8/12/2019 1996 Issue 2 - Worship, Hymns, And Theology - Counsel of Chalcedon
1/2
What we sing and what we
believe are closely
connected.
In
other words, there is a
relationship between what a
church or a people
sing
when
they worship (jod, and their
view of the (jod whom they
worship.
Patrick
Cowley has
expressed this point well, "
It
is
theology that makes worship,
and worship
is
always the
expression
of
theology
.
t
is only
in theology that worship
has its
legitimate origin and sanction,
and so the
faith
of the
church
is
revealed in
the
worship of the
church,
as also in its daily
work.
Worship
is
the
dramatization of
theology, and
is its
living T echnicolor
:film. As emphases in
theology alter,
so one
finds changes in,
or
additions'
to,
worship.
(Cited by Jack Martin
Maxwell: Worship
and.Reformed Theology: The
Liturgical
Lessons of
Mersersburg. Pittsburgh
Theological Monograph Series.
no. 10. The Pickwick Press.
1976. p.379.)
The important point
is
in the
last sentence: "As emphases in
theology alter, so one
finds
.
changes-in,
or
additions to,
worship." This important
principle has been
explored
by
Sandra
S.
Sizer
in
her excellent
study of 19th century revivalist
hymnody, (jospel Hymns and
Social Religion: The
Rhetoric
of
Nineteenth-Century
Revivalism
IT
emple Vniversity Press.
1978.)
In
this perceptive study
Sizer,
while nof wnting
from
a
Christian perspective, compares
the new hymns and songs that
appeared with the revival
movements
of
D.L Moody and
Ira Sankey, with older reformed
hymns
of
Isaac Watts. Sizer
incisively
draws
out
the "shift"
visible from Watts versions of
the Psalms
to
Sankey's Sacred
Songs
and
Solos. We shall
observe
the " hift" in a
number
of key areas of doctrine:
From rebel to victim
Isaac
Watts
in
his hymns
and
versions of the
Psalms
compares man to a "worm",
one
who
as fallen
and sinful
is
a
"
rebel", "guilty"
and "
vile". Sizer
adds, 'The 'worm'
is
alUhe
more
despicable because
he tries
to avert
his
will against (jod,
the ruler of
all,
that he is a
'rebel ' worm, a blasphemer, a
criminal, a backslider, an upstart
challenging (jod's rightful
government; and such a worm
deserves only
to
be
damned,"
(pg,
27)
Sizer
notes that this kind
of
language has disappeared by the
time we
arrive
at the 19th
century hymnody
of Sankey,
Bliss
and Crosby. Thus she
observes,
"In
Bliss's
portrayal,
it .
is not that people willfully
disobeyed the law
or
sinned
of
6
tTl l l COUNSEL
of
Chalcedon t March,
996
their own accord, but rather,
they
were
"cursed
by
the law",
"bruised
by
the fali", as if they
are not
active agents
in the
matter at
all.
" (pg. 28) In other
words the
sinner
has
become
a
victim
as opposed to a criminal
Sizer concludes, " ..human
beings are essentially
victims
of
evil, impersonal fortes. They are
not worms but wanderers -
exiles or pilgrims, accidentally
cast out on
foreign
shores - as in
Sankey's famous solo, 'Where
is
my
wandering
boy
tonight?'"
(pg.
30)
From redemption
to "rest'l
The
consequence
of
the theological
shift regarding the
doctrine of man and
sin
is observable in
the
doctrine
of
salvation. The 19th
century terminology
for
salvationired,emption
emphasizes
salvation
as
"rest".
.
Salvation is
not so much
justification
before tlie Law of
(jod, and regeneration of heart,
as "rest in some safe place"
(pg.
31)
. Concerning the view
of
Christ that this hails, Sizer
adds,
"
..
he is no longer the active
King-conqueror or
the
lawyer
advocate ofWatls", and we
would add
of Scripture.
Now
Christ has become the
"Shepherd" and
the
"Friend".
The problem s obviously not
that this is untrue in
itself,
rather what we '
see is
an
alteration in emphasis, a
shift
in
perspective.
