See the parallelism? listen to words but don't do them because they
aren't part of the "core." This parallels listeing to mouth religion exuding "loovveee."
> The mouth worship is parallel to playing a musical instrument.
> The search for money or attendance is parallel to hearing the
words but not
doing them.
Surely the removal of
doctrine, speaking
against God
by claiming that the squabbling apostles were involved in
their own interpretation and forming waring churches, the
introduction of female musicians and singers clearly
connected to temple-building and reputation-building is God
at work:
Therefore, behold, I
will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people,
even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men
shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be
hid.
Isaiah 29:14
Isaiah 58 Slogan
If thou turn away thy
foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord,
honourable; and shalt honour him,
not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own
pleasure, nor
speaking thine own words: Isaiah 58:13
Jeremiah Slogan
Jesus fired the "doctors
of the law" and sent simple people out into the world with
the Gospel. He knew that the doctors would be too concerned
with "hermeneutics" and would just take away the key to
knowledge. To keep the people from catching on, the doctors
of the law concocted "bread and circus" type rituals and
even turned the Feast of Tabernacles into a talent fair for
book sellers, poets, musicians, and preachers. The "burden"
of the clergy laded on the backs of the people was
"spiritual anxiety created by religious ceremony." This
sermon being reviewed says nothing about the "core gospel"
but seeks to lade the people down with hatred of anyone who
would question the use of instruments as the most powerful
"burden" creator. But God is listen.
I have heard what
the prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I
have dreamed. Jeremiah 23: 25
How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy
lies? yea, they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart; Jeremiah 23: 26
Which think to cause my
people to forget
my name by
their dreams, which they tell every man to his neighbour,
as their fathers have forgotten my name
for Baal. Jeremiah 23: 27
- The prophet that
hath a dream, let him tell a dream;
- and he that hath my
word, let him speak my word faithfully.
- What is the chaff
to the wheat? saith the Lord. Jeremiah 23: 28
Is not my word like as
a fire? saith the Lord; and like
a hammer that breaketh the rock in
pieces? Jeremiah 23: 29
Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the Lord, that steal my words every one from his
neighbour. Jeremiah 23: 30 (giant Jubilee festivals?)
Behold, I am against
the prophets, saith the Lord, that use their tongues,
and say, He
saith.
Jeremiah 23: 31
Behold, I am against
them that prophesy false dreams, saith the Lord, and do
tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness; yet I sent them not,
nor commanded them: therefore they shall not profit
this people at all, saith the Lord. Jeremiah 23: 32
Jeremiah then
prophesies about the burdens which the clergy will try to
lade upon people.
Massa (h4853) mas-saw'; from 5375;
a burden; spec. tribute, or (abstr.) porterage; fig. an utterance, chiefly a doom, espec. singing; mental, desire: - burden, carry away, prophecy, they set, song, tribute.
Nasa (h5375) naw-saw' to lift, burn, carry away, cast, contain, desire,
ease, exact, exalt (self), extol, lade, lay, lift self up,
David's "praise" was
similar:
Halal (h1984) haw-lal'; a prim.
root; to be clear (orig. of sound, but usually of
color); to shine; hence to make a show, to boast; and thus to be
(clamorously) foolish; to rave; causat. to celebrate;
also to stultify: - (make) boast (self), celebrate, commend,
(deal, make), fool (- ish, -ly), glory, give [light], be
(make, feign
self) mad,
give in marriage, [sing, be worthy of] praise, rage, renowned, shine.
The king of Tyre who came
equipped with musical instruments burdened people often by
the use of the King who is identified as a prostitute as
Lucifer (light, shine) was gender-confused:
THE burden (song) of Tyre. Howl (unnatural tone), ye ships of
Tarshish; for it is laid waste, so that there is no house,
no entering in: from the land of Chittim it is revealed to
them. Is.23:1
At that time Tyre will
be forgotten for seventy years, the span of a king's life.
But at the end of these seventy years, it will happen to
Tyre as in the song of the prostitute: Is.23:15
The "song of the
prostitute" is:
"Take up a harp, walk
through the city, O prostitute forgotten; play the harp
well, sing many a song, so that you will be remembered."
