Sunday, 27 February 2022

Delitzsch - presentation on music in the church

 Came across this by accident: 

while looking for a copy of Delitzsch Physiologie und Musik in Ihrer Bedeutung für die Grammatik, Besonders die Hebräische hopefully in an OCR or editable format. Anyone know of such?

MUSIC IN THE CHURCH.

Theses given by Dr. Franz Delitzsch to his English Exegetioal Society.

1. Music in the church is allowed, for music belongs not to the shadow of the Old Testament worship, which is abolished by the substance of salvation which has appeared in the person of our Savior and by the work of our Savior.

2. If singing is allowed, consequently also playing instruments is allowed ; for, singing, we make music with the instruments of our speech and, playing instruments, we make the wood and metal and strings sing. The vocal music makes the nature of our body serviceable to God's honor and the instrumental music makes eternal nature serviceable to God's honor.

3. Whatever is allowed to be done internally, is also allowed to be done externally. The Apostle summons us to sing and to make melody (music) in our hearts (Eph. v. 19), therefore it is also laudable to make music to the Lord with our mouth and with our hands.

4. Whatever takes place in the upper (celestial) or tri- umphant church, cannot be forbidden in the church here below. Now the Seer hears in the heavens a voice as the voice of many waters, and the voice which he heard was like the voice [hos) of harpers harping with their harps. (Revelation xiv. 2.) The particle hos, which is expressed neither in the received nor in the revised version, is signi- ficant. The harps and the harping were antitypically cor- responding to the terrestrial.

5. Saul was refreshed and the evil spirit departed from him when David took his harp and played with his hands, 1 Sam. XVI. 23, and music was employed in the prophets' school to awaken the prophetic charisma, as the example of Elisha shows upon whom came the hand of the Lord when the minstrel played, 2 Kings iii. 15. This energy of music continues and is still practicable.



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