Expert: Marvin Howard - 6/29/2007

Question
QUESTION: marvin

you said

A chapel is a church building, right? "A Cappella" translates from Latin to "Of the Chapel." "A Cappella" music is "Of the Chapel" music; it is in church buildings. Logically then, instrumental music is not found in church buildings. So, if there is an instrument added to worship, it is not the church; the worship is vain (empty of meaning) teaching man's words.

what defines a church
buildings or people

where is the word chapel found in the Bible

is there a command in Scripture that forbids instruments being played during worship public or private  

if so where

if not then why do coc preach it is wrong

does the Bible say that there will be instruments used in heaven

if so why is it wrong to use them here and now and not in the presents of God in heaven

thx
g

ANSWER: Hi!

Thank you for giving me a chance to once again prove that the denominations are not churches, but imposters. I was given a very limited amount of space for my profile with AllExperts. I did not have room to show this. My prayer was that what I said would provoke someone to ask a question. It seems my desire was realized. Forget what you were taught in the past. Examine this with me from Scripture to see if I am correct (Acts 17:11).

You ask about the constitution of the church. You surmise correctly that it is defined by the people. However, what you miss is the expediency we are authorized. We are directly commanded to meet (Hebrews 10:25). If we are to follow the followers of Christ, then we are commanded when the meeting is to be (Acts 20:7). However, we see people meeting by rivers (Acts 16:13). We see people meeting in houses (Acts 20:20). We are told nothing about the meeting place itself, save that what we do there must be done decently and in order (1st Corinthians 14:40). The people define the place, whether it be the church, or another group who are tares growing alongside us (Matthew 13:29-30). The church will do things the way God said. The denominations will serve their master instead.

The word “chapel” is found nowhere in the Bible. However, neither is the word “car.” Nevertheless, since a car is not forbidden by other passages of Scripture, it is authorized for use in complying with the Great Commission. Likewise, a dedicated building is not forbidden. Rather, with the larger number of congregants since the inception of the church, one is actually desirous, in order to keep things decent and in order. When something does not have a Bible name, we are free to call it what we will.

Look at Ephesians 5:19. People want to say “ψάλλω” (psallo) in the Greek means “play.” Of course, “ψάλλω” means “play!” At the same time, though, you must be made aware of the portion of scripture denominationalists omit. God can effectively communicate with us in our own language? This means that He uses all of the rules of language, or He would be the author of confusion, and we know He is not (1st Corinthians 14:33). This will include all verb tenses, etc. Yes, verb tenses are a part of Scripture, and they cannot be omitted or changed! Well He did speak in a manner we can understand, if we want to do so! This particular form of “ψάλλω” has a verb tense which absolutely demands the instrument be named. People say God did not name an instrument; therefore they think they are free to choose one of their own devices. Did God name an instrument? Why sure! He named the heart (not the harp). The passage literally translates to, “Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and pluck the strings of your heart.” To do anything else is to add to His Word, expressly condemned in Galatians 1:8-9. People who refuse to accept this simply do not want to understand! People who refuse to accept this really do not care what God says! The Word of God here offends many. People get defensive and come up with, “Well, David played a harp!” AMEN, DAVID PLAYED A HARP! David also had animal sacrifice as part of his commanded worship. To use this defense demands animal sacrifice be used by people wanting David’s support for instruments. They are not willing to do this. Why? That Law (Old Testament) was nailed to the cross (Colossians 2:14)! Therefore, if there are mechanical instruments there, it cannot possibly be the church to be saved by Jesus at His return, but rather a counterfeit not planted by God to be rooted up at that time, and cast into the fire.

To force any other instrument into the context than the one named (the human heart) would be the equivalent of adding hamburgers and cokes to the altar for communion. We have no authority for either, therefore, we can do neither. Also, the grammatical construct of Ephesians 5:19 demands that all people use the same instrument. Scripture names the human heart as that instrument. If it was even possible to force another instrument into that passage (and it isn’t) then only the people playing the instrument would be free from sin. Everyone sitting in the audience and NOT playing would be in sin!

You see, when all of the Scripture is considered, rather than approaching it cafeteria style, the Bible DOES forbid mechanical instruments in worship. This is why the church teaches so. You must understand, there are some imposters who claim to be churches of Christ, but they are not. They are no more congregations of the church than the denominations. In fact, these usually believe they are another denomination. Some of these do not understand the Scripture. They fail to examine it all, and think it is simply a tradition. I am sorry, but singing “A Cappella” is the original, and the instruments are the tradition, and a faulty and spiritually deadly one at that.