Is.23:16
Jeremiah continues to
prophesy of those just laying burdens on people by
deliberately dividing them from their non-instrumental
families:
Look again and hear Ezekiel's parallel
and see that the burden was the musical prostitutes:
Also, thou son of man,
the children of thy people still are talking against thee by the walls (just
broke them down) and in the doors of the houses, and speak one to another, (grand meetings) every one
to his brother,
- saying, Come, I pray
you, and hear
what is the word that cometh forth from the Lord. Ezekiel
33:30
- And they come unto
thee as the people cometh,
- and they sit before thee as my people,
- and they hear
thy words,
- but they will not
do them:
- for with their
mouth they shew much love,
- but their heart
goeth after their covetousness. Ezekiel 33:31
-
- And, lo, thou art unto them
- as a very lovely
song (amourous love song)
- of one that hath a
pleasant voice,
- and can play well on an
instrument:
- for they hear thy
words,
- but they do them
not. Ezekiel 33:32
Now, look at Jeremiah
speaking of the same "seekers" who will no longer be
tolerated:
And when this people, or
the prophet, or a priest, shall ask thee, saying, What is
the burden of the Lord? thou shalt then say unto
them,
What burden? I will even forsake you,
saith the Lord. Jeremiah 23: 33
- And as for the
prophet, and the priest, and the people, that shall say,
- The burden (song) of
the Lord,
- I will even
punish that
man
and his house. Jeremiah 23: 34
- Thus shall ye say
every one to his neighbour,
- and every one to
his brother,
- What hath the Lord answered? and,
- What hath the Lord spoken? Jeremiah 23: 35
And the burden of the
Lord shall ye mention no more;
for every mans word shall be his burden (song):
for ye have perverted the words of
the living God, of the Lord of hosts our God. Jeremiah
23:36
A burden is:
Massa (h4853) mas-saw'; from 5375;
a burden; spec. tribute, or (abstr.)
porterage; fig. an utterance, chiefly a doom, espec. singing; mental, desire: - burden,
carry away, prophecy, * they set, song, tribute.
- Also, thou son of
man, shall it not be in the day when I take from them
their strength, the joy of their glory, the desire of
their eyes, and that whereupon they set their minds,
their sons and their daughters, Eze.24:25
-
- THE burden of the word of the Lord
for Israel, saith the Lord, which stretcheth forth the
heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and
formeth the spirit of man within him. Zech 12:1
-
- Behold, I will make
Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round
about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. Zech 12:2
-
- And in that day
will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden
themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though
all the people of the earth be gathered together
against it. Zech 12:3
-
- Ro.15:1 WE then that are
strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak,
and not to PLEASE ourselves.
-
- Aresko (g700)
ar-es'-ko; prob. from 142 (through the idea of
exciting emotion); to be agreeable (or by impl. to
seek to be so): - please.
Areskτ I. of pers. only,
make good, make amends, spondas theois
aresasthai make full drink-offerings to the gods,
please, satisfy, be Lord and Master.
IV. areskei is used impers. to
express the opinion or resolution of a public
body, also of prevailing opinions; ta areskonta
the dogmas of philosophers
please, satisfy,
despozτ 2. c. gen., to be
lord or master of, h.Cer.365, Hdt.3.142 as
law-term, to be the legal proprietor,
Nasa (h5347) accept, advance, arise, (able to, [armour], suffer to) bear (-er, up), bring (forth), burn, carry (away), cast, contain, desire,
ease, exact,
exalt (self), extol... utterly, wear, yield
- Airo (h142) ah'ee-ro; a prim.
verb; to lift; by impl. to take up or away; fig. to raise (the voice), keep in suspense (the mind); spec. to sail
away (i.e. weigh anchor); by Heb. [comp. 5375] to expiate sin: - away
with, bear (up), carry, lift up, loose, make to doubt,
put away, remove, take (away, up).
The burden in
Greek includes:
Phortizo (g5412) for-tid'-zo; to load up (as a vessel
or animal), figurative: to overburden with ceremony or
spiritual anxiety: - lade, be heavy laden.
(Lots of "invoices")
- Phoros (g5411) for'-os; from
5342; a load (as borne,) i.e. (fig.) a tax (prop. an individ. assessment on persons or property;
whereas 5056 is usually a gen. toll on goods or travel):
- tribute.
Epτidos , on, epaidτ
A. singing to or over, using songs or charms to
heal wounds, epτidoi muthoi Pl.Lg.903b .
b. Subst., enchanter, e. kai goκs E.Hipp. 1038 (but
goκs e. Ba.234): c. gen., a charm for or against,
c. c. dat., assisting, profitable,
2. Pass., sung to music, phτnai Plu.2.622d ; fit for singing,
poiκtikκn e. parechein S.E.M.6.16 .
