霍顿论敬拜3：改革教会音乐Reforming Church Music Part 3 of a 6-part series onWorship
作者：Michael S. Horton 译者: http://web.archive.org/web/19991009151720/www.alliancenet.org/radio/whi/commentaries/whi.com.msh.wor3.html
著名的耶鲁大学历史学家帕利坎（Jaroslav Pelikan）曾经说过：“改教家们的上帝，启发了无数威严、有力、完美的艺术作品。” 哥伦比亚大学的赖斯（Eugene F. Rice）教授也说过：“预定论和赦罪的恩典，这两个教义展现出世俗的想象力与16世纪对上帝威严的痴醉之间的差距。我们只能用历史的同情，来试着理解那个有着最敏感智慧的时代，在放弃自我、拥抱上帝全能的过程中，如何找到完全的释放。
当然了，我们不需要诉诸于历史的同情。毕竟，巴赫、亨德尔、门德尔松、伦勃朗、弗美尔、帕斯卡等人，以及现代世界的诸多伟大的学者，都有对上帝的信仰和异象，这信仰和异象今天仍与我们同在。它是不灭的宝藏，等待着，被另一代愿意在上帝启示的话语中探索它的人所发现。它曾涌动在诗篇作者的思想、心灵和想象力中，也曾给沮丧的耶利米带来希望。以赛亚欢呼，眺望远方，看见这异象，最后，施洗约翰宣告这异象说：“看哪，上帝的羔羊，洗净世界的罪。”使徒保罗常为了坚守教义而激动不已，甚至在讨论中常常偏离主题，停下来感恩、敬拜、赞美。解释过拣选、呼召、称义和成圣后，保罗说道：“既是这样，还有什么说的呢？上帝若帮助我们，谁能敌挡我们呢？（罗8：31）”换句话来说，这句经文有这样的含义：上帝的子民当敬拜、赞美、崇敬和喜乐，屈膝在上帝的面前。
这就是为何诗篇作者吟唱道：“我心里涌出美辞。”（诗45）看到了吗？情绪是你努力也强求不来的。它是那激动人心的宣告，那振奋人心的好消息所产生的结果，这消息让我们开始回应，我们的内心和身体是跟随我们的思想的。保罗也叫我们更新思想，因为“他心怎样思量，他为人就是怎样（箴23：7）”。
“神学”，这个词让很多人害怕地避而远之，但其本身含义只是“研究上帝的学科”。你是否常常看到圣经邀请你来学习和默想上帝的属性和作为呢？整个诗篇都是对神的默想。如果你只想在圣经中寻找到快乐生活的方法或暗示，那你永不能体会到上帝启示中蕴藏的丰富和深度。这是一卷关于上帝的书，不是关于我们的。这是关于上帝通过耶稣基督的道成肉身和在地上的工作，做成了什么，正在做什么，即将做什么；而不是你我靠着敬虔和属灵经历，做成了什么，正在做什么，即将做什么。
我为什么在一篇关于敬拜的文章中提出这一点呢？答案非常简单，我想让每一个人都能看到，是圣经中所记录的内容决定了公共敬拜的方式，而不是你个人的属灵经历的内容。
宗教改革就是恢复了这种以上帝为中心的观点。在《尼希米记》中，我们可以看到，以色列人重新发现了上帝的话语，众民就都侧耳而听上帝的训诲和教导，从白天一直到晚上。宗教改革几个世纪之后，美国大觉醒时期也有这样的景象。
18世纪中期，乔治·怀特菲尔德（George Whitefield）、爱德华兹（Jonathan Edwards）等人，开始用非常简单的信息在教堂和户外讲道。这就是上帝的异象和祂在基督里的恩典。人唯独靠恩典，唯独靠信靠基督来称义，他们的讲道中全是这样的内容，还有上帝的愤怒和恩慈、他的拣选、人类身为被造物的最终结局。这些向来都是最重要的问题，如果教会不为下一代来恢复这笔财富，那教会就什么都不是。忘记上帝的那一代人，看过这些伟大的圣经经文后，重新悔罪并仰望耶稣，寻求救赎。这样做带来的影响非常巨大：除了大复兴以外，圣经神学被恢复，家庭里唱起诗篇、背诵教义，耶鲁大学、普林斯顿大学、达特茅斯学院、罗格斯大学也在此时被建立起来。