For a video sermon of mine proving that denominationalists voluntarily condemn themselves, please copy and paste the following URL into another browser window:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=9118840870056918783

The Bible does not say that mechanical instruments will be used in Heaven; not even the harp. In fact, it says just the opposite. You must realize that neither moth nor rust will be able to corrupt anything that is in Heaven (Matthew 6:20). That is why our bodies must be changed at the resurrection (1st Corinthians 15:52). There will be nothing physical in Heaven. Everything there will be spiritual in nature. People run to Revelation 5:8 for proof once the Old Testament is proven to be no authority. To use it as proof of instruments, either in Heaven or in the church on earth, is to remove the text from its context. Any text without its context is a pretext. The Bible does not say instruments will be used in Heaven. The Bible says that Heaven will be so beautiful that it cannot be described completely. To give us the smallest of tastes, something physical is shown as an allegory of something that cannot truly be explained.

Here is a passage that returns Revelation 5:8 to its proper context, and disallows its use as a justification for mechanical instruments.

Revelation 1:1, “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:”

“Signified” is the past tense, verb form, of the noun “sign.” This means the things shown in Revelation are “signs” or figures, and are not to represent actual events. Why did John have to write like this? He was in exile by the Roman government, on Patmos. He had a message of warning for the first century churches involving the Roman government, and the coming corruption it would bring to the church because of their weakened condition (the seven churches of Asia, of which only one would spiritually survive intact). The message had to get out. Rome would censor it if he let them understand.

Did you see that? The book of Revelation is a book of “signs,” or in other words, the book is written in figurative language. To take any one thing, like instruments, out of the book to make it literal instead of figurative is ludicrous; the absolute height of fallacy.  Harps will not be in Heaven. God demands the “fruit of our lips,” not the fruit of our fingers, for His praise (Hebrews 13:15).

To claim that instruments are authorized in worship because they are allowed in our private lives is a specious argument at best. It is truly fraudulent when you see how it is disproven. It is an argument given by people who are not yet ready to admit they are wrong and that they are lost and doomed non-Christians. Sex is not only authorized between husbands and wives, it is even commended as long as it is kept in private (c.f., Hebrews 13:4 and 1st Corinthians 7:1-5). You are allowed to have sex with a spouse. You cannot even withhold it from your spouse. You just cant do so in the middle of worship. Moreover, I suspect that you would not even participate in such within the church's building, even if you were alone and knew that you would not be interrupted.

It is proven beyond any doubt to the honest seeker of truth. If groups use an instrument, they are not the church of the New Testament. They are imposters, and will be cast into the fire at the judgment. Are you ready to leave your idolatrous religion and finally become a Christian? If you need assistance finding a congregation near to you that will assist you, just let me know. I will be more than happy to steal another soul from Satan and start them on a path of service to God.

In His Service,
Marvin Howard
http://www.geocities.com/preacherman_1962
http://360.yahoo.com/preacherman_1962

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: marvin

thx for attempting to answer me
here is the words of Ephesians 5:19 from a New Testament Greek Lexicon

Speaking; Laleo; (to utter a voice or emit a sound)

yourselves; Heautou; (himself, herself, itself, themselves)

psalms; Psalmos; (a striking, twanging of a striking the chords of a musical instrument)

and; Kai; (and, also)

hymns; Humnos; (a sacred song, hymn)

and; Kai; (and, also)

spiritual; Pneumatikos; (relating to the human spirit, or rational soul)

songs; Ode; (a song, lay, ode)

singing; Ado: (to the praise of anyone, to sing)

and; Kai; (and, also)

melody; Psallo; (to pluck off, pull out to cause to vibrate by touching, to twang to touch or strike the chord, to twang the strings of a musical instrument so that they gently vibrate to play on a stringed instrument, to play, the harp, etc.)

in; En; (in, by, with)

your; Humon; (of yours)

heart; Kardia; (the center and seat of spiritual life)

Lord; Kurios; (he to whom a person or thing belongs, about which he has power of deciding; master, lord; this title is given to: God, the
Messiah)

even this verse in the greek does not specifically prohibit musical instruments
can you please give one Scripture that specifically does prohibit them

you also said...

That Law (Old Testament) was nailed to the cross (Colossians 2:14)! Therefore, if there are mechanical instruments there, it cannot possibly be the church to be saved...

this is a specious argument
if this is true then we should not pray because the OT had prayer
if this is true then we should not sing because the OT had singing
ect...

also, do you as a coc member read the OT Scriptures and or preach from them

if so what specific parts are acceptable to you and which specific parts are not

thx
g

Answer
Hi!