2. epτidos, ho, verse or passage returning at intervals, in
Alcaics and Sapphics, D.H.Comp.19 ; chorus, burden,
We believe that this shows that the false prophets, were
replacing the Words of God with musical performance right out of
the "places." The comparison shows that music and perverting the
Word are the same thing because they appeal to people who just
don't care what God says beyond His little, allowable core.
The Christian result was
that the wineskin performers were not allowed but were
replaced by non-performers speaking the Words of Christ one
to another.
To deny that God
Incarnate has any words beyond those spoken to the first
people as the "gospel" is to pervert the words of the
living God: Jesus is still living and is the Spirit in His
Word.
In habbakuk 2:19-20 the people tried to get their
idols (often musical devices) to speak to them. However, the
prophet said: "But the Lord is in his holy temple: let all
the earth keep silence before him." You see, that passage
and 1 Corinthians 14 includes women as well as men who are
not inspired! See more below about the harp from which the
people of Ur got their message from the gods.
This is why Jesus fired
the clergy who are still fully occupied in laying burdens on
people -- such as mentally conditioning them to see the
non-use of instruments in worship and trying to warn people
as guilty of every word one can possibly garner in one Phd
quest.
The honest evangelist will
be faithful to the Word.
The Hebrews Slogan
THEREFORE we ought to give the more earnest heed (honor or worship) to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we
should let them slip. Hebrews 2:1
For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence
of reward; Hebrews 2:2
How shall we escape,
if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the
Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; Hebrews 2:3
God also bearing
them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost,
according to his own will (pattern)? Hebrews 2:4
The Peter Slogan
And this voice which
came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy
mount. 2 Peter 1:18
And we have the word of the prophets made
more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light
shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in
your hearts. 2 Peter 1:19
Knowing this first,
that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. 2 Peter 1:20
For the prophecy
came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of
God spake as they were moved by
the Holy
Ghost.
2 Peter 1:21
As Jesus fired the "doctors of the Law" for
taking away the key to knowledge, Peter warned preachers
or "mediators" for all times that they have no right to
explicate or applicate the inspired Words of the Spirit of
Christ (1 Pet 1:11) without endangering their own souls
and the souls of the church for which Christ
died. Private interpretation is really contemporary
preaching:
Epilusis (g1955)ep-il'-oo-sis; from
1956; explanation, i.e. application: - interpretation.
Epiluo (g1956) ep-ee-loo'-o;
from 1909 and 3089; to solve further, i.e. (fig.) to
explain, decide: - determine, expound.
That means that no book
writer, preacher or presumed prophet can add one bit to
the free Word (Isaiah 55:1f). How then is the Word to be
used. Well remember the context:
So, we have commands,
examples and inferences from God and we have anyone who
would assign it to just the interpretation of waring
apostles is in trouble.
The Epistle of Ignatius to
the Ephesians: also called Ignatius Theophoros (Greek: "God Bearer") bishop
of Antioch,
Syria, born in Syria, around the year 50; died at Rome between 98 and
117. Ignatius introduced the practice of alternating
sections of the church chanting the Word. Ignatius d. c 110
Chapter IX.-Ye Have Given No Heed to
False Teachers.
Nevertheless, I have heard
of some who have passed on from this to you, having false doctrine, whom ye did not suffer to sow among you, but stopped your ears, that ye might not receive those things which
were sown by them, as being stones 58 of the temple of the Father,
prepared for the building of God the Father, and drawn up on
high by the instrument of Jesus Christ, which is the
cross, 59 making use of the Holy Spirit as a rope, while your faith
was the means by which you ascended, and your love the way
which led up to God.
Ye, therefore, as well
as all your fellow-travellers, are God-bearers, temple-bearers, Christ-bearers, bearers of holiness, adorned in
all respects with the commandments of Jesus Christ,
in whom also I exult that I have been thought worthy, by
means of this Epistle, to converse and rejoice with you,
because with respect to your Christian life ye love
nothing but God only.
Nevertheless, I have
heard of some who have passed in among you, holding the
wicked doctrine of the strange and evil spirit; to whom ye
did not allow entrance to sow their tares, but stopped your
ears that ye might not receive that error which was
proclaimed by them,
as being persuaded that that spirit which deceives
the people does not speak the things of Christ,
but his own, for
he is a lying spirit.
Ye are of your
father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do.
He was a murderer
from the beginning,
and abode not in
the truth, because there is no truth in him.
