[Full disclosure: I was asked to do this review by the book’s author, Danny Corbitt. Danny and I knew each other in school at Abilene Christian University. I obtained the book for free… because everyone can. It is a free download at http://missingmorethanmusic.com/. A hard copy can also be purchased from AuthorHouse, and is available on Amazon.]
Missing More Than Music: When Disputable Matters Eclipse Worship And Unity was self-published through AuthorHouse, and this shows at times. There are some things that an editor would have caught (lack of consistency chapter to chapter, an omitted word or two, etc.), but I only notice those things because I’m naturally picky. Overall, the book is well-researched and thoroughly presented.
Why was the book self-published? Basically because if a Church of Christ publishing house published it, they would receive too much criticism and would probably see other sales affected. Publishing houses outside of our brotherhood probably wouldn’t find the subject matter of interest. Corbitt had little choice but to self-publish. (Doesn’t hurt to remind people that “self-published” doesn’t mean poor quality; The Shack was originally self-published. It’s done all right.)
Corbitt identifies five “disputable matters,” views that he identifies as being held by “Exclusion.” They are:
- The early church believed God wanted them to praise him a cappella only.
- Ephesians 5:19 specifically concerns the singing of praise during “public worship,” but not in other settings like our private lives.
- The Greek vocabulary of this passage demands that the psalms it calls us to sing should only be sung without instruments.
- Ephesians 5:19 demands that in our worship assemblies everyone must always sing together (“congregationally”) — no choirs, no solos.
- We must separate ourselves from those whose praise allows instruments and choruses.
Corbitt considers and presents a refutation of each of those views. Each chapter ends with paragraphs entitled “Were you surprised?“, “Who changed praise?“, and “Are you missing more than music?”
The book is especially intended for those who hold to the five beliefs that he discusses or to people who have had negative dealings with those who hold those beliefs. I don’t particularly fall into either of those categories, so I didn’t find myself as emotionally involved as some others will. Corbitt is one who has suffered through negative experiences with those he disagrees with. That colors his writing at times. Some of his descriptions of a cappella worship don’t match what I’ve lived through. But I think enough people can identify with Corbitt that his book may well be of great service to many.
You don’t have to agree with Corbitt’s views to benefit from reading through this study. Even if you were to end up disagreeing with all of it, you would be the better for having participated in this scholarly examination of views commonly found in Churches of Christ. I won’t say that it’s an easy read (because it’s not), but it’s well worth your time.
I like the way he breaks this down into five issues. I personally have no problem with choruses in worship. I have long held a view that if instruments are wrong in public worship then they can’t be okay in private worship. What’s the difference between the two? Are the both worship? I don’t think anyone can truly say that the scriptures apply to public worship and not private.
Thanks for the comment, Joe. Welcome to the Kitchen! Admittedly, I think that mixing in the chorus issue dilutes the thrust of the book a bit, but I do see how it fits through the use of Ephesians 5:19.
Grace and peace,
Tim Archer
Tim I am curious since you say you don’t hold to any of these views, why you are in an acapella worship fellowship? I am not trying to get into a debate just curious about your beliefs.
Well, starting from the bottom, I totally reject views #4 and #5. Especially the last one. I’ll confess to not being enough of a Greek scholar to have much of an opinion on #3, which means I can’t teach it as being true. I think it’s a mistake to view #2 as referring to public worship. It’s hard to be sure about #1, although I think that historical evidence strongly suggests that the early church did not use instruments. (Corbitt didn’t have much to say about the evidence from the synagogues of the day, which I think greatly affected the organization of early Christian worship)
That’s why I say that I don’t hold to those five views. I personally don’t see instrumental music as a salvation issue, but have strong ties to my Christian heritage. No one has ever been able to prove that non-instrumental worship is wrong, and there is much that is good and edifying about it. Just the opposite of Corbitt, I have found instrumental worship to leave me cold in a way that non-instrumental worship rarely does.
Grace and peace,
Tim Archer
Instrument-A means by which something is done; an agency.
Tim, would our voice be considered an instrument? I know mine wouldn’t – especially for singing :)
Mine has been called an instrument of torture…
I understand the struggle with this topic and I respect all who have researched it well. But I do believe there are things that Jesus would like us to focus on that are more important. Love, grace, the Cross, the poor, etc….just an observation. The things we spend time on…I wounder if we will be surprised someday when Christ says “and what does that have to do with my mission?”…For example an entire issue of a current brotherhood publication was devoted to this issue…We need topics and discussion on the more important core “Gospel” (the cross) matters. Great post Tim and great responses Joe!!
