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Originally Posted by blhowes  Was that silly of me or what, thinking I'd be able to stump 'em! |
Not at all, Bob. You listed many that were new to me and I will look forward to acquainting myself with them as much as I can.
And your original question is well worth considering. Why has the singing of Psalms fallen out of favor, especially in Protestant churches, even in Reformed churches?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Backwoods Presbyterian Kind of going back to the original point of the thread, what did happen to Psalm singing after the introduction of hymns and how did they come to dominate the music portion of worship? |
I think that hymns tend to rush in to fill a perceived vacuum resulting from the alleged insufficiency of the Psalter in Christian worship. Isaac Watts certainly lead the way by arguing that some Psalms were unfit for Christian worship, and that therefore new uninspired hymns were needed to fill the void. When that dike was opened, the floods rushed in. It is human nature to desire to introduce innovations into God's worship. There is no new thing under the sun. I was reading two essays on the status and outlook of Psalmody published in 1907 and it was interesting to see how they viewed the situation back then. I think that Dietrich Bonhoeffer was so right when he said, "Wherever the Psalter is abandoned, an incomparable treasure vanishes from the Christian church. With its recovery will come unexpected power" (
Psalms, The Prayer Book of the Bible, p. 26).
Songs for Christians: using the whole Psalter. (Cover Story) - The Christian Century | Encyclopedia.com http://www.arpnovascotia.com/covenant/why_psalms.htm Reformed Worship | We Used to Sing Only Psalms -- What Happened?
__________________
Andrew Myers
Husband of Jessica, Father of Jackson, Katie and Samuel
Member, Presbyterian Reformed Church of Northern Virginia
Warrenton, VA USA
Editor,
The Matthew Poole Project
"Let your Morning Thoughts, and your last Evening Thoughts, be what shall become of you to all Eternity." -- Matthew Poole