When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own:
for he is a liar,
and the father of it. Jn. 8:44
Now, Jesus did not say THOU SHALT NOT
MAKE UP THY SONGS AND SERMONS: He just said "for he is a
liar and the father of it." Now that sounds pretty
LOUD to me.
NOW DON'T WE WONDER WHY PEOPLE GIVE THEMSELVES THE RIGHT
THAT NEITHER CHRIST NOR HIS SPIRIT HAD A RIGHT TO?
But the Holy Spirit does not speak His own things, but those of Christ, and that not from himself, but from the Lord; even as the Lord also
announced to us the things that He received from the Father.
For, says He,
"the word which ye hear is not Mine, but the Father's, who sent Me.
And says He of the Holy Spirit, "He shall not speak of Himself, but whatsoever things He shall hear from Me."
And He says of Himself to
the Father, "I have," says He, "glorified
Thee upon the earth; I have finished the work which, Thou
gavest Me; I have manifested Thy name to men." And of the Holy Ghost, "He shall glorify Me, for He
receives of Mine."
But the spirit of deceit preaches
himself,
and speaks
his own things, for he seeks to please himself. He glorifies himself, for he is full of arrogance.
He is lying, fraudulent, soothing, flattering, treacherous, rhapsodical, trifling, inharmonious, verbose, sordid, and timorous.
From his power Jesus Christ will
deliver you, who has founded you upon the rock, as being chosen stones, well fitted for the divine edifice of the Father, and who are
raised up on high by Christ, who was crucified for you,
making use of the Holy Spirit as a rope, and being borne up by
faith, while exalted by love from earth to heaven, walking
in company with those that are undefiled.
For, says [the
Scripture], "Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who
walk in the law of the Lord." Now the way is unerring,
namely, Jesus Christ. For, says He, "I am the way and the
life." And this way leads to the Father.
For "no man," says He, "cometh to the Father but by
Me."
Blessed, then, are ye who are God-bearers, spirit-bearers, temple-bearers, bearers of holiness, adorned in all respects
with the commandments of Jesus Christ, being "a
royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people," on
whose account I rejoice exceedingly, and have had the
privilege, by this Epistle, of conversing with "the saints
which are at Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus." I
rejoice, therefore, over you, that ye do not give heed to
vanity, and love nothing according to the flesh, but
according to God.
Chapter XV.-Exhortation to Confess
Christ by Silence as Well as Speech.
It is better for a man to be silent and be
[a Christian], than to talk and not to be one. It is good to teach, if he who speaks
also acts.
There is then one Teacher, who spake and it was done; while even
those things which He did in silence are worthy of the Father. He who possesses the word of Jesus, is truly able to hear even His
very silence, that he may be perfect, and may both act as he
speaks, and be recognised
by his silence.
There is nothing which
is hid from God, but our very secrets are near to Him.
Let us therefore do all
things as
those who have Him dwelling in us, that we may be His temples,
and He may be in us as our God, which indeed He is, and will manifest Himself
before our faces. Wherefore we justly love Him.
It is better for a man to be silent and be [a Christian], than to
talk and not to be one. "The kingdom of God is not in word, but in power." Men "believe with the heart, and confess with the mouth," the one "unto
righteousness," the other "unto salvation." It is good to
teach, if he who speaks also acts. For he who shall both "do and teach, the same
shall be great in the kingdom." Our Lord and God, Jesus
Christ, the Son of the living God, first did and then
taught, as Luke testifies, "whose praise is in the Gospel through all the
Churches."
There is nothing which is hid from the Lord, but our very
secrets are near to Him. Let us therefore do all things as
those who have Him dwelling in us, that we may be His temples,
and He may be in us as God.
Let Christ speak in us, even as He did in Paul.
Let the Holy
Spirit teach us to speak the things of Christ in like manner as He did.
Arnobius Heresies Book One.
27. This is not the place
to examine all our traducers, who they are, or whence they
are, what is their power, what their knowledge, why they tremble at the mention
of Christ, why they regard his disciples as enemies and
as hateful persons; but with regard to ourselves to state expressly to those
who will exercise common reason, in terms applicable to all
of us alike,-We Christians are nothing else than worshippers
of the Supreme King and Head, under our Master, Christ.
If you examine carefully,
you will find that nothing else is implied in that religion. This is the sum of all that
we do; this is the proposed end and limit of sacred duties.
Before Him we all prostrate ourselves, according to our custom ; Him we adore in joint prayers ; from Him we beg things just
and honourable, and worthy of His ear.
