Quotes from Calvin, Owen, Edwards, Rutherford, Gillespie, Henderson, Baillie, Calderwood, Dickson, and others citing and expounding on the old Reformed position.
Instrumental music in public worship was a regulated circumstance of Old Covenant worship and thus John Calvin writes,
"From this it appears that the Papists, as I shall have occasion to show elsewhere, in employing instrumental music cannot be said so much to imitate the practice of God's ancient people as to ape it in a senseless and absurd manner, exhibiting a silly delight in that worship of the Old Testament which was figurative and terminated with the gospel."
You may be shocked to see the strong and unanimous testimony, given by these famous and much respected Reformers, against the use of musical instruments in public worship of the one true and living God.
More extensive argumentation of the classic Puritan and Reformation position on this topic can also be found in a number of the free MP3s at http://www.sermonaudio.com/go/328 (cut and paste this link into your browser).
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“ Puritan & Reformed Quotes On Instrumental Music ” Dear Tom:
First, thank you for the many fine readings you have produced. I've often benefited from them myself (as you know) and I am sure many others have too.
Regarding your comment, the quotes on this MP3 are only introductory and simply address certain aspects of the issue. They certainly do not form a complete argument per se. Even taken in their entirety, these quotes only skim the surface of this issue, forming just a small portion of the total argument.
John Girardeau's book, Instrumental Music in the Public Worship of the Church, which is primarily about one aspect of keeping the second commandment (and secondarily about the history of Covenanter, Puritan, & Reformation worship on this point) gives a much more extensive argument and is free in MP3 format beginning at http://www.sermonaudio.com/ser moninfo.asp?SID=62905172020 or free in text format at http://www.covenanter.org/Gira rdeau/Instrumental/instrumental music.htm .
Also, as I am sure you know, even Baptists like Charles Spurgeon and Andrew Fuller preached against the use of musical instruments in public worship.
Additional information on the classic Puritan and Reformation position on this topic can also be found in a number of the free MP3s at http://www.sermonaudio.com/go/ 328 .
In Christ,
Reg B
Thomas M Sullivan (3/25/2008)
from Jenison, MI
“ Interesting Narration ” Since I am somewhat familiar with Edwards' writings, I have been narrating sermons of his for 22 years including this book, I was interested to see what he said about instrumental music in public worship. But I did not find anything about it in this narration taken from Charity and It's Fruits page 57-58. The mention of harps and cymbals and instruments of music were being used as an illustration. They cannot give praise to God because the music that comes from them comes from "a machine without life." And if a person approaches God without his heart, the act is no more virtuous. If one uses this quote to establish the non-use of instrumental music in worship, another person will hardly be convinced that you have proved your point, and is more apt to say, "is this the best argument that you can make?"
JONATHAN EDWARDS was born on October 5, 1703, in East Windsor, Connecticut, into a Puritan evangelical household. His childhood education as well as his undergraduate years (1716-1720) and graduate studies (1721-1722) at Yale College immersed him not only in the most current...
