Romans922
Puritan Board Professor
This is a response to a Reformed Forum podcast by Donald Keedie:
Quite a Christmas broadside against exclusive psalmody on the Reformed Forum this week: https://reformedforum.org/podcasts/ctc678/
Lots of fudging going on right from the beginning. Our Christmas hymns are songs sung by the Christian Church continuously from the birth of Christ. Well, they could have been prayers actually...But we're sure they were songs! Yes, they were absolutely songs...and in any case there is no distinction between prayer and song as elements of worship anyway so it doesn't matter if they were actually just prayers...As we said, the Church has been singing these since Christ's birth!
In fact the oldest evidence I have found for these Scripture songs being sung in the Church is the Book of Odes, appended to the Psalms in the 5th century Codex Alexandrinus.
The Book of Odes lists these Scripture songs as follows:
(from Alfred Rahlf's Greek edition of the Septuagint)
1) First Ode of Moses (Exodus 15:1–19)
2) Second Ode of Moses (Deuteronomy 32:1–43)
3) Prayer of Anna, the Mother of Samuel (1 Samuel 2:1–10)
4) Prayer of Habakkuk (Habakkuk 3:2–19)
5) Prayer of Isaias (Isaiah 26:9–20)
6) Prayer of Jonah (Jonah 2:3–10)
7) Prayer of Azariah (Daniel 3:26–45, a deuterocanonical portion)
8) Song of the Three Young Men (Daniel 3:52–90, a deuterocanonical portion)
9) The Magnificat; Prayer of Mary the Theotokos (Luke 1:46–55)
10) Benedictus Canticle of Zachariah (Luke 1:68–79)
11) The Song of the Vineyard: A Canticle of Isaiah (Isaiah 5:1–7)
12) Prayer of Hezekiah (Isaiah 38:10–20)
13) Prayer of Manasseh, King of Judah when he was held captive in Babylon (ref. in 2 Chronicles 33:11–13 and appears also as a separate deuterocanonical book)
14) Nunc dimittis; Prayer of Simeon (Luke 2:29–32)
15) Gloria in Excelsis Deo; Canticle of the Early Morning (some lines from Luke 2:14, Psalm 144:2 and Psalm 118:12)
This ancient Christian book of songs is passed down in a 5th century text, but may actually be older by a century since it is included in a Greek Biblical text that was copied down from earlier texts. We do not know how it was used, but it seems to reflect the later Christian liturgical practice of including some Scripture songs in worship. That it is appended to the Psalms indicates the ongoing centrality of the Psalms as the chief and only hymnbook of the Christian Church before hymns started to appear in the late 3rd century and into the 4th century, and were slowly incorporated into the liturgy in the following centuries.
Notice that it specifically lists the Magnificat as a "Prayer of Mary" not a song. Also the "Song of Simeon" is called a "Prayer of Simeon" whereas other Scripture songs are labeled as canticles. Therefore, the Book of Odes testifies that 4th century Christians were able to distinguish between prayers and songs in the Bible, and that these were originally prayers in Luke, not songs in their mind.
Now according to the Pulpit Commentary on Luke 1:67, "Like the Magnificat, [the Song of Zechariah] is believed to have been first introduced into the public worship of the Church about the middle of the sixth century by St. Csesarius of Aries." According to the Encyclopedia Brittanica, the Song of Simeon has been sung in the Church since the 4th century. But according to this podcast, the Magnificat and the Song of Zechariah and the Song of Simeon have always been sung in the Christian church since Christ's birth.
If you read Part I. (pages 7-171) of University of Cambridge scholar Christopher Page's magisterial book, The Christian West and Its Singers, you will hear about virtually nothing but the psalms being sung from text after text, and piece of evidence after piece of evidence taken from the early centuries of the Church. There is a mountain of evidence for psalmody, even well after hymns start appearing in the 4th century. In fact, Christopher Page calls the 4th century the century of psalmody when describing the historical evidence! There isn't even a whisper about the singing of these Biblical prayers as song from those pages.
The overarching theme of this podcast appears to me to be a fiction, built out of a whole series of false assumptions.
The biggest fiction of all seems to be that the Ancients did not make a distinction between prayer and song or poetry and song. I don't see how that is sustainable from the Bible based upon the special place given to musicians, singers, and the prophetic office of song composition in the Old Testament (1 Chronicles 15). Is there no difference between the Psalms of David and the rest of Wisdom literature in the Bible?? Is all "song" corporate song designed for use in public worship?