Not that He needs our supplications, or loves to see the
homage of so many thousands laid at His feet.
This is our benefit, and has a regard to our advantage. For since we are
prone to err, and to yield to various lusts and appetites
through the fault of our innate weakness,
He allows Himself at all times to be comprehended in our thoughts, that whilst we entreat Him and
strive to merit His bounties,we may receive a desire for purity, and may free
ourselves from every stain by the removal of all our
shortcomings. 31. O
greatest, O Supreme Creator of things invisible! O Thou who
art Thyself unseen, and who art incomprehensible! Thou art worthy, Thou art
verily worthy-if only mortal tongue may speak of Thee-that all
breathing and intelligent nature should never cease to feel
and to return thanks;that it should throughout the whole of
life fall on bended knee, and offer supplication with never-ceasing prayers.
For
Thou art the first cause; in Thee created things exist, and Thou
art the space in which rest the foundations of
all things, whatever they be. Thou art illimitable, unbegotten, immortal, enduring
for aye,
God Thyself alone, whom no bodily shape may represent, no outline delineate; of
virtues inexpressible, of greatness indefinable;
unrestricted as to locality, movement, and condition, concerning whom nothing can be clearly
expressed by the significance of man's words.
That Thou mayest be
understood,
we must be silent ;
and that erring
conjecture may track Thee through the shady cloud,
no word must be uttered.
Arnobius Heresies Book One.[
And therefore Christ the divine,-although you are unwilling to
allow it,-Christ the divine, I repeat, for this must be said
often, that the ears of unbelievers may burst and be rent
asunder,
speaking in the form of man by command of the Supreme God, because He knew that men are
naturally
[that the nature of man is] blind, and cannot grasp the truth
at all, or regard as sure and certain what they might
have persuaded themselves as to things set before their
eyes, and do not hesitate, for the sake of their conjectures,
to raise and bring up
questions that cause much strife,-bade us abandon and
disregard all these things of which you speak, and not
waste our thoughts upon things which have been removed far
from our knowledge,
but, as much as
possible, seek the Lord of the universe with the whole mind and
spirit; be raised above these subjects, and give over to Him our
hearts, as yet hesitating whither to turn; [transfer to Him the undecided
conversions of the breast] be ever mindful of Him; and although no imagination can set
Him forth as He is, [He
can be formed by no imagination] yet form some faint
conception of Him.
For Christ said that, of all who are
comprehended in the vague notion of what is sacred and
divine, 424 He alone is beyond the reach of
doubt, alone true, and one about whom only a
raving and reckless madman can be in doubt; to know whom
is enough, although you have learned nothing besides; and
if by knowledge you have indeed been related to[ [and being fixed on] God, the head of the world,
you have gained the true and most important knowledge.
424 Lit., "which the
obscurity of sacred divinity contains;" which Orelli
interprets, "the most exalted being holds concealed from
mortals."
Deut.
29:29
The secret things belong unto Jehovah our God; but the
things that are revealed belong unto us and to our
children for ever, that we may do all the words of this
law.
Tatian born AD 120, , Syria
died April 173
Chapter
XXXII.-The Doctrine of the Christians, is Opposed to
Dissensions, and Fitted for All.
But with us there is no desire of vainglory, nor do we indulge in a
variety of opinions.
For having renounced the
popular and earthly,
and obeying the commands of God,
and following the law of the Father of immortality,
we reject
everything which rests upon human opinion.
Not only do the rich among us pursue our
philosophy,
but the poor enjoy instruction
gratuitously,
(
[Compare cap. xi. p. 69. And note, thus early, the Christian freeschools, such as Julian closed and then
imitated, confessing their power.])
for the things
which come from God surpass the requital of worldly
gifts.
Thus we admit all who desire to hear, even old women and striplings; and, in short, persons of
every age are treated by us with respect, but every kind of
licentiousness is kept at a distance.
And in speaking
we do not utter falsehood. It would be an excellent
thing if your continuance in unbelief should receive a
check;
but, however that may be, let our cause remain confirmed by
the judgment pronounced by God.
Laugh, if you please; but you
will have to weep hereafter. Is it not absurd that
Nestor, who was slow at cutting his horses' reins owing
to his weak and sluggish old age, is, according to you,
to be admired for attempting to rival the young men in
fighting, while you deride those among us who struggle
against old age and occupy themselves with the things
pertaining to God?
