Christians and Hymns, part 4

Before delving further into Christian hymnody, I must thank Jeffrey O'Rourke for pointing out that my quotation from Origen in the last post was taken rather out of context. Origen is defending Christians against charges levelled by a pagan, Celsus, that they have some arcane Christian tongue for secret rituals. So Origen is not describing a particular worship service; rather he is saying that Christians sing and pray to God using their mother tongue - wherever they may be. There is no "Christian tongue"; God hears us no matter what tongue we use. He is delineating a principle, not a practice.

One thing that surprises me with early Christian worship is that singing praises does not appear in the list of things the first believers devoted themselves to in Acts 2:42, namely the apostles' teaching, the breaking of bread, fellowship, and prayers. The First Apology of Justin Martyr, dated c.155, describes a Christian worship service. The emphasis is on ritual (baptism / ablution and Holy Communion), not singing.

This all seems oddly at variance with the Apostle Paul's exhortation to address one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your hearts to the Lord [Ephesians 5:19]. A very musical response indeed! As with Origen, the context is primarily the believer's personal devotional life. But not exclusively: "addressing one another" can only mean a context of corporate worship.

We know that Jesus and the Twelve, before they went out to the Mount of Olives, sang a hymn [Mark 14:26]. But what, and how? Many Biblical scholars believe it would have been one of the so-called Hallel series in the Book of Psalms, consisting of Psalms 113 - 118. It was common practice among the Jews to chant these holy songs at the Passover table. Did they sing it responsively, their 'Rabbi' leading and the disciples responding? we shall never know.

In the next post, the early testimony of a Roman official gives us a few clues.