhor, abominable
Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege? Ro.2:22
Justin continued Chapter III.-Opinions of the School of Thales.
And if you decline citing the poets, because you say
it is allowable forYou will no doubt say, "The sages and philosophers." For to them, as to a fortified wall, you are wont to flee, when any one quotes the opinions of your poets about the gods.
them to frame myths,
and to relate in a mythical way many things about the gods which are far from true,
do you suppose you have some others for your religious teachers,
or how do you say that they themselves
Therefore, since it is fit that we commence with the ancients and the earliest, beginning thence I will produce the opinion of each, much more ridiculous as it is than the theology of the poets.
Chapter XVII-Testimony of Homer.
And the poet Homer, using the license of poetry, and rivalling the original opinion of Orpheus regarding the plurality of the gods, mentions, indeed, several gods in a mythical style, lest he should seem to sing in a different strain from the poem of Orpheus, which he so distinctly proposed to rival, that even in the first line of his poem he indicated the relation he held to him. For as Orpheus in the beginning of his poem had said,
"O goddess, sing the wrath of Demeter, who brings the goodly fruit,"
Homer began thus, "O goddess, sing the wrath of Achilles, son of Peleus,"preferring, as it seems to me, even to violate the poetical metre in his first line, than that he should seem not to have remembered before all else the names of the gods. But shortly after he also clearly and explicitly presents his own opinion regarding one God only, somewhere he makes Ulysses address the host of the Greeks thus: "The rule of many is not a good thing; let there be one ruler." And that the rule of many is not a good thing, but on the contrary an evil, he proposed to evince by fact, recounting the wars which took place on account of the multitude of rulers, and the fights and factions, and their mutual counterplots. For monarchy is free from contention. So far the poet Homer. saying to Achilles by the mouth of Phoenix, "Not though God Himself were to promise that He would peel off my old age, and give me the rigour of my youth," where he indicates by the pronoun the real and true God. And somewhere
And you may in part easily learn the right religion from the ancient Sibyl, who by some kind of potent inspiration teaches you, through her oracular predictions, truths which seem to be much akin to the teaching of the prophets.
She, they say, was of Babylonian extraction, being the daughter of Berosus, who wrote the Chaldaean History; and when she had crossed over (how, I know not) into the region of Campania, she there uttered her oracular sayings in a city called Cumae, six miles from Baiae, where the hot springs of Campania are found. And being in that city, we saw also a certain place, in which we were shown a very large basilica cut out of one stone; a vast affair, and worthy of all admiration. And they who had heard it from their fathers as part of their country's tradition, told us that it was here she used to publish her oracles. And in the middle of the basilica they showed us three receptacles cut out of one stone, in which, when filled with water, they said that she washed, and having put on her robe again, retires into the inmost chamber of the basilica, which is still a part of the one stone; and sitting in the middle of the chamber on a high rostrum and throne, thus proclaims her oracles.
And both by many other writers has the Sibyl been mentioned as a prophetess, and also by Plato in his Phaedrus. And Plato seems to me to have counted prophets divinely inspired when he read her prophecies. For he saw that what she had long ago predicted was accomplished; and on this account he expresses in the Dialogue with Meno his wonder at and admiration of prophets in the following terms:
"Those whom we now call prophetic persons we should rightly name divine.
And not least would we say that they are divine,
and are raised to the prophetic ecstasy by the inspiration and possession of God,
when they correctly speak of many and important matters,
and yet know nothing of what they are saying,"-plainly and manifestly referring to the prophecies of the Sibyl.
For, unlike the poets who, after their poems are penned, have power to correct and polish, specially in the way of increasing the accuracy of their verse, she was filled indeed with prophecy at the time of the inspiration, but as soon as the inspiration ceased, there ceased also the remembrance of all she had said. And this indeed was the cause why some only, and not all, the metres of the verses of the Sibyl were preserved. For we ourselves, when in that city, ascertained from our cicerone, who showed us the places in which she used to prophesy, that there was a certain coffer made of brass in which they said that her remains were preserved. And besides all else which they told us as they had heard it from their fathers, t
hey said also that they who then took down her prophecies, being illiterate persons,
often went quite astray from the accuracy of the metres; and this, they said,
was the cause of the want of metre in some of the verses, t
he prophetess having no remembrance of what she had said, after the possession and inspiration ceased, and the reporters having, through their lack of education, failed to record the metres with accuracy. And on this account, it is manifest that Plato had an eye to the prophecies of the Sibyl when he said this about prophets, for he said, "When they correctly speak of many and important matters, and yet know nothing of what they are saying.Chapter XXXVIII.-Concluding Appeal.
But since, ye men of Greece,
the matters of the true religion lie not in the metrical numbers of poetry,
nor yet in that culture which is highly esteemed among you,
do ye henceforward pay less devotion to accuracy of metres and of language;
and giving heed without contentiousness to the words of the Sibyl,Chapter XXII.-So Also Were Sacrifices and Oblations.
"And that you may learn that it was for the sins of your own nation, and for their idolatries and
not because there was any necessity for such sacrifices,
that they were likewise enjoined, listen to the manner in which He speaks of these by Amos, one of the twelve, saying:`Woe unto you that desire the day of the Lord! to what end is this day of the Lord for you?
It is darkness and not light, as when a man flees from the face of a lion, and a bear meets him; and he goes into his house, and leans his hands against the wall, and the serpent bites him. Shall not the day of the Lord be darkness and not light, even very dark, and no brightness in it? I have hated, I have despised your feast-days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies:
wherefore, though ye offer Me your burnt-offerings and sacrifices, I will not accept them; neither will I regard the peace-offerings of your presence.
Take thou away from Me the multitude of thy songs and psalms; I will not hear thine instruments.But let judgment be rolled down as water, and righteousness as an impassable torrent.
This does not mean to play instruments in an attempt to worship a Spirit God BUT do so with a good mental attitude. The word is BUT or RATHER or INSTEAD OF
Tertullian (200 A.D.), an early church Father
"Musical concerts with viol and lute belong to Apollo, to the Muses, to Minerva and Mercury who invented them; ye who are Christians, hate and abhor these things whose very authors themselves must be the object of loathing and aversion."
Tertullian, The Shows, or De Spectaculis, Modern Religious Drama and Music
Tertullian and the Fall of Women
Eusebius (260-340), an early church Father
"Of old at the time those of the circumcision were worshiping with symbols and types it was not inappropriate to send up hymns to God with the psalterion and kithara.... But we in an inward manner keep the part of the Jew, according to the saying of the apostle.... [Romans 2:28f]. We render our hymns with a living psalterion and a living kithara, with spiritual songs. The unison voices of Christians would be more acceptable to God than any musical instrument."
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