Who would not laugh when you tell us that the Amazons, and Semiramis, and certain other warlike women existed, while you cast
reproaches on our maidens? Achilles was a youth, yet is
believed to have been very magnanimous; and Neoptolemus was
younger, but strong; Philoctetes was weak, but the divinity
had need of him against Troy. What sort of man was
Thersites? yet he held a command in the army, and, if he had
not through doltishness had such an unbridled tongue, he
would not have been reproached for being peak-headed and
bald.
As for those
who wish to learn our philosophy, we do not test them by their looks,
nor do we judge of those who come to us by their outward appearance; for we argue that there may
be strength of mind in all, though they may be weak in body.
But your
proceedings are full of envy and abundant stupidity.
Clement of Alexandria
- b. AD 150, Athens
- d. between 211 and 215
Clement Pedegogue 1: Vol III Commands,
Examples and Inferences Chapter 3
But what is loveable,
and is not also loved by Him? And man has been proved to
be loveable; consequently man is loved by God. For how
shall he not be loved for whose sake the only-begotten Son
is sent from the Father's bosom, the Word of faith, the
faith which is superabundant; the Lord Himself distinctly
confessing and saying, "For the Father Himself loveth you,
because ye have loved Me; " and again, "And hast loved
them as Thou hast loved Me? "
What, then, the Master desires and
declares,
and how He is disposed in deed and word,
how He commands what is to be done, and forbids the opposite, has already been shown.
Plainly, then, the other
kind of discourse, the didactic, is powerful and spiritual, observing
precision, occupied in the contemplation of mysteries.
But let it stand over
for the present.
Now, it is
incumbent on us to return His love, who lovingly guides us to
that life which is best;
and to live in
accordance with the injunctions of His will, not only fulfilling what is
commanded,
or guarding against what is forbidden,
but turning away from some examples, and imitating others as much as we can,
and thus to perform the works of the Master according to
His similitude,
and so fulfil what
Scripture says as to our being made in His image and
likeness.
For, wandering in life
as in deep darkness, we need a guide that cannot stumble
or stray; and our guide is the best, not blind, as the Scripture says, "leading the blind
into pits."
But the Word is keen-sighted, and scans
the recesses of the heart. As, then, that is not light
which enlightens not, nor motion that moves
not, nor loving which loves not, so neither is that good
which profits not, nor guides to salvation.
Let us then aim at the fulfilment of the
commandments by the works of the Lord; for the Word Himself also,
having openly become flesh, exhibited the same virtue,
both practical and contemplative.
Wherefore let us
regard the Word as law, and His commands and counsels as the short and straight paths to
immortality; for His precepts are full of persuasion, not of fear.
And there are three departments of
counsel:
That which takes examples from past times;
as what the Hebrews
suffered when they worshipped the golden calf, and what they suffered
when they committed fornication, and the like.
The second, whose meaning is understood
from the present times, as being apprehended by perception;
as it was
said to those who asked the Lord, "If He was the Christ,
or shall we wait for another? Go and tell John, the blind
receive their sight, the deaf hear, the lepers are cle
[Matt. xi. 3-6; Luke vii. 19, 22, 23.]
Such was that which David aid when he prophesied, "As we
have heard, so have we seen." [ Ps. xlviii. 8.]
And the third department of counsel consists of what is future,
by which we are bidden guard against what is to happen; as also
that was said, "They that fall into sins shall be cast
into outer darkness, where there shall be wailing and
gnashing of teeth," [Matt. xxii. 13, xxv. 30.] and the
like. So that from these things it is clear that the
Lord, going the round of all the methods of curative
treatment, calls humanity to salvation.
Tertullian of Carthage
(Quintus Septimius Florens Terullianus, b. 155 - 160
Carthage - d. 220? AD)
He
specificially uses exclusion or necessary inference to
repudiate music.
"Fortified by this
knowledge against heathen views, let us rather turn to the
unworthy reasonings of our own people; for the faith of
some, either too simple or too scrupulous,
demands
direct authority from Scripture for giving up the shows,
and holds out that the matter is a doubtful one, because such abstinence is
not clearly and
in words
imposed upon God's servants.
"Well, we never find it expressed with the same precision,
"Thou shalt not enter circus or theatre, thou shalt not look on
combat or show; "
as it is plainly laid down, "Thou shalt not kill; thou
shalt not worship an idol; thou shalt not commit adultery or fraud." Ex. xx. 14.
"But we find that that first word
of David bears on this very sort of thing: "Blessed," he
says, "is the man who has not gone into the assembly of the
impious,
nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat in the seat of scorners." Ps. i. 1.
