Many arguments have been put forward in Adventist literature attempting to exalt traditional Christian music structure for worship services and homes, and, conversely, to demonstrate the evils of contemporary Christian music structure. This article is an analysis of some arguments against the use of contemporary music.We believe that secular musical entertainment is of questionable benefit to Christians. Even so, Christians have traditionally chosen church and home music that, among other qualities, is entertaining. Is there a place for contemporary stylistic innovation in Christian music?

Here are twelve arguments which have been advanced by traditionalists against the use of contemporary music structure.

1. Entertaining music should be avoided

Samuele Bacchiocchi in his book The Christian and Rock Music praises the Gregorian chant as the ultimate musical avoidance of physical stimulation and worldly associations.

The Reformation gave a great impetus to new, interesting church music. In German countries, hymns gained rapid acceptance through the influence of Martin Luther. But people in English-speaking countries embraced the Psalter, a collection of Scripture songs like those sung in conservative Adventist circles today. These songs often have deficiencies in meter and good structure because Scripture was not translated to be sung. Isaac Watts, whose father was a minister, complained about the lack of beauty and symmetry in the songs of the Psalter. The elder Watts challenged his son to write something better. His songs met tremendous resistance from the traditionalists of his day. One critic wrote, "Mr. Watts exalts his poetry above Holy Writ." Yet today we sing his music and enjoy it.

2. Repetitive lyrics are "vain repetition"

Lyrics such as "bringing in the sheaves," "power in the blood," "whiter than snow," "alleluia," "trust and obey," "coming again," and other phrases that are repeated two or more times in each verse of commonly sung hymns, are repetitive lyrics. Repetition is a common element. So why complain if contemporary songs do the same?

3. Popular music is worldly

The most-recorded song of all time is "Amazing Grace." Does this make it evil? No?even though it has been recorded by Elvis Presley, adds emphasis on the third beat of each measure, and slurs syllables across measures?it is still a marvelous song. Why? Because it is the testimony of every sinner who has ever come to Christ.

4. Contemporary music causes harmful behavior changes

The behavioral psychologists seem to have convinced some Christians that our environment controls us. But when we attempt to blame environmental factors such as music for people's behavior, we abrogate our individual responsibility and ultimately seek an excuse for sin. Similar fear of being defiled by their environment led the Pharisees to make up their lexicon of purification rules. Jesus told them that it's not what comes from the outside but what comes from the inside that defiles humanity.

5. Music causes degeneration in society

All music is contemporary when it is written. Contemporary music today coexists with many social ills, but so did what is now classical music when it was the contemporary musical expression of its day. In truth, all music and art'secular or sacred?is affected by culture at the time it is created. Some art seems to be timeless in its relevance (i.e., Shakespeare, a good hymn, etc.), but other art is only relevant when set in the backdrop of its time.

The suggestion of traditionalists that contemporary music causes social problems should be countered with an examination of coexisting social problems and music in past eras. For instance, Ellen White wrote that the same social milieu which led to the French Revolution, during which what is now classical music was contemporary, would also prevail in the world at the end of time.[1]

6. Music causes harm to normal human physiology

People can lose their hearing if they listen to loud music and other sounds. A 1921 article in The Ladies Home Journal, "The Sin in Syncopation," claimed that science was in the process of proving that syncopated rhythms are harmful. This claim continues to be echoed with lines such as "there is a growing body of scientific evidence." But every carefully done scientific study attempting to support this hypothesis has failed.

We contacted Dr. Robert Zatorre, a McGill University researcher who runs one of the world's premier auditory neurophysiology laboratories. He replied; "I?ve never heard of the idea you mention, that ?modem? music interferes with cognition, emotion, etc. I know of no reputable researcher who has ever even suggested this. It sounds like pseudoscience to me?. This is not to say that music has no effects on emotion; clearly it does (or else it would likely not exist). We have done some experiments on this topic (see my web site [www.zlab.mcgill.ca] if you?re interested). But the notion that traditional music is somehow "safer" sounds, frankly, bizarre to me."[2]

Sounds must be considered in their cultural contexts. The sound of a train is not threatening unless there is danger of someone being hit by the train. A sound can have one effect in church and a completely different effect at a party (a bell or chime, for instance.) The sound of crying can mean opposite things depending on the context (ask one who cries at funerals and also weddings.)

