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Luther on The Importance of Music

A few good quotes from reformation leader Martin Luther, to help you emphasize the importance of doing music well. "I really believe, nor am I shamed to assert, that next to theology there is no art equal to music?. Praising music is like trying to paint a great subject on a small canvas, which turns out merely a daub. But my love for it abounds; it has often refreshed me and freed me from great troubles." (Preserved Smith, The Life and Letters of Martin Luther (New York: Barnes and Noble, Inc. 1911, 1968), pp. 346,347.

Luther on Music

"Experience proves that next to the Word of God only music deserves to be extolled as the mistress and governess of the feelings of the human heart." (Roland H. Bainton, Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther (Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon, 1950), p. 267) "A schoolmaster must be able to sing, or I will not look at him; nor should one admit young men to the ministry unless they have practiced and studied music at school." (Paul Nettl, Luther and Music, trans. Frida Best and Ralph Wood, (Philadelphia: The Muhlenberg Press, 1948), p. 34.

Luther on Using Music

When dealing with controversy of using contemporary forms of music, it's often helpful to see how great church leaders approached music. Reformation leader Martin Luther said this about his approach to style of service and the use of music: Concerning the daily worship service: "It is best that such a service be planned for the young and for the unlearned folk who come to church." (Theodore Hoetty-Nickel, Luther and Culture, Martin Luther Lectures, Vol. 4, (Decorah, Iowa: Luther College Press, 1960), 210.

Music and Martin Luther

Here's how he said to make hymns appealing: "Please omit all new-fangled court expressions, for to win popularity a song must be in the most simple and common language." (Preserved Smith, The Life and Letters of Martin Luther (New York: Barnes and Noble, Inc. 1911, 1968), p. 231. On his composition of a German mass in 1526: "For the youth's sake we must read, sing, preach, write, and compose verse, and whenever it was helpful and beneficial I would let all the bells peal, all the organs thunder, and everything sound that could sound." (Richard Friedenthal, Luther, His Life and Times, translated by John Nowell (New York: A Helen and Kurt Wolff Book, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc., 1967), 464. On his use of popular language and styles that were either associated with Catholicism or popular secular ballads: "Thus, Luther's songs consisted of commonplace expressions that the common, unsophisticated German could easily comprehend. The models for his lyrics were the popular ballads of his day.(1) The tunes were borrowed from the German folk songs, the music of the masses, and even a hymn to Mary.(2) Luther was not so concerned with the associations or origins of the tunes as he was with their ability to communicate truth." (Quoted from "The Contemporary Christian Music Debate," by Steve Miller, OM Literature, Waynesville, GA, 1993, p. 113, sources (1) (Preserved Smith, The Life and Letters of Martin Luther (New York: Barnes and Noble, Inc. 1911, 1968), p. 231. (2) (Theodore Hoetty-Nickel, Luther and Culture, Martin Luther Lectures, Vol. 4, (Decorah, Iowa: Luther College Press, 1960), p. 174. "He could not and would not think of destroying or putting aside everything he found?. Whatever could be given a new label and laden with the power of the gospel could also serve to propagate this message and make it drive even deeper into men's hearts and expand throughout the state and the country." (Theodore Hoetty-Nickel, Luther and Culture, Martin Luther Lectures, Vol. 4, (Decorah, Iowa: Luther College Press, 1960), p. 174, 175. Title: Bohemian Brethren on Using Secular Songs Topic: Music We often encounter opposition when trying to use popular musical forms with youth. Often helping people realize that we're only doing what has been done over and over through church history can help. The Bohemian Brethren impacted the course of church history as they spread the Reformation. They were known everywhere for their vibrant singing and Christian witness as well as for their strong missionary concern. In a 1574 letter to Frederick III of Saxony, the seniors of the Bohemian Brethren wrote of their songbook: "Our melodies have been adapted from secular songs, and foreigners have at times objected. But our singers have taken into consideration the fact that the people are more easily persuaded to accept the truth by songs whose melodies are well known to them." (Paul Nettl, Luther and Music, trans. Frida Best and Ralph Wood, (Philadelphia: The Muhlenberg Press, 1948), p. 29.

Hymns Split Bunyan's Church

The Church's opposition to what today are considered traditional hymns helps us understand the powerful pull to identify what is traditional with what is sacred. Some of these quotes can help you as you may need to break out of tradition to sing new songs and attempt new ministries for God: Famous Christian author and pastor John Bunyan, who wrote "A Pilgrim's Progress." "John Bunyan's attempt to introduce hymns resulted in the split of his own church. In 1691, after his death, the church finally reached a compromise. Those consciously opposed to the hymn could either sit through the hymn singing in silence or remain in the vestibule until that portion of the service was over." (Quoted from "The Contemporary Christian Music Debate," by Steve Miller, OM Literature, Waynesville, GA, 1993, p.119. Source: Paul Davis, Isaac Watts: His Life and Works (New York: Dryden, 1943), pp. 188-189)