Though he seems to
have predicted beforehand of that just man, that he took
no part in the meetings and deliberations of the Jews,
taking counsel about the slaying of our Lord,
yet divine Scripture has
ever far-reaching
applications:
after the
immediate sense has been exhausted, in all directions it
fortifies the practice of the religious life, so that here
also you have an utterance which is not far from a plain
interdicting of the shows. Tertullian, De Spectaculis
"Tertullian, with his characteristic
energy, takes up the same argument in his famous work "On
Prescription Against Heretics". His general process of
reasoning runs thus: Christ chose twelve Apostles to whom
he communicated His doctrine. The Apostles preached this
doctrine to the churches they founded, and thence the same
doctrine came to the more recent churches. Neither did the
Apostles
corrupt Christ's doctrine, nor have the Apostolic Churches
corrupted
the preaching of the Apostles. Heresy is always posterior,
and, therefore, erroneous.
"We have to show," he
says (c. xxi), "whether our doctrine . . . is derived from Apostolic teaching, and whether,
therefore, other doctrines have their origin in a lie.
We are in communion
with the Apostolic Churches, because we have the same doctrine; that is the testimony of the truth (Communicamus cum
Ecclesiis apostolicis, quod nulla doctrina diversa; hoc
est testimonium veritatis).
In Tertullian's
writings against Marcion (IV, v) we find an application
of this
apologetic argument. Having developed the historical argument
founded on the preservation, as a matter of fact, of
the Apostolic
doctrine in the chief Apostolic Churches, we must add that, besides
it, such writers as Irenaeus and others used often also
a dogmatic argument founded on the necessary
preservation of Christian truth in the whole Church and
in the Roman Church in particular. The two arguments are
to be carefully distinguished. Apostolic Churches
Those who OPPOSE THE WORD but still ride
on the backs of working people and widows have NO RESPONSE
but their own SELF-REFERENCE. Or, as the ultimate emotional
violence, they think that he will stop if they CLAIM that
the Holy Spirit (Jesus) tells them that PAUL WAS A LIAR and
He has given "them" an AUDIBLE replacement for the OLDEN
Bible. But, the HOLY SPIRIT was unable to preserve and test
EACH DOCTRINE by the CONTEMPORARY CULTURE and find that the
Bible says the same thing to ALL CULTURES. Those who HAZE
the mirror by speaking of church pews assuredly cannot bring
the nose of their brain face to face with the Mind of
Christ, the Holy Spirit.
We, in our RACA minds, continue to refute
the lie that non-instrumental churches of Christ INVENTED
the notion of commands, examples and inferences "out of the
mind of southern, red-necked" culture. A NEW HERMENEUTIC
built on a lie will die on a lie:
Cyprian of Carthage on THE SHOWS
speaking to much church "worship."
b. AD 200,, Carthage.
d. Sept. 14, 258, Carthage
2. Believers, and men who
claim for themselves the authority of the Christian name,
are not ashamed-are not, I repeat, ashamed to find a defence in the
heavenly Scriptures for the vain superstitions associated
with the public exhibitions of the heathens,
and thus to attribute
divine authority to idolatry.
For how is it, that what
is done by the heathens in honour of any idol is resorted to in a public show by faithful Christians, and
the heathen idolatry is maintained, and the true and divine
religion is trampled upon in contempt of God? Shame binds me
to relate their pretexts and defences in this behalf.
"Where," say they, "are
there such Scriptures? where are these things prohibited?
On the contrary, both Elias is the charioteer of Israel, and David
himself danced
before the
ark.
We read of psalteries,
horns, 6 trumpets, drums, pipes,
harps, and choral dances. Moreover, the apostle, in his
struggle, puts before us the contest of the Caestus, and of our wrestle against
the spiritual things of wickedness.
Again, when he borrows
his illustrations from the racecourse, he also proposes the prize
of the crown. Why, then, may not a faithful Christian man gaze upon
that which the divine pen might write about? "At this point I might not
unreasonably say that it would have been far better for
them not to know any writings at all, than thus to read
the Scriptures. 7
For words and illustrations
which are
recorded by way of exhortation to evangelical virtue, are translated by them into
pleas for vice; because those things are written of, not
that they should be gazed upon, but that a greater
eagerness might be aroused in our minds in respect of
things that will benefit us, seeing that among the
heathens there is manifest so much eagerness in respect of
things which will be of no advantage.
