EP Articles, Sermons, Books (BEST ONLY)
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There are numerous books, but if you only read one, I recommend The True Psalmody. If you have time for another, something more contemporary is Bushell's Songs of Zion. A little more time may be spent on The Psalms in Worship ed. by McNaugher, but there are some non-EP views in there to be guarded against. And more time still on John Murray's Minority Report, John Keddie's Sing the Lord's Song at Sherman Isbell's site, and another by G. I. Williamson.
Of course the best thing to do is to simply sing the Psalms themselves and understand them as the Messiah giving thanks to God in the midst of the congregation, Hebrews 2:12, which was the way the early church understood and appreciated them. Who could think such a canon of Psalmody needed supplanting or supplementing after that!
Of course the best thing to do is to simply sing the Psalms themselves and understand them as the Messiah giving thanks to God in the midst of the congregation, Hebrews 2:12, which was the way the early church understood and appreciated them. Who could think such a canon of Psalmody needed supplanting or supplementing after that!
Andres
Puritan Board Doctor
Bushell's book references Psalmody in the early church and church history in general. It's pretty much a must-read for studying EP. I'd also recommend Pastor Koller's website, exclusivepsalmody.com, for numerous other articles/resources relating to exclusive Psalmody. Will pray for your session in their studies!
By early church I meant in particular the apostolic church. On the post-apostolic church, Bushell's Songs of Zion may be of help.
I doubt one can establish EP in the post-apostolic church where there were still claims to the extraordinary gifting of the Spirit and a tendency to act with spontaneity. But there is enough evidence to support an EP position within the framework of a cessation of revelation and the need for divine institution in worship.
Poimen
Puritan Board Post-Graduate
I found this article by Matthew Winzer to be the most helpful in terms of its conciseness and addressing the main issues.
In particular, and to aid your search in examining psalmody in the early church, consider the following from Matthew's essay:
“In the early Christian church, similarly, the three terms [ed. of psalms, hymns and spiritual songs] were used interchangeably to describe the book of Psalms. Justin Martyr was referred to before as endorsing the LXX translation of "hymns" in Ps. 72:20. Clement of Alexandria must have been contemplating either Eph. 5:19 or Col. 3:16 when he said: "The apostle calls the psalms ‘a spiritual song.'"[1] Lactantius called David, "the writer of divine hymns;"[2] and the apostolic constitutions could not be any clearer: ‘sing the hymns of David.’”[3]
[1] Clement of Alexandria, ‘The instructor,' in The Ante-Nicene Fathers 2 (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1993 rpt.), 249.
[2] Lactantius, ‘The epitome of the divine institutes,' in The Ante-Nicene Fathers 7 (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1993 rpt.), 238.
[3] Constitutions of the holy apostles,' in The Ante-Nicene Fathers 7 (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1993 rpt.), 393.
Other resources on Psalmody in the early church would be Terry Johnson's essay “The History of Psalm Singing in the Christian Church” in Sing a New Song: Recovering Psalm Singing for the Twenty-First Century as well as Athanasius on the Psalms, available here.
Besides those Matthew cited, I would also recommend a study by a RPCNA committee available here.
In particular, and to aid your search in examining psalmody in the early church, consider the following from Matthew's essay:
“In the early Christian church, similarly, the three terms [ed. of psalms, hymns and spiritual songs] were used interchangeably to describe the book of Psalms. Justin Martyr was referred to before as endorsing the LXX translation of "hymns" in Ps. 72:20. Clement of Alexandria must have been contemplating either Eph. 5:19 or Col. 3:16 when he said: "The apostle calls the psalms ‘a spiritual song.'"[1] Lactantius called David, "the writer of divine hymns;"[2] and the apostolic constitutions could not be any clearer: ‘sing the hymns of David.’”[3]
[1] Clement of Alexandria, ‘The instructor,' in The Ante-Nicene Fathers 2 (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1993 rpt.), 249.
[2] Lactantius, ‘The epitome of the divine institutes,' in The Ante-Nicene Fathers 7 (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1993 rpt.), 238.
[3] Constitutions of the holy apostles,' in The Ante-Nicene Fathers 7 (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1993 rpt.), 393.
Other resources on Psalmody in the early church would be Terry Johnson's essay “The History of Psalm Singing in the Christian Church” in Sing a New Song: Recovering Psalm Singing for the Twenty-First Century as well as Athanasius on the Psalms, available here.
Besides those Matthew cited, I would also recommend a study by a RPCNA committee available here.
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AntiFederalist13
Puritan Board Freshman
Besides the other great suggestions mentioned, I have benefited from Rev. Brian Schwertley's book on EP:
http://www.reformedonline.com/uploads/1/5/0/3/15030584/exclusive_psalmody.pdf
http://www.reformedonline.com/uploads/1/5/0/3/15030584/exclusive_psalmody.pdf
Romans922
Puritan Board Professor
Uh, that is somewhat overwhelming of a site. WOW!
Andres
Puritan Board Doctor
Jake
Puritan Board Senior
As the single best modern resource, I think Bushell is great. I recommend getting the latest edition (4th) because it addresses new arguments and has been re-arranged.