I attempted nothing. I gave you an exact answer. I did not equivocate or invent any part of it. You even agreed with me on part of my answer, and ignored the rest so you could jump to a false conclusion (proving you are merely a lost denominationalist by doing what I said they do). I told you ψάλλω meant play. I told you more, but in essence, you in turn told me, “No, ψάλλω doesn’t mean play an instrument, it means play an instrument.”  Go back and read my previous answer again. Most people have little knowledge of the Greek language, and I didn’t want to lose you in the details, so I barely touched the subject; giving you the conclusion without the supporting data. However, since you obviously know more of the Greek than I guessed, albeit very little more, I will give you the rest of the information your teachers refuse to give.

Here is the parsing code for ψάλλω: V-PAP-NPM. Ψάλλω is present tense and active voice, with an imperative, participial mood. Ψάλλω is nominative in case, plural in tense, and masculine in gender.

Being a present tense verb (but not perfect tense which would apply to a one time action), ψάλλω is valid each time one engages in the action of the predicate. The active voice ties this verb directly to a specific means of fulfilling the action; in this instance a specific, named instrument. The mood is an imperative (command), and requires a participle’s conjugation (which in turn requires a case, tense, and gender).

A nominative case verb has nothing to do with the main clause (subject and predicate) of the sentence but ψάλλω is rather setting up the circumstance for the sentence’s meaning; describing how the subject and predicate work together. The main clause of this passage is, “Speaking to yourselves in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.” Since you have been hoodwinked to think you can find authority for mechanical instruments in there, as well, I will deal with this in a moment. Ψάλλω is plural. Since ψάλλω is both plural and imperative, all are commanded to ψάλλω each time there is music. If ψάλλω applies to a piano, harp, or any other stringed, mechanical instrument, and it is already proven to apply to all worshipers, then all must play that specific instrument or be in violation of the imperative. This same principle even prohibits choirs! All must sing. Greek is not like the Latin in that everything is either masculine of feminine. If this ψάλλω applied to mechanical instruments, the gender would be neuter. Since the gender is masculine, you can rest assured this speaks of people: and masculine gender can apply to both males and females when used in the plural, as is the case with the word, “mankind.”

Now, let’s turn our attention to the main clause; specifically the subject noun, ψαλμός (psalms). Here is the parsing code for ψαλμός: N-DPM. It is a noun, dative case, plural, and masculine gender.

The dative case, in this instance, is specifically “dativus instrumenti.” This simply means that the means to complete the predicate action is given; i.e., “speaking.”

Why is it plural I believe you already know, and that it is masculine (being the teachings of David, a male) is not germane to this discussion.

You gave Joseph Thayer’s definition because it matched your doctrine, but here is the one given by James Strong:

“A set piece of music, that is, a sacred ode (accompanied with the voice, harp or other instrument; a “psalm”); collectively the book of the Psalms: - psalm.”

The given conjunction is “or,” not “and.” Since the voice is counted as an instrument (see the meaning of the word “other”), mechanical instruments are not required. The voice, alone, is an acceptable option. If definitions are different or conflict with each other (or could), it is up to us to determine correctly which option is the truth of God’s Word, and which is a lie. We must use context. We must not violate other passages of Scripture. We must respect the authority of Scripture. We must examine the principles found elsewhere.

This is speaking of a worship setting. Let us look at another worship setting to see what is expected by God. Leviticus 16:11-13 firmly declares that the priests were to take fire from the altar of burnt offering for use in burning the incense. This was the command. God is not unjust. He will not punish someone for what He has not told them. He will punish someone for violating what He has told them. Do we ever see this command violated? We do. Even though the recording of the offense occurs before the recording of the command, we know by the justice of God the command was given prior to the offense by the punishment of the violation.

Leviticus 10:1-3, “And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the LORD, which he commanded them not. And there went out fire from the LORD, and devoured them, and they died before the LORD. Then Moses said unto Aaron, This is it that the LORD spoke, saying, I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me, and before all the people I will be glorified. And Aaron held his peace.”

Fire is fire, right? Wrong! God said differently. Music is music, right? Wrong! God said differently. God commanded that fire for the incense be specifically from the altar. Likewise, God commanded a specific type of music to be used (singing). Nadab and Abihu had your attitude. “Other fire is not forbidden, so it is acceptable.” For you, it is, “Other music is not forbidden, so it must be acceptable.” Even if it must wait for the judgment for you to be consumed, you will be in the fire as assuredly as were Nadab and Abihu. Messing with God’s commands for worship is a serious business.

Hebrews 13:15-16, “By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.”

