The old traditional style of hymns sung in the churches for the last few hundred years...who can not appreciate them?....And were they not birthed from a need of those...seeking the Christ...Jesus...the very Son of the Living God?......
Hymns in my humble opinion...are designed songs of a poetic nature that are written to be sung as a corporate unit...in other words, for the times when the believers in Christ Jesus meet together in what is commonly referred to as a "Worship Service".
The thought of including hymns as part of a "Worship Service" is not an original thought of Christian origin. "Hymns" date back thousands of years...even before the birth of Christ in the village of Bethlehem.
In ancient Egyptian history, it has been discovered hymns were sung in their "worship services", particularly in their transition from the worship of numerous gods to the worship of one primary god...the sun god "Aten", who is identified with the god "Ra"...a rather famous god in Egyptian history. Pharaohs made official laws directed to the singing of hymns to the great sun god, and would be done so in a corporate style as early as the 1300's...B.C.
Here is a partial final stanza recorded as a hymn to the sun god "Aten":
"You are in my heart,
There is no other that knows you.
Only your son, Neferkheprure, sole one of Re.
When you have dawned, they live
When you have set, they die.
You yourself are lifetime, one lives by you,
All eyes are on your beauty until you set,
All labor ceases when you rest in the west,
when you rise, you stir everyone...for the king."
Including songs as part of worship is an intricate part of "Worship Services" for many religions. Of course, Christianity is given an entire book in the bible for songs of worship....the Psalms....specifically written to choir directors and those in charge of music within the Jewish faith.
Throughout history hymns have been a part of corporate worship to be embraced by a body of believers in their efforts to support the god they believe in. The type of words chosen to be sung or chanted depend upon the particular "era of history" the people themselves had to face at various points...throughout all of mankind and it's history.
When the Protestant Reformation took it's foothold in the 1500's A.D., the Christian believers were moved from the songs of the Church given to hymns in languages that many did not comprehend or even speak, most notably Greek and Latin. The identity of many of these Latin Hymns were focused on the adoration of God, of angels, the Virgin Mary, and saints of the church...mostly found in the Roman Catholic church.
As the Reformation teachings to the believers of Christianity began to take hold, the hymns of the church became vernacular in word and the focus of the hymns became more identified with believers stance on their personal belief in Christ Jesus...led by Martin Luther's great announcement from the Sacred Scriptures, "the just shall live...by faith."
Martin Luther himself was an author of Christian hymns including one we sing today: "A Mighty Fortress is our God". The words in this great and popular hymn alone gives a sense of an underlying theme of that time period...the Protestant believers and their battles against the Roman Church.
John Calvin, a founder of our present day Presbyterian church, insisted hymns be of a modest nature, and not directed as animosities toward believers of the Roman Catholic church, rather that the words and hymns be directed to the learning of the Scripture.
Calvin even banned instruments as a part of the "worship services", not because he did not cater to instruments within the newly formed Protestant church, rather he preferred instruments not be used to create, instill, or "ignite" the believers in their stand on Christianity and opposition to the doctrines of the Roman church.
One other note, Calvin did not want hymns with words originating from personal and human passions, rather hymns that basically recited Scripture...that believers could now receive the Word of God, and allow those words to meditate in their own hearts and minds...through song.
Yet, as time moved on and the Reformation era became more established through the building of churches and congregations beginning to attend, the hymns of the church began to change as well. The initial animosities that caused horrific persecutions from the Roman church, and destruction of numerous Roman Catholic parishes from the Protestants, had began to wane...and a new era was beginning for those within the Christian faith.
Song writers like Isaac Watts and Charles Wesley began to influence the hymns of the church...and contrary to Calvin's thoughts on hymns...songs began to emerge that actually did speak of human passions...and personal experiences based on a person's friendship...with the Lord Jesus Christ, yet still using the Sacred Scripture as a base for the originality of a song...perhaps this was...the "contemporary music" of it's day.
Songs like "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross", "My Shepherd will Supply my Need", and even "Joy to the World" were now being sung in Christian worship services...throughout the land.
Still, there were many social issues going on in that time period...monetary injustices, freedom of speech, the break away from longstanding empires, the need to find a home in new lands (like the U.S.)...and the slavery issue...were but a few issues the new protestant church were facing.
In fact, a slave trader was brought to Christ during this time frame, and he turned from slave trafficking and began his journey through life...declaring how the Lord Jesus had so influenced his own life...so much so....he wrote a song in gratefulness for what the Lord Jesus actually meant to him. It was a moving song, based on sincere passion and personal experience. He entitled his song: "Amazing Grace".
The song was bold from it's very first line, announcing to the world...."Amazing Grace, How sweet the sound, that saved...a wretch...like me....". Not only had Newton shared his status in life without the Lord Jesus ( a wretch), he was now aware that by accepting Christ into his heart...he was free...and looked forward to...Heaven! Amazing Grace is considered by many as the most well-known Christian hymns of all time, certainly to those in the English speaking world.
Others began to follow this type of song format...coming from personal experience and passion, and now blending these thoughts based on the Sacred Scripture...and now sharing these hymns to the world over. For that day and time...it was different...one might even say...a more contemporary style of music.
Other venues of Christian hymns began to surface, including the African/American spirituals that identified with the horrible sufferings this culture was facing...songs like "Swing Low Sweet Chariot" and "There is a Balm...in Gilead". These songs carried a Scriptural base, yet now the importance of passion and personal experience seemed to help bond believers corporately...when sang together as a form of worship. Some songs being introduced at that time began to even further the need for personal identity with the Scriptures in a corporate setting....having chants that would have some sing stanzas while everyone would join in chorus.