Here is the best single sermon treatment I have heard of the issue, though it assumes understanding of the RPW: http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?sermonID=911132248398
Here is the best single sermon treatment I have heard of the issue, though it assumes understanding of the RPW: http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?sermonID=911132248398
AntiFederalist13
Puritan Board Freshman
I thought the same thing. Extremely beneficial though!
Backwoods Presbyterian
Puritanboard Amanuensis
One of the best parts of Bushell's new book is that he starts with the sufficiency argument. He does an excellent job of showing the superiority of psalms to hymns.
Afterthought
Puritan Board Senior
I appreciated Steven Dilday's series on the matter. It is incompletely recorded, but it helpfully points out details not usually covered by defenses of exclusive psalmody (e.g., the point about Christ fulfilling the Psalmist's role) and talks about the regulative principle to some degree at the beginning. It mostly makes its argument through a historical survey (i.e., survey throughout the bible) and then answers some objections.
JP Wallace
Puritan Board Sophomore
This is a fairly good book, only one chapter promotes EP but all are applicable as an enticement to EP I suppose http://www.amazon.com/Sing-New-Song-Recovering-Twenty-First/dp/1601781059
Romans922
Puritan Board Professor
http://www.crownandcovenant.com/Songs_of_Zion_p/ds210.htm
Is this the most recent edition of Bushnell's book?
Is this the most recent edition of Bushnell's book?
Looks like it but check lulu.com for pricing there and it would most likely be the most updated text if there have been changes (one benefit to print on demand). I don't have a link as right now lulu won't come up for me.
Andres
Puritan Board Doctor
Yes
Reformed Covenanter
Cancelled Commissioner
The True Psalmody (with prefaces by Henry Cooke, John Edgar, and Thomas Houston).
The Psalm Singers Conference (Belfast, 1902).
The Psalm Singers Conference (Belfast, 1902).
Romans922
Puritan Board Professor
scottmaciver
Puritan Board Sophomore
Songs of the Spirit by Rev Kenneth Stewart
You didn't mention the a capella aspect, but in case you're interested in that, I read John Price's "Old Light on New Worship" several years ago, and it makes a very good argument for the non-use of musical instruments. I can't say how whether it's any more thorough than any of the other resources mentioned, but it's worth checking out. (Ironically, if I remember correctly, he doesn't address singing the Psalms at all!)
repeater75
Puritan Board Freshman
Hello, friends.
I'd certainly put Bushell's book at the top of my list and Brian Schwertley's book in PDF has been very helpful for me.
I've been recommending Michael Lefebvre's book "Singing the Songs of Jesus" (160 pages) because it can be a big help for introducing the idea to a spouse who may not be on the same page as you on the subject. It is by an RPCNA pastor and he only mentions EP toward the very end, yet he handles many common objections to Psalm singing throughout. Here it is at Heritage Books: http://www.heritagebooks.org/products/singing-the-songs-of-Jesus-revisiting-the-psalms.html
At the risk of being quite un-humble, I've been collecting some materials on Psalmody and creating some posts on my own blog covering specific objections:
http://www.covenantercast.com/search/label/Objections to Psalmody
And I've done 4 podcast episodes on Psalmody (first 3 are theological, I don't touch on a capella though, the 4th is a practical how-to guide):
http://www.covenantercast.com/2015/11/covenantercast-episode-6-psalm-singing.html
http://www.covenantercast.com/2015/11/episode-7-psalm-singing-part-2.html
http://www.covenantercast.com/2015/11/episode-8-psalm-singing-part-3.html
http://www.covenantercast.com/2015/11/episode-9-psalm-singing-part-4.html
I link a bunch of resources I used in that last episode's blog post. Hope those are helpful.
Also Joel Beeke just published a short booklet on it. Its not as good as other books but if you want something fairly short and not polemic in tone, it could be helpful.
I'd certainly put Bushell's book at the top of my list and Brian Schwertley's book in PDF has been very helpful for me.
I've been recommending Michael Lefebvre's book "Singing the Songs of Jesus" (160 pages) because it can be a big help for introducing the idea to a spouse who may not be on the same page as you on the subject. It is by an RPCNA pastor and he only mentions EP toward the very end, yet he handles many common objections to Psalm singing throughout. Here it is at Heritage Books: http://www.heritagebooks.org/products/singing-the-songs-of-Jesus-revisiting-the-psalms.html
At the risk of being quite un-humble, I've been collecting some materials on Psalmody and creating some posts on my own blog covering specific objections:
http://www.covenantercast.com/search/label/Objections to Psalmody
And I've done 4 podcast episodes on Psalmody (first 3 are theological, I don't touch on a capella though, the 4th is a practical how-to guide):
http://www.covenantercast.com/2015/11/covenantercast-episode-6-psalm-singing.html
http://www.covenantercast.com/2015/11/episode-7-psalm-singing-part-2.html
http://www.covenantercast.com/2015/11/episode-8-psalm-singing-part-3.html
http://www.covenantercast.com/2015/11/episode-9-psalm-singing-part-4.html
I link a bunch of resources I used in that last episode's blog post. Hope those are helpful.
Also Joel Beeke just published a short booklet on it. Its not as good as other books but if you want something fairly short and not polemic in tone, it could be helpful.
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