Download Musical Instruments #1 I recently had a conversation with a Christian

Vol. 8, No. 40
November 15, 2009
The Word of Life
Musical Instruments #1
I
recently had a conversation with a Christian who I have known for many years and have a lot
of respect for, who shocked me with his true feelings about musical instruments in worship. He
has basically concluded that the issue of instrumental music in worship isn’t enough to cause a
person to lose his soul. In other words, if a congregation stood for the truth on every issue, yet
they used musical instruments in their worship, he believes the souls of those people would not
necessarily be in jeopardy.
Over the years local churches of Christ have taught that musical instruments in the
worship of the Lord’s church are unauthorized and therefore wrong. Is such still the case? Are
musical instruments in the Lord’s church still wrong? Really the question should be are musical
instruments wrong at all. You see, if they have ever been wrong, then they still are wrong. If
they were not wrong in the first century, they are not wrong now. The Bible has not changed.
A popular argument, and one that my brother used in our conversation together, centers
around the word psallo. It is argued that the word psallo, which is translated into making melody
in Eph. 5:19, and sing in other places in the New Testament (Rom. 15:9; 1 Cor. 14:15; Jas.
5:13), involves using a musical instrument. Different Greek scholars are quoted as saying that
the word means to use an instrument. For example, Strong says psallo means, “...to twitch or
twang, i.e. to play on a stringed instrument (celebrate the divine worship with music and
accompanying odes).”
Thayer has this to say about the Greek word psallo: “1) to pluck off, to pull out 2) to
cause to vibrate by touching, to twang a) to touch or to strike the chord, to twang the
strings of a musical instrument so that they gently vibrate b) to play on a stringed
instrument, to play, the harp, etc. c) in the Septuagint, to sing with the music of the harp
d) in the New Testament, to sing a hymn, to celebrate the praises of God in song.”
Since the word psallo involves plucking or playing an instrument, according to these
Greek scholars, it is reasoned that we have New Testament authority for instrumental music in
our worship.
That argument sounds good at first, especially as the references to Greek scholars
multiply. But did you notice that one definition that Thayer gave was “in the New Testament, to
sing a hymn, to celebrate the praises of God in song.” So then, the word psallo does not
demand a musical instrument after all. The word was used in New Testament times to denote
playing, plucking, or just plain singing. Now, just because the word could be used to denote
playing is not enough. It has to be proven that the inspired writers of the New Testament meant
to play when they used the word, something that the New Testament does not bear out.
It is sometimes argued that the word demanded playing because plucking or playing is
an inherent part of the definition of the word. However, that hard-line position presents a
serious problem. If psallo demands that we play a musical instrument, it is no longer an option
to use one or not, which is usually what those who use this psallo argument say. My good
friend making this psallo argument was not saying that we have to use an instrument based on
the word psallo, only that it gives us the right to if we desire to do so. He had no desire to use
an instrument in worship, but based on his present understanding of the word psallo, he would
not condemn someone who did. But if the word always involves a plucking or playing when it is
used, then that is what we must do when worshipping God. That means that all of us who
simply sing when we worship God are sinning by violating the psallo commandment. Would
those who say that psallo inherently means to play an instrument of some kind say that we sin
by not using one? Most would not because that would condemn, not only present day
Christians, but also the apostles and first century Christians because they did not use musical
instruments in their worship. Historian after Historian can be quoted as saying that vocal music
was the only kind of music in the first century church. In fact, it was not until 670 A.D. that Pope
Vitalian introduced organs into worship (American Encyclopedia). So, if psallo demands the use
of an instrument, the very apostles who demanded such violated their own teaching. That is the
dilemma of the psallo argument.
The fact is the word psallo was used in the first century to denote either singing or
singing while playing or plucking an instrument. The playing part was not mandatory.
Sometimes the word was used to denote just plain singing. Since the New Testament church
did not use musical instruments in their worship, it must be concluded that inspired writers of the
New Testament used the word to denote singing alone. Thus, musical instruments in worship
are still wrong! Next week we will prove this further by a basic argument from Bible authority.
Don