Musical Instruments in Divine Worship II.
James Dodson
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CHAPTER II.
STATEMENT OF THE QUESTION.
Is there a warrant in the Scriptures for the use of instruments in the formal and ordinary worship of God in the New Testament dispensation? This simple question is affirmed and denied persistently by the advocates and opponents respectively. But it is to be particularly noted that the nature of the warrant affirmed to exist is to be kept in view. It is not claimed that musical instruments in the worship of God are essential to the rendering of praise—that it is a warrant that has the force of obligation—but that it is a permissive or optional warrant, the application of which is to be determined by human judgment in reference to particular cases as they arise. The question in this form has very much to do with this discussion, and it is important that it be kept steadily before us. As the question is now being discussed in the United Presbyterian Church it has another aspect that is not to be overlooked. She has a law in her standards prohibiting the use of instrumental music in her congregations on the ground that there is no warrant in the Bible for their use in the New Testament dispensation. The question now before the church for decision is, Shall this law be repealed? Its repeal will be a virtual recognition by the church that there is a warrant in the Bible for instrumental music in the New Testament dispensation. The repeal of the law, therefore, will revolutionize both the principle and the practice maintained by this branch of the church for nearly one hundred and fifty years, during which time she has through all the
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changes of her history held the principle of the exclusion of instruments as one of the attainments of the Reformation from the Romish corruptions. It is proper to state further here that it is not proposed to substitute anything in the place of this prohibitory law in case it shall be repealed. An additional element, which both parties admit will exert a vast influence on the church, will be introduced into her praise. It is not asked, however, that this element shall be made the subject of the general supervision of the church by any action either in the way of defining the time or circumstances in which it may be introduced, or in the way of regulating its use when introduced. In all its aspects it is to be not the subject of Presbyterial, but of congregational regulation and supervision. In this respect it will become a new element in the very constitution of the United Presbyterian Church. We have thus, we think, fairly and fully stated the question as it is now before the United Presbyterian Church for her consideration and decision.