然而，我们今天似乎不再像以前那样影响社会了，只能引起文化的冲突。为什么会这样呢？我们比生活在宗教改革时期和大觉醒年代的人们对社会活动更感兴趣，可为什么人们对上帝如此冷漠，甚至在教会里也是如此呢？不得不承认，因为真正对上帝的敬拜太少了，我们没有传讲律法和福音，也没有传讲上帝在基督里所彰显的属性和作为。
第二次大觉醒是导致这种情况的原因之一。与第一次大觉醒不同，第二次大觉醒从“以上帝为中心”的“宗教改革神学思想”，转变为“以人为中心”的亚米念主义。当时有这样的神学思想：若传道者能找到正确的方法，被传的人有天然的力量来决定自己是否要信靠耶稣。这深深地影响了当时的人们。芬尼（Charles Finney），是一位19世纪中期的布道家，他曾经说过信仰是人的工作而非神的工作，全然败坏、上帝的拣选、基督的代赎、人称义唯独靠恩典唯独凭信心、童女生子等等，这样的教义都应随历史而被淘汰。芬尼称之为“新标准” (New Measures)，也是众所周知的“奋兴”。他曾说，布道者必须足够兴奋，才能促使一个人悔改和转变，芬尼非常坚持这一点。
在当时，这个本质实为异教的传道方法，只是偶尔才会出现，而教会时不时会用一下，但也会有一篇相对符合圣经的有关上帝和福音的讲道，并且敬拜的形式和风格也与信息相符。但最终，复兴运动还是把主日敬拜改变了，结果每次主日敬拜都沦为一次奋兴布道会。
教会成为“顾客至上”（seeker-sensitive），教会的使命就是非信徒自己认为的需求(felt needs)，这样的状况并非最近才出现。它根植于复兴运动的传统，完全不同于过去的以上帝为中心，宣讲基督的，有实在内容的改革运动。
崇拜音乐比较
目的
宗教改革时期: 通过讲述救赎历史的故事，带领会众赞美和感恩。
19-20世纪复兴运动: 19世纪：通过令人“兴奋”来唤起会众赞美的体验。
20世纪：娱乐对教义不感兴趣的会众。
内容
宗教改革时期: 上帝，在基督里通过信心（知识、认同和信任）被会众所理解。 换句话说，内容是上帝在整个历史中对他教会的信实。
19-20世纪复兴运动: 信徒个人对上帝的信实和敬虔，在情感体验中经历。
深度
宗教改革时期: 决定于圣经启示的深度（用圣经解释人的存在，也就是说，对上帝的情感塑造了音乐，这些情感包括：爱慕和敬畏，顺服和恼怒失望，喜乐和悲伤，欢愉和苦难）。
19-20世纪复兴运动: 决定于个人经历的深度（单一地着重于喜乐和胜利）。
质量
宗教改革时期: 音乐质量和品质持久，基督徒和非基督都给与极高评价。
19-20世纪复兴运动: 瞬时更新，对基督徒和非基督徒来说，则是不断重复又乏味的音乐。（我们在20世纪对《奇异恩典》这首歌的贡献就是加上“赞美上帝”这句歌词，然后无限循环这一句。）
宗教改革赞美诗举例
16世纪宗教改革的礼拜仪式反映了“改革”的愿望，而不是消除过去1500年来教会在敬拜中的表达。成为“圣洁、大公、使徒的教会”和“圣徒相通”之中的一份子，意味着敬拜不只是我们与此时此地相联，也是把我们自己联于上帝子民的整个历史。整个教会都在歌唱和赞美上帝，不论是在地上或在天上。为此，现代的路德宗和改革宗的赞美诗里包括了那些可以追溯到最早期基督徒的敬拜音乐。崇拜内容的中心由其蕴含的教义来突出：例如，在《三一赞美诗集》中，赞美诗的排列是根据教义列出，而不是根据标题列出。我们通过上帝的作为来认识祂，而不是通过个人的经历。这就是诗篇不断颂扬上帝之作为的原因。很多时候，在当代赞美音乐使用诗篇时，诗篇里人对上帝的回应被纳入，但诗篇里重复颂扬上帝工作的部分则被排除在外。