7. Music harmfully alters natural body rhythms

Some Adventists have argued that the natural rhythm of the heart is loud-soft, loud-soft, and that contemporary syncopation (placing emphasis on beats other than the first beat in a measure) is harmful to the body and even to the soul because it is counter to this rhythm. But the natural rhythm of the heart is lub-DUB, lub-DUB. There is a rest after each contraction, so the rhythm is a syncopated 3/4 beat. We must ask, "What is the rhythm of the soul? Who measured the soul's rhythm and how did they do it?"

Rhythmic experimentation did not originate with jazz or rock ?n roll, or with hymnody, for that matter. But the writers of hymns were quite progressive rhythmically. Briefly leafing through the old Adventist hymnal, one finds the meters 2/2, 3/2, 4/2, 2/4, 3/4, 4/4, 6/4, 3/8, 6/8, 9/8. The first half of "A Mighty Fortress" is commonly played as if it were written in 5/4. This is very unusual timing. "I?ve Wandered Far Away From Home" has syncopated beats in fully half its measures. And if you?re looking for a really unconventional rhythm, try writing a song with the meter of "0 For a Thousand Tongues."

8. Contemporary rhythm casts evil spells

Is it reasonable for Christians to fear that they will be put under an evil spell by music's rhythm? Some traditionalists consider contemporary music as equivalent to voodoo music and likely to make listeners devil-possessed. But not everybody who hears voodoo music becomes devil-possessed. The belief that evil spirits can be controlled with music is essentially no different than a belief in voodoo.

9. Ellen White counseled Adventists against contemporary music structure

Ellen White simply tells us to choose good music, and she uses words like sweet, melodic, entrancing, pathos, power. She used the word "beautiful" to describe the music being played by a band in a beer garden![3] None of her descriptive words is structural, formulaic or quantifiable. Why do you suppose this is? It's because she's describing spiritual, aesthetic qualities that defy formulae and are experienced personally and subjectively. Different music will be given these same accolades by different people. After all, music is art and is very much dependent upon its cultural context and upon the perception of the one experiencing it. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Should some church members insist that they be allowed to define what beauty is for everyone else?

10. Ellen White counseled against dance
music structure

The first international dance craze was the waltz and was based upon classical music, which spread like wildfire through Europe and into the Americas. The waltz was written in 3/4 time, which is syncopated compared to 4/4 time. Ellen White, in one of her testimonies, decried the playing of waltz music. It was the dance music of the time. But was she condemning the waltz music structure? No. Some of our best-loved hymns are written in waltz time and tempo.

11. There is an inherent difference between sacred and secular music

Just within early Advent hymnody there are several direct musical quotes from various folk songs. In fact, an old favorite, "How Sweet Are the Tidings," is an obvious example. This hymn appeared in our first hymnal and is in our current one. It is set to the music of a popular ballad of that day titled "Bonny Eloise."

The story goes that Beethoven, when writing the Ninth Symphony, took a tune from a German tavern song, set it in the midst of huge orchestration, and attached it to a largely humanistic poem by Schiller "Ode to Joy". The music was later copied directly from Beethoven's Ninth and set to a new text by Dyke that we now sing as "Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee." This very important hymn tune began in a secular environment and moved into the realm of the sacred without the consent of its composer. To this day one can experience this masterpiece in the secular concert hall or in the sacred halls of churches throughout the world.

12. Style is the end-time distinction between false and true worship

Some Adventist literature compare the difference between charismatic worship and traditional Adventist worship to the difference between the sacrifices of Cain and Abel. But did God really reject Cain's sacrifice because it was offered in the wrong style? The sacrifices were identical in style. Cain's sacrifice omitted the only legitimate focus of worship'the lamb?in defiance of God's requirement. We believe the difference between false and true religion is not style but obedience to God.

