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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A refeshingly unbiased call for God centered worship,
By Steve Foltz "Prodigal Knot" (Gresham, OR) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Old Light on New Worship: Musical Instruments and the Worship of God, a Theological, Historical and Psychological Study (Hardcover)
As a recent convert who worships at a non-instrumental church of Christ (I speak of the fellowship which calls itself that) I have been struggling with the idea that instrumental worship was wrong, or even sinful. My feeling, in spite of the fact that I dislike contemporary "Christian" music, as a rule, and detest the idea that Rock and Roll, Pop, or Hip-Hop have anything in common with worship because most of it smacks of performance and entertainment, was that it was a matter of personal preference.However, Dr.Price (a Presbyterian minister) argues that the only instruments in Old Testament worship were those authorized specifically for that purpose. We discover that Moses was instructed to include only trumpets, of a design unique to the Israelites, for use with Tabernacle worship. We also find that every instrument referred to in the Psalms was invented and created by David in accordance with God's instructions for temple worship. While David was not allowed to build God a permanent temple, Solomon's temple worship and all successive temple dedications and worship included ONLY those instruments invented by David. The fact that Jewish worship then, as now, centered primarily on the synagogue rather than the temple reinforces this since instrumental worship was unknown then and now within the synagogues. The Christian church naturally evolved from synagogue style worship, so it's understandable that instruments were simply not a factor in the early church. While the author is somewhat redundant in his emphasizing of certain points, he makes good ones indeed. He adds the historical evidence of vehement disapproval of instruments being involved in worship by all the well known and documented church fathers with two lesser known exceptions (around 600 and 850 A.D., I believe). The Roman Catholic church didn't adopt the edifice organs into worship until it was deep into the "dark ages" of the church, around 1300 A.D. Before that they had already corrupted the congregational aspect of worship with sophisticated and unintelligible chorusing and Gregorian chants. In fact, as the author points out, instrumental music was a rarity up through the very end of the 19th century, opposed by Presbyterians, Baptists and Methodists alike and including such personalities as Charles Spurgeon, Charles Finney, John and Charles Wesley (themselves prolific hymn writers), and many others. The author cites the many well known psychological effects of instrumental music. Music is soothing, mood setting and delightful, but it can be used to manipulate and coerce as well as detract from the very point of worship. The author makes clear that worship is for God, not us, and we are to do it to please Him, not ourselves. All in all, a convincing treatise against all forms of human centered "worship". I'm convinced.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Description and Contents,
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This review is from: Old Light on New Worship: Musical Instruments and the Worship of God, a Theological, Historical and Psychological Study (Hardcover)
As a bookseller, I like to give my customers as much information as possible. Not finding any other way to do this, I am pasting the book description here. Thanks! OLD LIGHT ON NEW WORSHIP: Musical Instruments and the Worship of God, A Theological, Historical and Psychological Study by John Price "About the author - John Price is a graduate of Trinity Ministerial Academy, Montville, New Jersey. He is currently the Pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Rochester, New York, where he has served since 1995. Pastor Price and his wife, Mary Jo, have two children." From the Foreword by Edward Donnelly "The timeliness of this volume springs from the fact that we are living through a worship revolution. Evangelical worship has changed as much in the last twenty years as in the previous two hundred. The process has been swift, pervasive and controversial, leading to the tragic emergency of what have been called 'worship wars' in which brothers and sisters in Christ actually quarrel over how to worship their heavenly Father. These developments have not take place in a context of spiritual renewal. They seem, rather, to be partly the product and partly the cause of an increasing shallowness and worldliness among the professing people of God. Reformed churches are not proving immune to the clamour for change. So it is useful to have before us a calm, reasoned discussion of one of the issues." "I enthusiastically recommend this book on congregational worship. It is a great relief to have access to a scholarly modern examination of the question, 'What musical instruments are and which are not permissible in the public worship of God?' For clarity and fullness of treatment, yet at the same time for courtesy and pastoral wisdom, this short study on an aspect of the regulative principle is first-class. I highly recommend it to church members as well as to ministers of the gospel. - Maurice Roberts, Minister of Inverness Free Church of Scotland (continuing)" CONTENTS Foreword Preface Introduction I. The Regulative Principle Applied to Musical Instruments Musical Instruments in the Old Testament Musical Instruments in the New Testament The Origins of the Old Testament Musical Instruments II. The History of Musical Instruments in the Christian Church The Origins of Christian Worship in the Jewish Synagogue The Rejection of Musical Instruments by the Church Fathers The Rise of Musical Instruments During the Dark Ages The Protestant Reformation The Puritan Era The 18th and 19th Centuries The 10th Century Lessons from Church History III. The Psychology of Music A Brief History The Struggle Between Words and Tunes The Testimony of the Church Concerning This Struggle Two Clarifications IV. The True Glory of Gospel Worship V. The Exalted Place of Singing in the Church VI. Arguments in Favor of Instrumental Music Considered The 1689 Baptist Confession and "Circumstances of Worship" The Greek Verb "Psallo" and the Noun "Psalmos" in Ephesians 5:19 Other Arguments in Favor of Instrumental Music Practical Considerations VII. Conclusion Appendix A An Exhortation to Unity Appendix B Some Suggestions for Reformation Appendix C How Shall We Sing? Index of Names Bibliography ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Quote from pages 132 and 133: "As late as the 1880s, Charles Spurgeon continued to hold to the principles of the Reformers and Puritans and rejected the use of any musical instruments in worship, including the organ, which had become so prevalent in his day. In a sermon entitled 'The New Song and the Old Story,' Spurgeon states his opposition to musical instrumentation in worship: "What a noble instrument the human voice is! . . . Is not our tongue the glory of our frame? Had I no conscientious objection to instrumental music in worship, I should still, I think, be compelled to admit that all the instruments that were ever devised by men, however sweetly attuned, are harsh and grating compared with the unparalleled sweetness of the human voice. When it is naturally melodious and skillfully trained. . . . there can be no music under heaven that can equal the combination of voices which belong to men, women, and children whose hearts really love the Savior. . . . If you want the sensual gratification of music's melting, mystic lay, let me commend to you the concert-room, there you will get the enchanting ravishment, but when ye come to the house of God, let it be to 'sing unto the Lord.' "Spurgeon comments on Ps. 42:4, "David appears to have had a peculiarly tender remembrance of the singing of the pilgrims, and assuredly it is the most delightful part of worship and that which comes nearest to the adoration of heaven. What a degradation to supplant the intelligent song of the whole congregation by the theatrical prettinesses of a quartette, the refined niceties of a choir, or the blowing off of wind from inanimate bellows and pipes! We might as well pray by machinery as praise by it."
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A serious study on the Authority of Scriptures,
By
This review is from: Old Light on New Worship: Musical Instruments and the Worship of God, a Theological, Historical and Psychological Study (Hardcover)
I found this book to be extremely helpful in the realm of specific authority. Not only does Price teach on the instrumental music question, but he also gives principles by which all Scripture should be read and understood. If you are a leader in a church, this book will help clarify your strict adherance to God's revealed will.
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