Trent
My years at Long Beach allowed me to move beyond this as an issue. Now that I am no longer preaching, it’s just nice not to have to deal with this on any level. But I do appreciate those who are still in the battle and willing to do some study and publishing on this.
Tim: I just read the first 20 or so pages of Danny’s book and I just shake my head that anyone takes our traditional arguments seriously. Many years ago when I was preaching in Florida, I asked a couple who were new to Christ and new to the concept of church to go with me to Daytona Beach area to hear a friend of mine from North Alabama. The subject of that evening’s “sermon” was why we don’t use instrumental music in worship. I was very embarrassed to have this new couple have to sit through that, but on the way home my friend said, “If I understood what the preacher said tonight, you don’t use instrumental music in worship because Noah built the ark out of gopher wood?” I told him as stupid as that sounds, that’s just about the best argument we’ve ever devised to support our ban on the instrument!
Before others chime in with the extended arguments, I grew up in “our” movement and I know all the arguments. I find HUGE logical and theological holes in all of them.
Well said Greg, it’s sad but true. That happens in a lot of Churches. Tim, it looks like you have touched on a “hot topic”, so,so sad that it is though….peace…
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I have begun a review of Danny: his is a retake of Tom Burgess and others and I began with some old testament background: if you understand Qahal, synagogue or church in the wilderness you grasp that vocal and instrumental rejoicing was excluded.
htt://www.piney.com/Danny.Corbitt.Instruments.html
I have also posted a paper on the synagogue beginning after the fall from grace because of musical idolatry.
http://www.piney.com/Synagogue1.html
Because Danny’s effort seems to discredit Dr. Everett Ferguson on the PSALMOS word I have posted some real data here.
http://www.piney.com/Psalmos.Corbitt.Ferguson.html
Well known: if you want to indicate playing an instrument you have to name what is plucked. If you want to sing and play an instrument you MUS use a compound word: the Greeks had one for each of their instruments.
None of these are used in the Bible: again because church is ekklesia, sinagogue or school of the Bible. The Campbells tried to restore A School of Christ where worship after baptism was “reading and musing the Word.” That was the command in the wilderness and has never been rescinded. I think allof the older scholars understood that and rejected instruments.
Thanks, Ken
Two men could pass notes to each other on this subject in a dimly lit basement in Siberia and Kenneth Sublett would show up.
Wouldn’t it be something if when we stand before God we find that He didn’t give a second thought to a capella or not in worship, except that the subject divided believers. What if He cares more about harmony in your heart and in your life with others more than He does about music?
The most odd idea is that IM is not ok in “the building” on Sunday morning, then is acceptable in an adjoining building or at some other location. What nut decided that worship can only happen in “the building”? That is more lame than the music question itself.
Happy New Year,
Royce Ogle
Royce,
I actually know someone who opposes kids playing religious songs in the high school band. He is against using instruments with Christian songs, no matter the setting.
Grace and peace,
Tim Archer
Tim Archer, you said,
“It’s hard to be sure about #1, although I think that historical evidence strongly suggests that the early church did not use instruments. (Corbitt didn’t have much to say about the evidence from the synagogues of the day, which I think greatly affected the organization of early Christian worship).”
Corbitt makes the point that the reasons stated by the church fathers for rejecting the instrument do not agree with modern arguments made by anti-instrumentalists among the Churches of Christ. Furthermore, he also makes the point that there is no compelling evidence to suggest that the early church took its worship patterns from the synagogue or that the synagogue even had singing at all for that matter. Modern scholarship supports this view.
This is late to the game, but…
when we use the synagogue as an example of them not using IM, we must surely acknowledge that the synagogues themselves were not commanded for worship. Only the Temple was commanded as a place for worship, thus this should automatically exclude the synagogues as a place for worship. But then again only lamb, bitter herbs and unleavened bread were commanded by God and somehow wine made it into the Passover meal.
The ECF were vehemently against IM, but as Corbett notes they use no scripture to back their arguments and they don’t use the Silence Law, which is odd. Most of the time it is brought up that “the church” didn’t use IM until a certain point many years later, but then again the churches, all of them, didn’t use multiple cups or grape juice until the late 1800s. And for some reason the ECFs argue against something that wasn’t being done? Perhaps it was being done, but not by them, otherwise why make an argument against.
Eph. and Col. say “sing”, which excludes IM, but the text also says “sing to one another”, which should exclude all cases of personal singing, unless there is another person present, if we are going by specifics.
Then James 5:13 specifically says, “Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms.”, so we can only sing happy songs or when we are happy and/or if we are happy, we must sing.