The Jews developed a system for ritual chanting of readings from Hebrew scripture. It’s called cantillation and consists of a series of marks placed within the text to guide the canting of sacred texts during worship. The system is fairly complex, but most congregations have a cantor (a hazzan) to lead them.
(Some missionaries have translated the New Testament into Hebrew, adding marks to allow the text to be canted.)
Many feel that the cantillation marks come to be a commentary themselves on the text, emphasizing musically ideas considered to be important. The marks are called ta’am, which means “taste” or “sense”; the idea is that the accents bring out the sense of a text. (The Jewish Encyclopedia points to Nehemiah 8:8 as the basis for this)
It’s interesting, then, to note that those who essentially chant scripture in their worship consider the basic music they use to be a commentary on the text. How much more could be said for modern melodies and harmonies?
If you argue for church music that emphasizes the text, if you want to avoid the sensationalism and sensuality of modern music, if you feel the need for a theological basis behind every aspect of your church music… shouldn’t you be chanting? Or canting?
Consistency would demand it.
(Since some of this discussion has been prompted by the subject of instrumental music, you might be interested to read what the Jewish Encyclopedia says about instrumental music in the synagogue)
Tim,
i didn’t know there was a name for this. The Orthodox do this every Sunday when a portion of one of the gospels is read. And it’s obvious that certain portions of the text are emphasized in just the way you mention here.
Also, the majority of the Orthodox service is chanted.
–guy
Great series, Tim. I really appreciate the questions you’ve asked about chanting. I’ve often wondered why, in our fellowship, we’re so quick to criticize other groups who use instruments as being interested only in entertainment while we tend to hire preachers based on speaking styles.
I’ve also wondered why more of our churches aren’t invested in psalmody. After all, we are “commanded” also to sing psalms.
Guy,
Is that across the Orthodox spectrum or a certain Orthodox? I’ve always heard that Greek Orthodox is, in many ways, close theologically to churches of Christ.
Grace and peace,
Tim
Jeremy,
The use of the psalter has fallen by the wayside. I’m a big Isaac Watts fan. Much of his music was written as a reaction to and rebellion against the exclusive use of the psalter.
Grace and peace,
Tim
I read something recently from a Reformed perspective that suggested Watts was a near heretic! They blamed him for the wane of the psalter.
I’d like to find a balance. In my private worship I’ve sung psalms from the 1650 Scottish Psalter as well as from our hymn book and I’ve learned from both and praised God with both.
Grace to you.
Tim,
Theologically close? It looks that way to me. Obviously the Orthodox don’t adhere to sola scriptura or the regulative principle (“principle of authority”).
–But they believe in one church (denominationalism/division is not a good thing);
–they believe in immersion (they do triple immersion) for the remission of sins;
–they use acapella music (*some* parishes use an organ, but this is an anomaly);
–they don’t believe in original sin (they believe in “ancestral sin” which is really not far off from how some CoC’s would explain it)
–they take communion every Sunday (but they also offer it during the week as well, but i can’t determine any clear pattern to the frequency of it just yet)
i believe across the spectrum the service is chanted (by the priests/deacons with call-response type chants from the choir/congregation).
Is the gospel reading always canted? It is in the parish i’m visiting right now, and in one other that i’ve visited. The first is Antiochan Orthodox, the other was Greek Orthodox. There is also a Russian and a Ukranian parish farther away from me, and i don’t know how they do things. But i understand that a great many things are fairly uniform across Orthodoxy.
Also, the Orthodox congregation recites the Nicene creed and the Lord’s prayer in unison together. i always wondered why the CoC didn’t have unison prayers like this or for that matter, more scripture readings. Why do you think that is?
–guy
Guy,
I think reading of scripture got short-changed when the “acts of worship” were being defined, back in the 19th century. When it got lumped in with preaching, it was doomed to be neglected.
Of course, it fared better than fasting, which somehow got dropped completely, despite Acts 13:2!
Grace and peace,
Tim
Tim,
But you’d think given even traditional CoC theology that public Scripture reading would’ve been included among the acts of worship seeing as how Paul explicitly instructs Timothy to do it on a regular basis, no? i mean, c’mon, there’s less “authority” for the particular way the CoC offering is conducted (silver trays and prayers) than for the regular public reading of Scripture, no? And as you point out, seems like other quite obvious candidates (like fasting) got left out. My theory is that the CoC’s roots are just plain Protestant, and so a lot of the founders brought some of their ‘Rome-a-phobia’ with them. What do you think?
The Orthodox have two scripture readings each Sunday–one from an epistle and one from a gospel. And during Lent, the entire New Testament is read aloud every week (i think totalling 3 times).
Over a year ago i talked the young adult/worship minister at my CoC into doing more scripture readings. So the worship minister did a couple readings during the Lord’s Supper. The elders actually griped to him that he was making things take too long and to just drop the readings altogether! And so on Sunday night, he did a service that was a reading of the entire book of James with songs and prayers interspersed between chapters. Some people griped and complained. Isn’t there something terribly wrong there?
–guy
I have made several attempts in middle America to visit Orthodox worship but they have always been so small that you could never figure out when they gathered. Maybe I will try again.
Maybe the Church of Christ should repent and unite with the Orthodox as the one true church?
Darin,
“Maybe the Church of Christ should repent and unite with the Orthodox as the one true church?”
Not sure what you meant here, but just definitely wanted to apologize and retract if i gave the impression at all that i was suggesting this. i have left my CoC congregation and have decided to “try out” Orthodoxy. It’s new, exciting, and frankly really scary. i just wanted to share my experiences, but i didn’t at all mean to come across as trying to push Orthodoxy on anyone here. Sorry if i came across that way.
