Hymnody 101 Pt 2-Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs
Jan 13, 2016 13:09:40 GMT -5
laughingmooseinn and art like this
Post by mandojeff on Jan 13, 2016 13:09:40 GMT -5
II. Scripture speaks of three forms of songs: Psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. (See Ephesians 5:19 and Colossians 3:16)
It speaks of encouraging and admonishing each other with those types of music.
The main points that arise are:
Why the distinctions at all?
Does that prohibit other forms in worship?
Working through those questions (among others) has led, in general, to two schools of thought in the Protestant Church:
1) Everything that is is prescribed in Scripture is all that is allowed in worship (called the Regulative Principle of Scripture)
or
2) Everything is allowable except those things which are explicitly forbidden/antithetical to Scripture (Normative Principle of Scripture)
(You will likely never need to know that, but in case it comes up in trivia....)
Those seem like fine distinctions from academia, but you can look at a group worship services and see how local church leaders employ one or the other, whether they use the terms or not, regarding song types, instruments, styles, etc.
From the outline:
The Psalms from Scripture continue to be used and part or all of them constantly set to new/different tunes. Some churches still sing only Psalms during worship services. Some churches (either in place of, or in addition to a hymnal) have a Psalter (Each of the Psalms set to music) for congregational use.
Hymns have been used since the early church. They are usually strophic, that is verse/chorus repeated with differing words in the verses. Their focus is most often 'vertical'- singing prayer/praise to God or about His attributes. This is still the majority of song type within churches, though the musical styles vary widely. We talked about that in the last thread.
Spiritual songs encompass songs about life on Earth. They’re usually more ‘horizontal’- sharing testimony of life in Christ, struggles, blessings, etc. Many gospel songs, spirituals and more contemporary songs fall into this category. This is where MANY gospel songs fall. I Am a Pilgrim, Let Us Travel, Travel On and I'm Free are the first that popped to mind. If it's a 'testimonial/I believe' song, it goes in this stack.
As in any grouping/classification effort, these are not cut and dried and some songs have elements of both 2 and 3, and may even quote part of a psalm in the process. Again, some churches don't even verbalize these things, but for those that do, hopefully this provides some clarity.
It speaks of encouraging and admonishing each other with those types of music.
The main points that arise are:
Why the distinctions at all?
Does that prohibit other forms in worship?
Working through those questions (among others) has led, in general, to two schools of thought in the Protestant Church:
1) Everything that is is prescribed in Scripture is all that is allowed in worship (called the Regulative Principle of Scripture)
or
2) Everything is allowable except those things which are explicitly forbidden/antithetical to Scripture (Normative Principle of Scripture)
(You will likely never need to know that, but in case it comes up in trivia....)
Those seem like fine distinctions from academia, but you can look at a group worship services and see how local church leaders employ one or the other, whether they use the terms or not, regarding song types, instruments, styles, etc.
From the outline:
The Psalms from Scripture continue to be used and part or all of them constantly set to new/different tunes. Some churches still sing only Psalms during worship services. Some churches (either in place of, or in addition to a hymnal) have a Psalter (Each of the Psalms set to music) for congregational use.
Hymns have been used since the early church. They are usually strophic, that is verse/chorus repeated with differing words in the verses. Their focus is most often 'vertical'- singing prayer/praise to God or about His attributes. This is still the majority of song type within churches, though the musical styles vary widely. We talked about that in the last thread.
Spiritual songs encompass songs about life on Earth. They’re usually more ‘horizontal’- sharing testimony of life in Christ, struggles, blessings, etc. Many gospel songs, spirituals and more contemporary songs fall into this category. This is where MANY gospel songs fall. I Am a Pilgrim, Let Us Travel, Travel On and I'm Free are the first that popped to mind. If it's a 'testimonial/I believe' song, it goes in this stack.
As in any grouping/classification effort, these are not cut and dried and some songs have elements of both 2 and 3, and may even quote part of a psalm in the process. Again, some churches don't even verbalize these things, but for those that do, hopefully this provides some clarity.