3. These are therefore an
argument to stimulate
virtue, not
a permission or a liberty to look upon heathen error, that by this consideration
the mind may be more inflamed to Gospel virtue for the sake
of the divine rewards, since through the suffering of all
these labours and pains it is granted to attain to eternal
benefits.
For that Elias is the charioteer of Israel is
no defence for gazing upon the public games; for he ran his
race in no circus. And that David in the presence of God led the dances, is no
sanction for faithful Christians to occupy seats in the public theatre; for David did not twist his
limbs about in obscene movements, to represent in his dancing the
story of Grecian lust. Psalteries, horns, pipes, drums, harps, were
used in the service of the Lord, and not of idols.
David was moving the
Ark of the Covenant with frequent stops to offer animal
sacrifices. This was in mortal fear that something wrong
would happen. David was the KING and it was not uncommon
for the king to participate in rituals. However, he was
not a priest and was not leading the public worship of
the people.
Let it not on this
account be objected that unlawful things may be gazed
upon; for by the artifice of the devil these are changed from
things holy to things unlawful. Then let shame demur to
these things, even if the Holy Scriptures cannot. For
there are certain things wherein the Scripture is more
careful in giving instruction.
Acquiescing in the claim
of modesty,
it has
forbidden
more where it has been silent.
The truth, if it descended
low enough to deal with such things,
would think very badly of its faithful votaries.
[God does not think that
we are FOOLS]
For very often, in matters
of precept, some things are advantageously said nothing about;
they often remind
when they are expressly forbidden.
So also there is an implied silence even in the
writings of the Scripture;
and severity speaks in the place of precepts;
and reason teaches where Scripture has
held its peace.
Let every man only take
counsel with himself, and let him speak consistently with
the character of his profession, and then he will never do
any of these things. For that conscience will have more
weight which shall be indebted to none other than itself.
4. What has Scripture interdicted? Certainly it has forbidden gazing upon what it forbids to be
done. It condemned, I say, all those kinds of exhibitions
when it abrogated idolatry-the mother of all public
amusements,
whence these prodigies of vanity and lightness came.
For what public
exhibition is without an idol? what amusement without a sacrifice? what contest is not consecrated to some dead
person?
3. For there are certain
things wherein the Scripture is more careful in giving instruction.
Acquiescing in
the claim of modesty,
it has forbidden more
where it has been silent.
The truth, if it descended low enough to deal with such
things, would
think very badly of its faithful votaries.
For very often, in matters
of precept, some things are advantageously said nothing
about;
they often remind when they are expressly forbidden.
So also there
is an implied
silence
even in the writings of the Scripture;
and severity speaks in the place of precepts;and reason teaches where Scripture has held its peace.
Those Grecian contests,
whether in poems, or in instrumental music, or in words, or in personal prowess, have as their guardians various demons;
and whatever
else there is which either attracts the eyes or allures the ears of the spectators,
if it be investigated in reference to its origin and
institution, presents as its reason either an idol, or a demon, or a dead man.
Thus the
devil, who is their original contriver, because he knew that naked idolatry would by itself excite
repugnance,
associated it with
public exhibitions, that for the sake of their
attraction it might be loved.
I have the Bible and 3
dozen ancient documents which GIVES CREDIT to Satan for
being the original contriver of entertainment "worship"
especially MUSIC.
Those who call that
DEMENTED have only their own sound-byte mind to boast their
whiney piney hearts.
Cyprian writes:
It is not lawful, I say,
for faithful Christians to be present; it is not lawful, I
say, at all, even for those whom for the delight of their ears Greece sends everywhere to
all who are instructed in her vain arts. One imitates the hoarse warlike clangours of the trumpet; another with his breath
blowing into a pipe regulates its mournful sounds; another with dances,
and with the musical voice of a man, strives with his breath,
which by an effort he had drawn from his bowels into the
upper parts of his body, to play upon the stops of
pipes;
now letting forth the sound, and now closing it up
inside, and forcing it into the air by certain openings
of the stops;
now breaking the sound in measure, he
endeavours
to speak with his fingers, ungrateful to the Artificer who gave him a tongue. Why should I speak of
comic and useless efforts? Why of those great tragic
vocal ravings?
Why of strings set vibrating with noise? These things, even if they
were not
dedicated to idols, ought not to be approached and gazed upon
by faithful Christians; because, even if they were not
criminal, they are characterized by a worthlessness which is extreme, and
which is little
suited to believers.
10. Let the faithful
Christian, I say, devote himself to the sacred Scriptures, and there he shall find
worthy exhibitions for his faith.