瓦茨(Isaac Watts)，《流血歌》：“嗟乎，我主为何流血？为何忍受死亡？为何甘为卑微的我，遍历痛苦哀伤？救主忍痛十架之上，果真为我罪愆？大哉慈悲！奇哉怜悯！广哉主爱无边！故当十架显现我前，我亦羞惭掩面，我心熔化，热烈感谢，悲伤涕泪流连。纵使流尽伤心之泪，难尝爱之心债，我惟向主奉献身心，稍报恩深如海。”
波纳(Horatius Bonar)《非我手所能做》: “并非我手所做，能拯救我灵魂；并非我的刻苦己身，能使我灵完整。并非感觉行为，使我与神和好；我祈祷叹息和眼泪，不能担我罪重。唯独你的大工，可除去我罪孽；真神羔羊，你的宝血，能给我心安宁。哦神对我的爱，非我对你的爱，能救拔我脱离黑暗，使我灵魂自由。”
复兴运动赞美诗举例
这些诗歌是关于“我”的，而不是关于基督的。当讲到基督的时候，都是祂在我身上做什么，我现在如何经历到祂，只有很少一部分是祂在我们身上的计划和作为。甚至那些关于十字架的诗歌，也反映出道德影响代赎论（moral influence
theory）的影响：“我爱慕亲爱的救主，当我想起他从天降下的爱，我就爱慕我的救主。”再如《有福的确据》：完全的顺服，完全甘甜，被提的景象，显在眼前；似乎有声音，从天而來，细說主怜悯，柔述主爱。完全的顺服，完全安息，与主时交通，何等福气；警醒且等候，仰望主來，充满主甘甜，浸透主爱。有些赞美诗的标题就能体现出“个人中心”的主题，例如《我奉献所有》，这些都足以让我们警觉。以下是更多例子：
《自耶稣来住在我心》（Since Jesus Came Into My Heart）：“我流荡已停止，永不再入迷途，自耶稣来住在我心，不再有众疑虑如黑云遮我路。”
《事奉耶稣蒙福》（It Pays To Serve Jesus）：“有时走天堂窄路，或会有凄楚，你在主里，一路必蒙福。”
《与我相交》（Commune With Me）： “与我相交，在基路伯翅膀隐秘处，我敬拜你……与你相会，在基路伯翅膀隐秘处。 ”
《在这个时刻》（In Moments Like These）： “在这个时刻，我向主歌唱，唱出一首爱的诗歌。”
Reforming Church Music
Part 3 of a 6-part series on
Worship
Michael
S. Horton
©1995
Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals
In
the words of the distinguished Yale historian Jaroslav Pelikan, "the God
of the Reformers inspired artistic works of enormous majesty, power and
perfection." Columbia University professor Eugene F. Rice adds: "The
doctrines of God's predestination and pardoning mercy measures the gulf between
the secular imagination and the 16th century's intoxication with the majesty of
God. We can only exercise historical sympathy to try to understand how it was
that an entire epoch of the world's most sensitive intelligences found a
complete, a total, liberation in abandoning themselves to the omnipotence of
God."
