In the last
post I quoted John Calvin favorably and said that in large part we have him to
thank that we sing in the Reformed churches. And yet we do not unreservedly
agree with him when it comes to the church’s song for he held to what is
nowadays called “exclusive Psalmody.”
In fairness
to Calvin I should quote more of what he says on the topic. In the preface to the Genevan Psalter he
wrote:
Now, what Augustine says is true, namely that no one can sing anything
worthy of God which he has not received from him. Therefore, even after we have
carefully searched everywhere, we shall not find better or more appropriate
songs to this end than the Psalms of David, inspired by the Holy Spirit. And
for this reason, when we sing them, we are assured that God puts the words in
our mouth, as if he himself were singing through us to exalt his glory.
Surely
Calvin was correct when he said that there is nothing better to sing than the
Psalms of David. He published the 150 Psalms in French set to what has come to
be called the Genevan tunes. To that
collection he added the canticles (“scripture songs”), the Songs of Mary,
Zechariah and Simeon, and the Ten Commandments. He did not want any hymns that
were not based closely on the literal text of scripture.
I do not
mind saying that I love the Genevan Psalter. It courses through my veins. With thanks
to God I note that we have recently published New Genevan Psalter which is a contemporary English version of the Genevan
Psalms and the four canticles.
I also love
canticles, defined as songs based on scripture passages other than Psalms. I
have tried my hand at writing some, pairing them mostly to tunes that are in
the public domain. I have a website dedicated to them.
But what
about hymns? Psalms and canticles—of course! But what about hymns?
The
Canadian Reformed Churches allow hymns. The Book of Praise, our songbook, consists of the 150 Psalms and 85 hymns, of which
about two dozen could be classified as canticles. But what about the hymns that
are not closely based upon the literal text of scripture but work with themes,
ideas, and images found in scripture? Are such hymns appropriate for God’s people
to sing in the official worship service?
Without
wanting to get embroiled in a worship war I hope to address that next.
