Dear Aebi: When and by whom were instruments of
music introduced into Christian worship? Dear Aebi: When and by whom were instruments of
music introduced into Christian worship?
Instruments of music were used in the Old Testament
(2 Chronicles 29:25; Psalm 150; Exodus 15:20) but were not used
in Christian worship in the churches for about 1,000 years. The
American Encyclopedia and some other encyclopedias say that
Pope Vitalian first used it in 670 A.D. [in his private worship].
There are references to its non-use around the beginning of the
5th century by several writers (like Theodoret, Niceta, Chrysostom,
and Eusebius) who condemned it as belonging to pagan worship and
to the Old Testament worship with animal sacrifices. There are
many references to Christian worship by early Christian writers.
They speak of singing and other acts of worship but never mention
instruments of music. Some authors misuse statements of certain
2nd 4th century church writers to imply that they did endorse
the use of instruments in singing Psalms. If they would read more
closely, they would see that the instruments mentioned in the
Psalms are allegorized by these writers to say that the strings
of the harp are actually the strings of the heart, or the emotions
accompanying the words of the songs.
Everett Ferguson, an authority on church history,
in A Cappella Music in the Public Worship of the Church,
said, "Recent studies put the introduction of instrumental
music even later than the dates found in reference books. It was
perhaps as late as the tenth century when the organ was played
as part of the service. This makes instrumental music one of the
late innovations of the medieval Catholic church. When introduced
in the Middle Ages, the organ was still not part of the liturgy
proper. That is, it did not initially accompany the hymn service,
but was a separate item in the service" (p. 81). He says
songs were not accompanied by instrumental music until new styles
of music were developed. McClintock and Strong's Cyclopedia
of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastic Literature quotes
Roman Catholic theologian Thomas Aquinas (1250 A.D.) as saying,
"Our Church does not use musical instruments, as harps and
psalteries, to praise God withal, that she may not seem to Judaize"
(VIII, 739).
Most Protestant Reformers (Calvin, Zwingli, Knox,
Wesley, Smythe, and others) rejected instrumental music as a Roman
Catholic innovation copied from the Old Testament temple worship.
Episcopalians and Lutherans used instruments, but they were not
used by the Reformed Church, the Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists,
Church of the Brethren, Mennonites, and others until the 19th
century. The Eastern (Greek) Orthodox Catholics rejected its use
until the late 20th century. Even the Jewish synagogues rejected
instrumental music, their first use being in Germany in 1910,
according to The Jewish Encyclopedia. When instruments
were introduced into Protestant churches, they were fought vehemently.
A Presbyterian theology seminary professor, John L. Girardeau
in 1888 wrote a book, Instrumental Music in the Public Worship,
in which he argued forcefully that if Presbyterians put instrumental
music into their worship they would be going back to Roman Catholicism.
The Restoration leaders refused instrumental music
as foreign to the gospel. The first church of Christ in modern
times on record to use instrumental music was the church
at Midway, KY, where L. L. Pinkerton, their preacher, installed
a melodeon (a small pedal-operated keyboard organ) in 1859. Aylette
Raines, minister at Millersburg, KY, successfully opposed the
introduction of a melodeon there in 1851. Some in the church wanted
to copy actions then being taken in some denominations, and the
same bitter controversies and divisions resulted. In the late
19th and early 20th centuries, churches of Christ lost much of
their power for good as a result of this and related issues that
divided and devastated them. Is it happening again a century later?
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