But
of course, we don't have to resort to mere historical sympathy. After all, the
convictions and vision of God that inspired Bach, Handel, Mendelssohn,
Rembrandt, Vermeer, Pascal, and founded so many of the great academies of the
modern world is still with us. It is the same undiminished treasure, waiting to
be discovered by another generation that is willing to explore it in God's
revealed Word. It is the same theological orientation that pulsates through the
mind, heart, and imagination of the Psalmist and gives hope to the despondent
Jeremiah. Isaiah is cheered, looking off into the distance, to see this vision
and, at last, the Baptist announces, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes
away the sin of the world!" The apostle Paul gets so worked up over
doctrine that it often leads him to detours from his original topic, in order
to offer up thanksgiving, worship, and praise. After explaining our election,
calling, justification, and glorification, Paul exclaims, "What shall we
say then in response to all of this? If God is for us, who can be against
us?" In other words, the doctrinal explanation had a point: It was to
bring God's people low before their God in worship, praise, reverence and
delight.
That
is why the Psalmist rhapsodizes, "My heart overflows with a noble
theme." You see, emotion is something you can't just work up. It is the
effect of a stirring announcement, a report of a tragedy, a piece of good
news--these things cause us to respond and our hearts and bodies follow our
thoughts. This is why Paul calls us to the renewing of our minds, for "as
a man thinks in his heart, so is he."
Theology
is a word that scares a lot of people off, but that word simply means "the
study of God." How often do we find invitations in Scripture to study and
meditate on God's attributes and works? The entire book of Psalms is just such
a studied meditation, and those who come to the Bible looking for helpful hints
for happy living will never be able to make sense of the richness and depth of
divine revelation. It is a book about God, not about us. It is about what God
has done, is doing, and will do, through the person and work of Christ, not
about what you and I have done, are doing, and will do, through our own piety
and spiritual experiences.
Why
am I making this point on a program about worship? Simply because I want us to
see that it is the content of the biblical record, and not the content of your
own personal spiritual odyssey, that should shape the communal worship of God.
The
Reformation was simply one great recovery of this God-centered perspective. We
find it also in Nehemiah, where the Word of God is rediscovered and the people
demand that it be read and preached to them day and night. We see it in more
recent centuries, following the Reformation, in the Great Awakening here in
America.
In
the mid-18th century, George Whitefield, Jonathan Edwards, and many others
began to preach in churches and open fields and their message was very simple.
It was, once again, this vision of God and his grace in Christ that so baffles
the secular imagination today. Sermons on justification by grace alone through
faith alone because of Christ alone dominated the preaching, attended by
sermons on God's wrath and mercy, his electing grace, and the end for which
humanity was created. These have always been the great issues and no church is
worth anything that is not always recovering these riches for a new generation.
As a result of opening up these great biblical texts again, a generation that
had forgotten God repented and looked to Christ for redemption. The results
were broad-sweeping: Out of this great revival, with the recovery of that
biblical theology, families could be heard singing the Psalms and reciting the
catechism in their homes and out of it, Yale, Princeton, Dartmouth, and Rutgers
universities were founded.
But
today, we can't seem to produce very much in society except culture wars. And
why is this? Why is everyone so apathetic about God, even in our churches, even
though we are even more interested in running society than were these people of
the Reformation and the Great Awakening? We at CURE would submit that it is
because there is so little genuine worship of God, based on the preaching of
the Law and Gospel, and the great themes of God's attributes and works, most
clearly seen in the person and work of Christ.
That
is due, in part, to the effects of the Second Great Awakening. In sharp
contrast to the Great Awakening itself, the Second Awakening shifted from a
God-centered, Reformation theology to a human-centered, Arminian one. In fact,
nothing in theology really mattered, except for the belief that human beings
had the natural powers to convert themselves if the evangelist could just find
the right principle or technique that worked. Charles Finney, a mid-19th
century evangelist, said that religion is the work of man, not God, and that
the doctrines of total depravity, election, the substitutionary atonement of
Christ, justification by grace alone through faith alone, and the supernatural
nature of the new birth had to go. They interfered with the evangelist's plea
to the sinner to change his ways and clean up the country. Finney called these
"new measures," as they were known, "excitements." The evangelist,
he said, must produce excitements sufficient to cause a response of repentance
and conversion, Finney insisted.