Discussion

A great deal has been written about Christian music. A lot of it, as evidenced above, is questionable. Ellen White tells us that speculation upon ideas that are not clearly substantiated in the Bible is "dangerous business."[4] Ellen White says that dwelling on "side issues" that are not found in the teachings of Christ will hurt us spiritually.[5] (And Christ's teaching on the subject of music was confined to telling the traditionalists of his day that he would not instruct his followers to stop their disturbing praise service. (Luke 19:36-40).

Ellen White's writings give us some guidelines for weeding out objectionable worship music,
traditional or contemporary.

1) We are instructed to avoid "display."[6] Display tends to refocus the attention of the listener from the message in the music to the musician him/herself.

2) Lyrics need to be clearly presented and easily understood.[7] Ellen White specifically insisted that song lyrics should be easy to understand.

3) Music needs to be sweet and melodic.[8] Say goodbye to the Gregorian chant, rap and hard rock.

4) The musicians need to be converted men and women singing and playing from hearts which are thrilled by the love of Christ.[9]

5) Our music should have beauty, pathos, and power. It should add interest to our meetings.[10] We agree with Sister White that there is no room for nonentertaining, noncaptivating, noninspiring music in our worship.

In 1904 Ellen White wrote about inappropriate instrumentally accompanied church singing when members of the Indiana Conference became caught up in the holy flesh movement. They used an organ, flutes, horns, tambourines, violins and a big bass drum. They played and sang at a high volume mixed with shouting and physical demonstrations. One observer said he would not have been able to hear anything over the noise except for the shrieks of the insane.[11] Conservative Adventists today cite this passage as a reason to ban some of these instruments (drums and tambourines) from church services or as a reason to outlaw contemporary music. S.N. Haskell told Ellen White that it was very much like a Salvation Army band. She did not have anything derogatory to say about the Salvation Army and, in fact, told Adventists not to condemn their methods nor attempt to discourage them in any way. So, it appears that her testimony against this music was not directly aimed at the music but the fanaticism.

S.N. Haskell, who was working in New York as a door-to-door evangelist once complained to Ellen White about a rather flamboyant evangelist who was attracting New Yorkers to a crusade by parading through town with a painted wagon and ringing a big bell. Her response was essentially, "Let him do it his way and you do it your way? each of you will reach a class of people that the other is unable to reach."[12]

Conclusion

Contemporary music structure may not deserve the label of "evil" that many have proclaimed. Worship is a deeply personal issue. It is an intimate expression of adoration and thanks to our Creator and Savior. It is expressed privately and corporately. Each individual and congregation must be true in its worship of God. Some congregations will experience true worship in the hymns of old, others will find it in more contemporary expression, and yet others will find a happy middle ground. The point is that anyone worshipping and praising God from the heart should be encouraged, not condemned.

"God's workmen must be many-sided men; that is, they must have breadth of character, not be one-idea men, stereotyped in one manner of working, getting into a groove, and being unable to see and sense that their words and their advocacy of truth must vary with the class of people they are among, and the circumstances they have to meet."[13] We believe the principle expressed here applies to music ministry as well as to ministry in word. This is good advice for both contemporary and traditional musicians. We encourage sincerity and enthusiasm in worship. If you?re looking for "that old-time religion," we encourage you to read the last five chapters of Psalms to get an idea of an Old Testament praise service. David was a man after God's own heart. We pray that each Adventist Christian will be, too.

1. White, Ellen G Maranatha, p. 146
2. Zatorre, Robert. Email Thursday, September 7, 2000
3. White, Ellen G. Manuscript Releases Vol. 5, p. 194
4. White, Ellen G. Selected Messages Book 1, p. 181
5. White, Ellen G. Selected Messages Book 3, p. 415
6. White, Ellen G. Testimonies for the Church Vol. 9, p. 143
7. White, Ellen G. Reflecting Christ, p. 255
8. White, Ellen G. The Voice in Speech and Song, p. 444
9. White, Ellen G. Evangelism, p. 510
10. White, Ellen G. The Voice in Speech and Song, p 415
11. White, Ellen G. Manuscript Releases, Vol. 2, p. 37
12. White, Ellen G. Manuscript Releases Vol. 6, pp. 239, 240
13. White, Ellen G. Testimonies to Southern Africa, p. 17