–guy
Tim,
Thanks for the consideration of chanting. I had been thinking about it already and the references you and others brought up help.
Also thank you for recognizing the fact that we have somehow dropped fasting from our worship and service. Sometimes I think we put to much of a line between the two.
Your reply to my post yesterday also gave me food for thought. If I read you right, you are saying that we don’t want to use instrumental music, but we want to make it sound like we are?
Wes
Guy,
Jay Guin had a great post a while back which showed that the Restoration Movement largely took the worship practices that were being used in their area and compared them with Scripture. What wasn’t already being done in the immediate historical context was not considered.
I need to find that post, for it was quite insightful.
Grace and peace,
Tim
Darin,
I know that your comment was a bit in jest, but we know that organizations don’t repent, at least not that quickly and easily. That’s why the Restoration Plea has historically fallen on deaf ears.
Grace and peace,
Tim
Wes,
You said, “If I read you right, you are saying that we don’t want to use instrumental music, but we want to make it sound like we are?”
Groups like Acappella are very upfront about this, at least the sounding like instruments. Many others have done the same over the years, even if they weren’t conscious of what they were doing.
Grace and peace,
Tim
Interestingly enough, Ben Witherington III just posted about two new psalters: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/bibleandculture/2012/02/16/the-psalter-renewed-two-new-songbooks/
This is a bit off of the direction of other comments, but…
The opening paragraph of the “instrumental music in the synagogue” link you provided at the end promotes the thought that there was singing in the synagogue before the destruction of the temple, and that this synagogue singing was based on the temple singing. That introductory paragraph reads, “The earliest synagogal music was founded upon the same system and method as prevailed in the orchestra of the Temple itself. Joshua ben Hananiah, who had served in the sanctuary as a member of the Levitical choir (‘Ar. 11b), told how the choristers went in a body to the synagogue from the orchestra by the altar (Suk. 53a), and so participated in both services.”
… a VERY misleading assessment, it seems to me.
The evidence cited is Sukkah 53a, which reads, “When we were engaged in rejoicing at the drawing of water, our eyes saw no sleep. How so? The first hour for the morning daily sacrifice; afterwards for praying, and from that to the additional sacrifice; after that the additional prayer; afterwards we went to the house of learning; from there we went to eat and drink at home, and afterwards the Min’ha prayer; and from the Min’ha prayer to the daily evening sacrifices, and from that time we rejoiced at the drawing of the water till the morning.” (http://www.facebook.com/#!/messages/?action=read&tid=4wIRYgyZe4JO4p1UovSHlg or http://halakhah.com/rst/moed/16b%20-%20Succah%20-%2029b-56b.pdf)
Joshua ben Hanania[h] explains that he pulled an all-nighter after a full day. The text demonstrates that this Levite author did not boycott the Synagogue, but it hardly says that any aspect of the temple worship — let alone only the singing — was replicated in any other location listed, whether the synagogue or his home, etc.
I felt compelled to check out the source. Modern scholarship says that there was neither singing nor chanting in the synagogue before the destruction of the temple.
Tim,
I know my comments may not be on the subject matter , but I need to address something Guy said.
Guy,
I have been studying Orthodoxy for about a year and find it alluring. No, it’s more than alluring. It is stronger than that. And I’m scared by it. When I read Orthodox literature . . . it “hear” language that reaches inside my soul. Where do you live, Guy? I would love to talk with you.
Tim,
I get the impression that Orthodoxy is unfamiliar to you. I have always been at peace with being a part of churches of Christ. I love my spiritual heritage, and think of myself as being blessed. We are in the same class.
A few years ago, (I wish it hadn’t taken me so long for me to “get here”) I realized that I was handicapping myself by limiting the books and material I studied to always come from leaders within churches of Christ . . . what was I going to learn from those with whom I already agree with? And so I began searching through other Christian perspectives . . . not for the purpose of finding a new church home, but rather from a desire to see what I could learn from those I’m not familiar with and from those I think I don’t agree with . . . because I know I don’t have it all figured out . . . and I want to be better equiped to serve and live out my faith within a local church of Christ. But, I must tell you that Orthodoxy has shaken me. If there is any group that our fellowship could learn from . . . it is the Orthodox. Our roots are too tied to the Western church. I don’t think we have let Orthodoxy speak to us. We have written it off as being mystical . . . and Eastern. I have opened my heart to listen, and have found that I can’t quench my thirst for understanding the ancient church and its ancient ways. Our roots . . . our real roots . . . may be Eastern. The sins of the Roman Church are not shared by the Orthodox. We have justification for not being Roman Catholic and for not assimilating with other Protestants, but these arguments fall when we face Orthodoxy. I realize that the Orthodox are not without fault. But what I’m finding is that Orthodoxy “may” be closer to the truth than we. And it’s not just their doctrine. I haven’t put my finger on it. It’s sort of like having a prized jewel, a beautiful ruby . . . and then looking at an Orthodox’s jewel . . . and realizing that his jewel is a 10 carat diamond. I might rather have the diamond.
Brent,
I’ve long understood that the Greek Orthodox church holds many similar beliefs to those of the Restoration Movement. I guess that’s the Orthodox church I’m most familiar with.
I have not spent time worshiping with any Orthodox groups. They are not particularly strong in Texas, nor were they in Argentina.
Grace and peace,
Tim
Brent,
i’m in OKC.
Perhaps you could read through this site: http://lettersonorthodoxy.wordpress.com/
That’s where i started.
–guy
Guy
I’ve been following that site. The blogger was from a restoration church if I remember right. My favorite Orthodox site is Glory To God For All Things at fatherstephen.wordpress.com. Thanks for the input.
Tim,
By the way, when I say we are in the same class . . . I mean the class of 1984.