At
least this essentially pagan evangelism only came to town every now and again
and the worship of the local churches often went on with somewhat biblical
sermons about God and the Gospel, with a form and style of worship that was
consistent with that message. Eventually, however, the revivalistic tradition
transformed even Sunday worship itself, so that every Sunday was an evangelistic
revival meeting.
This
focus, then, on being "seeker-sensitive" and directing the mission of
the churches to the "felt needs" of the unchurched, is not all that
recent. It is rooted in this revivalistic tradition, which turned very sharply
away from the God-centered, Christ-preaching, content-laden reformations and
awakenings of the past.
Worship
Music Contrasts
Its
Purpose
Reformation
Music: To lead the congregation in praise and thanksgiving by recounting the
drama of redemption
19th
Century Revivalism: To evoke an experience of praise by the use of
"excitements"
20th
Century Revivalism: To entertain those who are generally uninterested in
doctrine
Its
Object
Reformation
Music: God in Christ, apprehended through faith (knowledge, assent, and trust).
In other words, the faithfulness of God toward his whole church throughout
history.
19th-20th
Century Revivalism: The individual believer's piety and faithfulness toward
God, experienced through sentiment
Its
Depth
Reformation
Music: Determined by the depth of biblical revelation (human existence,
explained by Scripture, means that the music is shaped by the rich variety of
emotional responses to God: love and fear, obedience and angry disappointment,
joy and sadness, pleasure and pain).
19th-20th
Century Revivalism: Determined by the depth of one's own experience
(one-dimensional focus on joy and happiness, victory and triumph).
Its
Musical Quality
Reformation:
Enduring innovation, highly prized by Christian and non-Christian alike
Revivalism:
Fleeting innovation, repetitive and singularly unimpressive to Christians and
non-Christians with musical training. (Our 20th century contribution to Amazing
Grace is the verse, "Praise God," sung ad infinitum.)
Reformation
Hymnody
The
liturgies of the 16th century Reformation reflect the desire to reform, not
eliminate the previous 1500 years of the church's expression in worship. To be
part of "one holy, catholic, and apostolic church" and a
"communion of saints" means that worship not only has to be connected
to this time and place; it must connect us to the whole history of God's
people. The whole church sings and praises God, whether in heaven or on earth.
To that end, even the modern Lutheran and Reformed hymnals include, at the
beginning, hymns and sung responses that date back to the worship of the
earliest Christians. The centrality of the content is highlighted by the fact
that, for instance, in The Trinity Hymnal, the hymns are listed according to
doctrine, not according to the title. God is known in his works, not in our
experience. That is why the Psalms recite God's works. Very often, in the
contemporary praise music that uses the Psalms, the part of the Psalm that is a
response is included, while the recitation of the works is excluded.
Examples
from Reformation Hymns
Josiah
Conder, 1836: "Tis not that I did choose thee, for Lord that could not be.
This heart would still refuse thee, hadst thou not chosen me"
Augustus
Toplady, 1770: "A debtor to mercy alone, of covenant mercy I sing; nor
fear, with thy righteousness on, my person and offering to bring. The terrors
of law and of God with me can have nothing to do; my Saviour's obedience and
blood hide all my transgressions from view." "Fountain of
never-ceasing grace, thy saints' exhaustless theme, great object of immortal
praise, essentially supreme; we bless thee for the glorious fruits thine
incarnation gives; the righteousness which grace imputes, and faith alone
receives."
Isaac
Watts: "Alas! And did my Saviour bleed, and did my Sovereign die! Would
devote that sacred head for such a worm as I! Was it for crimes that I had done
he groaned upon the tree! Amazing pity! Grace unknown! And love beyond degree!