From my seminar in Aristotle's Rhetoric in graduate school, I don't see how their assertion makes sense of the fundamental and sharply drawn distinctions made between hymns to the gods and epideictic rhetoric in the classical tradition. It is simply untrue that the Ancients confused prayer and song, or poetry and song, like our modern American Presbyterians do. In fact there is a sharp distinction made by Aristotle between Greek hymns on the one hand as metrical, and epideictic rhetoric on the other hand as having poetic characteristics, but not being metrical or sung praise. How do you distinguish "hymns" from epideictic rhetoric in the New Testament? So much Biblical study of the so-called New Testament hymns fails to address this point (but see Michael Peppard's raising of the question here: https://www.academia.edu/1618932/Po..._wjOudHXNzXQLavXital4aksrOUBNvI-7Xm0vZBa4d0Yc).
Further, I wonder how it can be confessional to say that prayer and song are not different elements of worship when the Westminster Confession of Faith deals with prayer in 21.3-4, and song in a separate section alongside the reading of Scripture in 21.5. The WCF separates prayer and song into different sections. If the forms of prayer are left open to us, then does that mean that the form of Scripture when read publicly can also be changed at will? Of course not. Each element is treated differently by the WCF.
Finally, how is it that we can talk about the place of song in the unfolding of redemptive history and seemingly fail to properly highlight the prophetic and special nature not only of the Song of Moses and the Psalms, but of the utterances of Mary, Zechariah, and Simeon?? The context of the Temple is important as well, since it highlights the special nature of the outpouring of prophetic song at unique moments in redemptive history.
I think a deeper reflection would consider how a psalm like Psalm 113 reshapes the more individual prophetic utterances of Hannah and Mary for public corporate singing. Songs tailored to particular moments in Israel's history are reshaped in the Psalms for ongoing corporate use by the people of God, with an eschatological aspect that extends until Christ's return. Christ fulfills the Psalms, and Mary's "song" indicates that by drawing on the language of Hannah and Psalm 113.
If we flatten the unique prophetic aspect in order to justify our inclusion of modern hymns, then I think we fail to appreciate the special nature of song in the pages of Scripture.
Quite a Christmas broadside against exclusive psalmody on the Reformed Forum this week: https://reformedforum.org/podcasts/ctc678/
Lots of fudging going on right from the beginning. Our Christmas hymns are songs sung by the Christian Church continuously from the birth of Christ. Well, they could have been prayers actually...But we're sure they were songs! Yes, they were absolutely songs...and in any case there is no distinction between prayer and song as elements of worship anyway so it doesn't matter if they were actually just prayers...As we said, the Church has been singing these since Christ's birth!
In fact the oldest evidence I have found for these Scripture songs being sung in the Church is the Book of Odes, appended to the Psalms in the 5th century Codex Alexandrinus.
The Book of Odes lists these Scripture songs as follows:
(from Alfred Rahlf's Greek edition of the Septuagint)
1) First Ode of Moses (Exodus 15:1–19)
2) Second Ode of Moses (Deuteronomy 32:1–43)
3) Prayer of Anna, the Mother of Samuel (1 Samuel 2:1–10)
4) Prayer of Habakkuk (Habakkuk 3:2–19)
5) Prayer of Isaias (Isaiah 26:9–20)
6) Prayer of Jonah (Jonah 2:3–10)
7) Prayer of Azariah (Daniel 3:26–45, a deuterocanonical portion)
8) Song of the Three Young Men (Daniel 3:52–90, a deuterocanonical portion)
9) The Magnificat; Prayer of Mary the Theotokos (Luke 1:46–55)
10) Benedictus Canticle of Zachariah (Luke 1:68–79)
11) The Song of the Vineyard: A Canticle of Isaiah (Isaiah 5:1–7)
12) Prayer of Hezekiah (Isaiah 38:10–20)
13) Prayer of Manasseh, King of Judah when he was held captive in Babylon (ref. in 2 Chronicles 33:11–13 and appears also as a separate deuterocanonical book)
14) Nunc dimittis; Prayer of Simeon (Luke 2:29–32)
15) Gloria in Excelsis Deo; Canticle of the Early Morning (some lines from Luke 2:14, Psalm 144:2 and Psalm 118:12)
This ancient Christian book of songs is passed down in a 5th century text, but may actually be older by a century since it is included in a Greek Biblical text that was copied down from earlier texts. We do not know how it was used, but it seems to reflect the later Christian liturgical practice of including some Scripture songs in worship. That it is appended to the Psalms indicates the ongoing centrality of the Psalms as the chief and only hymnbook of the Christian Church before hymns started to appear in the late 3rd century and into the 4th century, and were slowly incorporated into the liturgy in the following centuries.