8/12/2019 1996 Issue 2 - Worship, Hymns, And Theology - Counsel of Chalcedon
2/2
From conquest to defense
With Watts and the
Refonners and Puritans
of
whom he was an heir, Christ
was the victorious Saviour
King, th e Lord
of
all creation.
However, by the time we look
at the
Sankey-Bliss-Crosby
hymns Christ has become a
"passive" Saviour, the Jesus of
Holman Hunt's "Christ the
Light
of
the World"
helplessly
standing outside
our
lives,
just
waiting
to be
let in A
further
consequence
of
this outlook, is
that
the
faith
has ceased to be
offensive and conquest-oriented,
and has tumed defensive and
passive, for example,
Hold
fast the
fort,
for
am .
coming
,
. Jesus
signills
still,
Wave the answer
back
to heaven,
"
By
Thy grace we will '
Salvatiori has become
a
life
boat, rather than
the
conquest of
the world by the Lord Jesus
Christ
(Col.
1
15ff).
From objective to
subjective
Sizer observes aloss
of
praise
and worship before the
Almighty Clod of Heaven and
earth
in
19th century
compositions
of
Sankey et al.
Sizer
compares
the tone
of
this
hymn
by
Watts,
Now
to
a
tune of lolly praise,
To
greatJehovah's
equal Son
Awake
my voice in heavenly
lays
'
Tell loud
the
wonder
He has
done .
with it's granduer and
objectivity, with the
following
.
by Fanny
Crosby,
Pass me not, 0 gentle Saviour,
Hear my humble cry,
While on
others
Thou art
smiling
Do
not
pass
me
by.
(pg.
45)
A number of changes in
emphasis and"
direction"
are
present here: Firstly, the focus
is
less
upon
Clod
and what He
is
and He has done, than
upon
the individual and his/her
personal experience/situation.
There
has
been a shill from
objective
truth about
Clod, to
subjective feelings about "me'.
Secondly, the note
of
praise and
adoration
is
less defined , and
the
accent
now falls upon
prayer in place of praise and
thanksgiving.
Clod
is
there
for
me, rather than
me
for Clod.
Thirdly, other hymns and
songs
of the
new strain
are more
'
about the individual worshiper
his/her emotional state and
feelings,
as opposed
to
addressing to Clod directly.
These hymns
are about
man,
rather than to
Clod
The 19th
century hymn writers
of
the
Moody-Sankey revival
movement had withdrawn
inwards, rather than outwards
to Clod. This
is
an important
change in
perspective.
Summary.
Sizer summarizes all of this
as follows, ' ... the move
from
wonn to wanderer, from gUilt
to
tunnoil,
from
Christ
..
of
the
heaven to
Jesus
our secret
confident,
from imperial
mission to rescue mission
, from
praise
to prayer and testimony
(pg.
49).
The upshot
of
all this
is
that
we need to carefully re-examine
the hymns and praises that we
address
to Clod.
For
in our times
the "shift has moved a step
further with the tidal flood
of
new choruses and hymns
mainly from the charismatic
churches.
James B. Jordan has
described these
pieces
well:
"The 'Jesus Mantras' of
charismatic hymnody
are
- there
is no nice
way to say this -
infantile when compared with
the Psalter"
(Rite
Reasons. No.
2 2
August 1992..). What many
have failed to see
is
that these
songs are also products of a
particular theology.
Too
many
"refonned" churches have
adopted the new songs/
choruses
without giving
sufficient
attention as to their
roots and tendencies.
Even where the better
hymns are sung, there has
nevertheless been a demise
in
psalm-singing, in spite of the
clear command in Scripture
(Eph.
5:19,
Jas.
5:13
etc.)
.
At
the
same
time, many
of
the
churches prefer the "gospel"-type
hymns
of
the Moody-Sankey
era . The only
real
solution
is
a
return to psalm-singing, and
thus return to the worship
theology
of
the psa
Ims
themselves . This means a return
to Clod's agenda and emphasis
for worship and praise. The
strength
of
Watts was that he
consciously modeled his hymns
upon the psalms. We must
return
to
that strength and
develop in
our
own
time,
thus
we will begin to re-build the
edifice of true,
biblical worship.
March
,
996
THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon f 17