Well might the sun in darkness hide, and shut his glories in, when Christ, the
mighty Maker, died for man the creature's sin. Thus might I hide my blushing
face while his dear cross appears; dissolve my heart in thankfulness, and melt
mine eyes in tears. But drops of grief can ne'er repay the debt of love I owe;
here, Lord, I give myself away, 'tis all that I can do." The Word and
sacraments, not our experience, communicate God's blessings: "There sup
with us in love divine; thy body and thy blood, that living bread, that
heavenly wine, be our immortal food!"
Horatius
Bonar, 1870: "Not what my hands have done can save my guilty soul; not
what my toiling flesh has borne can make my spirit whole. Not what I feel or
what I do can give me peace with God; not all my prayers and signs and tears
can bear my awful load. Thy work alone, O Christ, can ease this weight of sin;
thy blood alone, O Lamb of God, can give me peace within. Thy love for me, O
God, not mine, O Lord, for thee, can rid me of this dark unrest, and set my
spirit free." "Blessed Lord, in thee is refuge, safety for my
trembling soul...I, too, unbelieving, 'midst the tempest been, and my heart has
slowly trusted what my eyes have never seen."
Revivalistic
Hymns
As a
rule, they are about "me," not about Christ. And when they are about
Christ, they are about what he does in me and how I experience him right now,
only rarely about his objective work for us. Even the songs about the cross
reflect the moral influence theory of the atonement: "I love my Savior
dear. When I think of the love that brought him from above, I love him, my
Savior dear." Even "Blessed Assurance": "Perfect
submission, perfect delight; visions of rapture now burst on my sight. Angels
descending, bring from above, echoes of mercy, whispers of love. Perfect
submission, all is at rest, I and my Savior am happy and blessed. Watching and
waiting, looking above, filled with his goodness, lost in his love." Even
the titles of hymns such as "I Surrender All, " or "The Touch of
His Hand on Mine," should make us cautious. But here are a few more
examples:
On
The Mountain Top: "On the mountain top above the world below, where the
fruits of vict'ry in abundance grow. There the streams of blessings flow from
fountains of his grace. I've been on the mountaintop and seen his face."
Many of these hymns speak of seeing God and Jesus face-to-face, not just one day,
but right now, through a direct experience.
Deeper
and Deeper: "Into the heart of Jesus, deeper and deeper I go, seeking to
know the reason why he should love me so....Into the will of Jesus, deeper and
deeper I go, bowing in full surrender at his blessed feet....Into the cross of
Jesus, deeper and deeper I go, following through the garden, facing the dreaded
foe....Into the joy of Jesus, deeper and deeper I go, rising with soul
enraptured far from the world below...."
Just
Keep On Praying: "Pray till the light breaks through. Just keep on praying
till light breaks through. The Lord will answer you. Just keep on praying till
light breaks through."
Since
Jesus Came Into My Heart: "I have ceased from my wand'ring and going
astray, since Jesus came into my heart, and no dark clouds of doubt now my
pathway obscure."
It
Pays To Serve Jesus: "Tho the pathway to glory may sometimes be drear,
you'll be happy each step of the way."
May
God Depend on You?: "See, they come on sable pinions, come in strong Satanic
might,--powers come and dark dominions from the regions of the night. God
requires the brave and true; may he then depend on you?"
Live
In Sunshine: "This world is not a place for gloom, while sunshine lights
the morning sky, while blossoms store their sweet perfume, for everyone who
passes by. Then let not grief your heart beguile, meet every trouble with a
smile. Are any sad, go make them glad and live in sunshine all the while."
Commune
With Me: "Commune with me between the wings of cherubim. I worship
you...," and "I will meet you there, between the wings of
cherubim" (Maranatha Music).
In
Moments Like These: "...I sing out a song, I sing out a love song to
Jesus" (Maranatha Music).
