Tag Archives: Singing

Chant? We cant

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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)

Why don’t we chant?

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One thing that I haven’t figured out yet is why our brotherhood hasn’t embraced chanting more fully. Before we get distracted, please note that the ancient world didn’t make the distinction between chanting and singing that we do, so we’re not talking about anything extrabiblical. At least some of what we see in the psalms would probably have been presented via a chant.

There were other ancient music forms, so I’m not arguing that all the early church did was chant. But as I listen to people discuss the benefits of singing, it seems that most of those benefits are better served by chanting.

We do know that the early church wouldn’t have used the four-part harmony that is so common in the U.S. And our modern melodies would have definitely had a foreign ring to their ears. Undoubtedly, our singing is very unlike what the early church knew. I sometimes think that people envision the Ephesian church sitting in pews, holding Songs of the Faith and singing “I’ll Fly Away.”

Don’t chants better emphasize the idea of speaking to one another? Don’t they put the emphasis on the lyrics? Wouldn’t they avoid a lot of the sensationalism that we are concerned about?

Is there any theological justification for intricate melodies and part singing? Is there any benefit in those things, beyond the way they stir human emotions?

Why do you suppose we haven’t put more emphasis on the chant?

Church music: What other issues need to be addressed?

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As we continue discussing the questions surrounding church music, I’m wondering what other topics need to be included. Philosophy of worship has been mentioned, as well as hermeneutical principles. What else do you feel needs to be addressed?

And major thanks to all who have commented. So far the discussions have been respectful, especially considering the baggage that most people in our brotherhood bring to this issue: baggage of past experiences, baggage of past online discussions, even the baggage of concerns for the future.

Have a great weekend!

Singing: My personal history

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I grew up with a cappella singing. At some point in my youth, I became aware that “we didn’t” and “they did,” and I became quite proud of that fact.

I’ve planted a cappella churches, though one of the groups went through serious debate on the matter. In my work, I work with some who have strong feelings against the use of instruments and others who feel it’s not a salvation issue. I worship at a church that uses no instruments and has no intentions of doing so soon.

I have no desire to be part of a church that uses instruments. I grew up preferring a cappella music, and that hasn’t changed.

Because I know that personal history and preferences can affect these discussions, I thought it would be helpful if I shared that. Feel free to lay out your own experiences, as some of you already have.

Scripture and our druthers

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There’s a saying I’ve heard attributed to Dr. Jack Lewis. He was speaking about an individual in the church and said something to the effect of: “He has a hard time differentiating between what the Bible says and his personal preferences.” I don’t know the original context or even the reliability of the attribution, but I’d say that statement sums up a lot of the discussion on church music.

If we want to clap while singing, we can find scriptural support. If we like the way we feel when singing with instruments, we can find biblical evidence as to why they should be used. If we don’t like modern praise songs, we attack their theology. In other words, if you don’t agree with me, you’re disagreeing with God.

If we don’t turn to the Scriptures, we make “objective” statements that support our views. Singing without instruments promotes unity. Singing with instruments attracts non-churched people. Singing too many new songs will cause some of the old-timers to leave. Singing too many old songs will cause the young people to leave. In other words, if you don’t agree with me, you don’t care about people.

We can find scholarly studies that support our views. Anecdotal evidence from growing churches (or dying churches!). We can point to faraway lands where they’ve done what we like and, behold!, their churches have achieved a utopian bliss.

Most of it’s hogwash. It’s a focusing on externals rather than internals. It’s ignoring all that the Bible says about what makes for true worship and what makes for vain worship. If you can’t worship God without an instrument, you can’t worship him with one. If you can’t be edified by singing Isaac Watts, you’ll eventually find that Casting Crowns leaves you cold as well. If people come to your church because of your praise band, they’ll leave when the church down the street has a better one.

Worship is about the heart. And a big sign of a heart not right with God is the unwillingness to consider your brother’s needs ahead of your own, your brother’s preferences instead of your own.

I recently read a quote that said church leaders should aim to have one hundred percent of the people happy eighty percent of the time. If that’s true, we need to be ready to not get our way twenty percent of the time. (And the “stronger brother” should expect to give in more often than that!) Are you ready to not be satisfied one fifth of the time?

It’s time to take the “I feel”s and “I like”s and put them in a drawer. It’s time to seek what’s best for the body as a whole.

(I know “druthers” goes back further, but I picked the word up from the musical L’il Abner. There’s a song called “If I Had My Druthers”)