I said before, we are commanded to give the fruit of our lips as our praise. Giving the fruit of our fingers is strange fruit, and is thus condemned. God could leave it at this and it be sufficient for us. However, God even gives us a glimpse as to why instruments are forbidden under the New Covenant.

Our singing is instructive according to Colossians 3:16, which is a parallel to Ephesians 5:19. Our teaching must be clear and understandable if it to be of any use to the students. Does God say anything about mechanical instruments and teaching? 1st Corinthians 13:1 speaks of teaching. Paul said that if teaching was not understood, it was the equivalent of some instruments. In other words, instruments prevent a clear understanding of the intended message. Instruments have been employed to hide false doctrine from unsuspecting students in many songs.

If your definition of either ψάλλω or ψαλμός is valid, tell me which of your religion is a follower of God’s commands by playing, and who is rebellious by not playing? I can safely guarantee you that if more than one participates in this sinful activity, there are very few. You CANNOT dismiss this as you do in order to cling to a false and damnable doctrine. You are subverting and twisting the Scripture to your own destruction.

Just as Leviticus 16:11-13 forbade the use of any fire other than that commanded, so Ephesians 5:19 DOES forbid the use of mechanical instruments. Moreover, according to Ephesians 5:19, the Psalms were to be spoken, not played. In fact, this is even more visible to us than was the difference used by Nadab and Abihu. Their fire looked like God's fire. Your music souds completely different from His. If you refuse to accept this, it will be between you and God when He sends you to Hell at the judgment, for I have told you the truth.

Furthermore, musically speaking, your religion has departed from the idea even of its founding father(s).

“I have no objection to the organ in our chapel, provided it is neither seen nor heard.” - John Wesley

Wesley is not alone in his sentiments. Additionally, Luther, Calvin, Spurgeon, and Zwingli were all opposed to the use of instruments. They all said it differently, but cited the same, two reasons for excluding it; a lack of Scriptural authority, and that it was not used in early church history.

For your further study of the history of instruments in worship, I offer the following web addresses in support of my declaration:

http://www.swrb.com/newslett/actualNLs/instcalv.htm

http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/Brad_Haugaard/garfield.htm

http://www.qhcoc.org/q_and_a/music_01.html

Moreover, I have posted sermons in the past demonstrating the proper use of music in worship. They may be located at the following URL’s:

http://www.geocities.com/braswellcoc1/archive2.html

http://www.geocities.com/braswellcoc1/archive25.html

Now, let us see about the other points you decry. Read all of this before you think me a heretic. The phraseology is basically yours, but I will use it to make a point. Prayer is in the Old Testament. Should we use it because it is? No! Singing is in the Old Testament. Should we use it because it is? No! Instruments are in the Old Testament. Should we use them because they are? No! HOWEVER, Prayer is in the New Testament. Should we use it because it is? Yes! Singing is in the New Testament. Should we use it because it is? Yes! Instruments are EXCLUDED from the New Testament. Can we include them since they are not? No!

Everything that we are to do today is in the New Testament. If it was also in the Old Testament, so be it. This brings us to your last point. Does this mean that the Old Testament is not acceptable? You do err, using the wrong term to accuse Christians falsely.

The Old Testament is Scripture. It is inspired of God. 2nd Timothy 3:16 tells us that it is still profitable. We may use it to learn how God views things, as He didn’t change. Galatians 3:15-16 shows us the remaining purpose of the Old Law; it is a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. For example, we could no nothing of the need of Christ’s sacrifice without understanding the implementation and practice of animal sacrifice as portrayed in the Mosaic Covenant.

I preach from the Old Testament with a good deal of regularity. It is acceptable. It is profitable. It is instructive. However, none of it is authoritative, and it cannot be cited as the reason for doing anything religiously.

James 2:10, “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.”

We must rightly divide the Scripture (2nd Timothy 2:15). The primary division, and the most important of all that we must make, is that which exists between the Old and New Testaments. It is there for a reason. If you want to keep the instruments of the Old Testament, then you must keep the entire Old Testament. This means you do not have the Blood of Christ to cover your sins; you are still trying to make do with the blood of bulls and goats (Hebrews 10:4), which serves no further purpose. The only way to have Christ’s sacrifice be of any efficacy is to remove the Old Testament as the authority for anything you do. Learn of God there, but not of your responsibility.

I will make this plea one final time. Will you not leave your idolatrous, false religion and become a Christian for the first time in your life? To remain in your religion will cause you so much torment. To become and remain a Christian will replace that misery with Heaven.

In His Service,
Marvin Howard
http://www.geocities.com/preacherman_1962
http://360.yahoo.com/preacherman_1962