Notice that it specifically lists the Magnificat as a "Prayer of Mary" not a song. Also the "Song of Simeon" is called a "Prayer of Simeon" whereas other Scripture songs are labeled as canticles. Therefore, the Book of Odes testifies that 4th century Christians were able to distinguish between prayers and songs in the Bible, and that these were originally prayers in Luke, not songs in their mind.
Now according to the Pulpit Commentary on Luke 1:67, "Like the Magnificat, [the Song of Zechariah] is believed to have been first introduced into the public worship of the Church about the middle of the sixth century by St. Csesarius of Aries." According to the Encyclopedia Brittanica, the Song of Simeon has been sung in the Church since the 4th century. But according to this podcast, the Magnificat and the Song of Zechariah and the Song of Simeon have always been sung in the Christian church since Christ's birth.
If you read Part I. (pages 7-171) of University of Cambridge scholar Christopher Page's magisterial book, The Christian West and Its Singers, you will hear about virtually nothing but the psalms being sung from text after text, and piece of evidence after piece of evidence taken from the early centuries of the Church. There is a mountain of evidence for psalmody, even well after hymns start appearing in the 4th century. In fact, Christopher Page calls the 4th century the century of psalmody when describing the historical evidence! There isn't even a whisper about the singing of these Biblical prayers as song from those pages.
The overarching theme of this podcast appears to me to be a fiction, built out of a whole series of false assumptions.
The biggest fiction of all seems to be that the Ancients did not make a distinction between prayer and song or poetry and song. I don't see how that is sustainable from the Bible based upon the special place given to musicians, singers, and the prophetic office of song composition in the Old Testament (1 Chronicles 15). Is there no difference between the Psalms of David and the rest of Wisdom literature in the Bible?? Is all "song" corporate song designed for use in public worship?
From my seminar in Aristotle's Rhetoric in graduate school, I don't see how their assertion makes sense of the fundamental and sharply drawn distinctions made between hymns to the gods and epideictic rhetoric in the classical tradition. It is simply untrue that the Ancients confused prayer and song, or poetry and song, like our modern American Presbyterians do. In fact there is a sharp distinction made by Aristotle between Greek hymns on the one hand as metrical, and epideictic rhetoric on the other hand as having poetic characteristics, but not being metrical or sung praise. How do you distinguish "hymns" from epideictic rhetoric in the New Testament? So much Biblical study of the so-called New Testament hymns fails to address this point (but see Michael Peppard's raising of the question here: https://www.academia.edu/1618932/Po..._wjOudHXNzXQLavXital4aksrOUBNvI-7Xm0vZBa4d0Yc).
Further, I wonder how it can be confessional to say that prayer and song are not different elements of worship when the Westminster Confession of Faith deals with prayer in 21.3-4, and song in a separate section alongside the reading of Scripture in 21.5. The WCF separates prayer and song into different sections. If the forms of prayer are left open to us, then does that mean that the form of Scripture when read publicly can also be changed at will? Of course not. Each element is treated differently by the WCF.
Finally, how is it that we can talk about the place of song in the unfolding of redemptive history and seemingly fail to properly highlight the prophetic and special nature not only of the Song of Moses and the Psalms, but of the utterances of Mary, Zechariah, and Simeon?? The context of the Temple is important as well, since it highlights the special nature of the outpouring of prophetic song at unique moments in redemptive history.
I think a deeper reflection would consider how a psalm like Psalm 113 reshapes the more individual prophetic utterances of Hannah and Mary for public corporate singing. Songs tailored to particular moments in Israel's history are reshaped in the Psalms for ongoing corporate use by the people of God, with an eschatological aspect that extends until Christ's return. Christ fulfills the Psalms, and Mary's "song" indicates that by drawing on the language of Hannah and Psalm 113.
If we flatten the unique prophetic aspect in order to justify our inclusion of modern hymns, then I think we fail to appreciate the special nature of song in the pages of Scripture.