So...getting back to the question...are contemporary Christian songs...a better way to worship?
I guess I will have a part 3....
Hymns in my humble opinion...are designed songs of a poetic nature that are written to be sung as a corporate unit...in other words, for the times when the believers in Christ Jesus meet together in what is commonly referred to as a "Worship Service".
The thought of including hymns as part of a "Worship Service" is not an original thought of Christian origin. "Hymns" date back thousands of years...even before the birth of Christ in the village of Bethlehem.
In ancient Egyptian history, it has been discovered hymns were sung in their "worship services", particularly in their transition from the worship of numerous gods to the worship of one primary god...the sun god "Aten", who is identified with the god "Ra"...a rather famous god in Egyptian history. Pharaohs made official laws directed to the singing of hymns to the great sun god, and would be done so in a corporate style as early as the 1300's...B.C.
Here is a partial final stanza recorded as a hymn to the sun god "Aten":
"You are in my heart,
There is no other that knows you.
Only your son, Neferkheprure, sole one of Re.
When you have dawned, they live
When you have set, they die.
You yourself are lifetime, one lives by you,
All eyes are on your beauty until you set,
All labor ceases when you rest in the west,
when you rise, you stir everyone...for the king."
Including songs as part of worship is an intricate part of "Worship Services" for many religions. Of course, Christianity is given an entire book in the bible for songs of worship....the Psalms....specifically written to choir directors and those in charge of music within the Jewish faith.
Throughout history hymns have been a part of corporate worship to be embraced by a body of believers in their efforts to support the god they believe in. The type of words chosen to be sung or chanted depend upon the particular "era of history" the people themselves had to face at various points...throughout all of mankind and it's history.
When the Protestant Reformation took it's foothold in the 1500's A.D., the Christian believers were moved from the songs of the Church given to hymns in languages that many did not comprehend or even speak, most notably Greek and Latin. The identity of many of these Latin Hymns were focused on the adoration of God, of angels, the Virgin Mary, and saints of the church...mostly found in the Roman Catholic church.
As the Reformation teachings to the believers of Christianity began to take hold, the hymns of the church became vernacular in word and the focus of the hymns became more identified with believers stance on their personal belief in Christ Jesus...led by Martin Luther's great announcement from the Sacred Scriptures, "the just shall live...by faith."Martin Luther himself was an author of Christian hymns including one we sing today: "A Mighty Fortress is our God". The words in this great and popular hymn alone gives a sense of an underlying theme of that time period...the Protestant believers and their battles against the Roman Church.
John Calvin, a founder of our present day Presbyterian church, insisted hymns be of a modest nature, and not directed as animosities toward believers of the Roman Catholic church, rather that the words and hymns be directed to the learning of the Scripture.
Calvin even banned instruments as a part of the "worship services", not because he did not cater to instruments within the newly formed Protestant church, rather he preferred instruments not be used to create, instill, or "ignite" the believers in their stand on Christianity and opposition to the doctrines of the Roman church.
One other note, Calvin did not want hymns with words originating from personal and human passions, rather hymns that basically recited Scripture...that believers could now receive the Word of God, and allow those words to meditate in their own hearts and minds...through song.
Yet, as time moved on and the Reformation era became more established through the building of churches and congregations beginning to attend, the hymns of the church began to change as well. The initial animosities that caused horrific persecutions from the Roman church, and destruction of numerous Roman Catholic parishes from the Protestants, had began to wane...and a new era was beginning for those within the Christian faith.
Song writers like Isaac Watts and Charles Wesley began to influence the hymns of the church...and contrary to Calvin's thoughts on hymns...songs began to emerge that actually did speak of human passions...and personal experiences based on a person's friendship...with the Lord Jesus Christ, yet still using the Sacred Scripture as a base for the originality of a song...perhaps this was...the "contemporary music" of it's day.
Songs like "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross", "My Shepherd will Supply my Need", and even "Joy to the World" were now being sung in Christian worship services...throughout the land.
Still, there were many social issues going on in that time period...monetary injustices, freedom of speech, the break away from longstanding empires, the need to find a home in new lands (like the U.S.)...and the slavery issue...were but a few issues the new protestant church were facing.
In fact, a slave trader was brought to Christ during this time frame, and he turned from slave trafficking and began his journey through life...declaring how the Lord Jesus had so influenced his own life...so much so....he wrote a song in gratefulness for what the Lord Jesus actually meant to him. It was a moving song, based on sincere passion and personal experience. He entitled his song: "Amazing Grace".
The song was bold from it's very first line, announcing to the world...."Amazing Grace, How sweet the sound, that saved...a wretch...like me....". Not only had Newton shared his status in life without the Lord Jesus ( a wretch), he was now aware that by accepting Christ into his heart...he was free...and looked forward to...Heaven! Amazing Grace is considered by many as the most well-known Christian hymns of all time, certainly to those in the English speaking world.
Others began to follow this type of song format...coming from personal experience and passion, and now blending these thoughts based on the Sacred Scripture...and now sharing these hymns to the world over. For that day and time...it was different...one might even say...a more contemporary style of music.
So...getting back to the question...are contemporary Christian songs...a better way to worship?
I guess I will have a part 3....
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