Isaac Watts and the Contemporary Music Controversy

A young man named Isaac came home from church complaining to his dad about how bad the hymns were at his church. His brother said that the hymns put him to sleep. Isaac complained: "They will venture to sing a dull hymn or two at church, in tunes of equal dullness; but they still persuade themselves...that the beauties of poetry are vain and dangerous." So Isaac's dad challenged him to write something better. The year was 1694. Twenty-year-old Isaac Watts sat down to write the first of over 750 hymns, many of which are still sung today, such as "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross," and the Christmas song "Joy to the World." He's been called "The Father of English Hymnody." But as tame as his hymns sound today, they produced a storm of controversy during his time. Church's split over the new hymns, pastors were ousted, and people were enraged. (From (Quoted from "The Contemporary Christian Music Debate," by Steve Miller, OM Literature, Waynesville, GA, 1993, pp. 120-123)

Charles Wesley and the Contemporary Music Controversy

A historical perspective can sometimes help those who resist our using contemporary forms of music in our ministries. Take Charles Wesley, for example. In the 1700's, John and Charles Wesley were used powerfully by God to bring renewal and awakening to lifeless churches. Methodism was born with their ministry. Charles Wesley wrote many of the church's most beloved hymns, including "Hark the Herald Angels Sing." Where did he get his tunes from? "Wesley adopted new melodies that drew from both the popular opera and English folk melodies. His compilation, Hymns of the Great Festivals and Other Occasions, contained twenty-four tunes by a German composer of comic opera. (James Sallee, A History of Evangelistic Hymnody (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1978), p. 14.) Additionally, he combined folk styles and actual folk tunes with religious texts to form his hymns. The tune to "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" was written by Mendelssohn not to worship God but in praise of the printing press!" (Hymni Lutheri animos plures, quam scripta et declamationes occiderunt (1620), cited by Koch, vol. I, 244; quoted by Hoetty-Nickel, Luther and Culture, p. 170)

D.L. Moody's Use of Contempory Music

Often it helps people understand our use of contemporary music forms when we let them know how great Christians of the past used the contemporary forms of their time. D.L. Moody has been called the greatest evangelist of the nineteenth century. According to Moody, the singing was a large part of his success. He said, "If you have singing that reaches the heart, it will fill the church every time?." So what was this music like? His song leader was Ira Sankey. His music was in the style that was popular among the people of his time. As a Glasgow journalist described it, "Much of it is so Scottish and Irish in its construction, that to our people, familiar with such music, it is sometimes difficult to realize that what we hear is sacred song?.Is it not possible that this may be why these simple songs have found such a direct and wonderful entrance to the Scottish heart?" (J.C. Pollock, Moody: A Biographical Portrait of the Pacesetter in Modern Mass Evangelism (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1963), p. 135) An article in the North British Daily Mail put it this way: "He spoils the Egyptians of their finest music, and consecrates it to the service of the tabernacle." (Rufus W. Clark, The Work of God in Great Britain Under Mssrs. Moody and Sankey (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1875), p. 148) And he was roundly criticized for using popular styles and accompanying himself with a small reed organ: An elderly deacon voiced this searing complaint: "What this one does is an abomination to the Most High!?I won't call it music at all. What he brings to the sanctuary suggests performances in places less religious than churches and chapels." He referred to his reed organ as "a devilish pump machine that wheezes out blasphemously." (quoted from Faith Coxe Bailey, D.L. Moody: The Greatest Evangelist of the Nineteenth Century (Chicago: Moody, 1959), p. 107. One critic feared that if he kept singing songs like that, he "would soon have them all dancing." (Ira D. Sankey, My Life and the Story of the Gospel Hymns (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1907), pp. 62,64.)

D.L. Moody on the Importance of Music

Moody has been called the greatest evangelist of the nineteenth century. He once said this about the importance of music: "If you have singing that reaches the heart, it will fill the church every time?.Music and song have not only accompanied all scriptural revivals, but are essential in deepening the spiritual life. Singing does at least as much as preaching to impress the Word of God upon people's minds. Ever since God first called me, the importance of praise expressed in song has grown upon me." (T.H. Hall, Biography of Gospel Song and Hymn Writers (New York: AMS Press, 1971), pp. 198,199; quoted in Sallee, History of Evangelistic Hymnody, p. 58).

William Booth on Musical Style

William Booth, who founded the Salvation Army and effectively reached England's common people in the late 1800's, had this to say about music: "Music has a divine effect upon divinely influenced and directed souls. Music is to the soul what wind is to the ship, blowing her onwards in the direction in which she is steered?.Not allowed to sing that tune or this tune? Indeed! Secular music, do you say? Belongs to the devil does it? Well, if it did, I would plunder him of it, for he has no right to a single note of the whole gamut. He's a thief!?Every note and every strain and every harmony is divine, and belongs to us?.So now and for all time consecrate your voices and your instruments. Bring out your harps and organs and flutes and violins and pianos and drums and everything else that can make melody! Offer them to God and use them to make all hearts about you merry before the Lord!" (Robert Sandall, The History of the Salvation Army, Vol. II (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1950), p. 112.

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