VirginiaHuguenot
Puritanboard Librarian
Dr. Philip Schaff, American church historian (1819-1893):
(1) The "œBook of Psalms is the oldest Christian Hymn Book; inherited from the ancient covenant "¦ The Councils of Laodicea (360) and of Chalcedon (451) prohibited the ecclesiastical use of all uninspired or private hymns."
(2) "œ[The church] long adhered almost exclusively to the Psalms of David, who, as Chrysostom says, was first, middle, and last in the assemblies of the Christians; and it had, in opposition to heretical predilections, even a decided aversion to the public use of uninspired songs. The Council of Laodicea, about 360, prohibited even the ecclesiastical use of all uninspired or "˜private hymns,´ and the Council of Chalcedon in 451 confirmed this decree."
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