John Calvin’s Theology of Music: An Introduction
Part TWO
by N. Seth Nelson for In Covenant (newsletter of Covenant OPC)
This is the second half of a short series introducing Calvin’s theology of music which began in the September edition of In Covenant.[1] In that issue, it is evident that Calvin values music highly both in general and in church, both for its utility and for its beauty. As a pastor, Calvin’s first priority was ministering to the church of Christ. It is therefore not surprising to find that Calvin has much to say about music and how it should sound in the worship of God.
Music in Church (Continued)
Calvin emphasizes that only through Christ can our songs be pleasing to God.
Conscious of his unworthiness to offer to God so precious a sacrifice, he humbly prays, (verse 34,) that the praises which he will sing to God may be acceptable to him, although they proceed from polluted lips…the prophet with good reason betakes himself to the goodness of God, and on this ground alone pleads that He would accept his song of praise. Accordingly, the Apostle, in Hebrews 13:15, teaches that our sacrifices of thanksgiving are well pleasing to God, when they are offered to him through Christ.
Therefore, even though all men are obliged to sing God’s praises, Calvin says, “we can neither praise God nor call upon him, till he reveal himself to us, and give a taste of his goodness, that we may entertain hope and confident expectation of life.” Based on this, Calvin interprets all prophecies that other nations will sing God’s praises to refer to the grafting in of the Gentiles: “Sing unto Jehovah a new song. This commencement shows that, as I have already observed, the Psalmist is exhorting the whole world, and not the Israelites merely, to the exercise of devotion. Nor could this be done, unless the gospel were universally diffused as the means of conveying the knowledge of God.”[2]
Calvin desires that the whole congregation sing God’s praises: “For the reason now stated, [David] not only prepares himself for singing in token of gratitude, but also calls on others to join and accompany him in this duty…He takes a passing notice of the reason why God appointed holy assemblies. It was, that all as with one mouth might praise him, and might excite each other to the practice of godliness.” Calvin used a trained children’s choir to help achieve this goal. He says: “This manner of proceeding seemed specially good to us, that children, who beforehand have practiced some modest church song, sing in a loud distinct voice, the people listening with all attention and following heartily what is sung with the mouth, till all become accustomed to sing communally.”[3]
Although Calvin teaches that the sung praise of God should be our “continued exercise” and that we are “never to cease from singing,” Calvin says that the Sabbath is most appropriate for singing: “the right observance of the Sabbath does not consist in idleness, as some absurdly imagine, but in the celebration of the Divine name.” Accordingly, the Form of Prayers, the liturgy of Calvin’s churches in Geneva, called for singing a Psalm or the Decalogue after the confession of sins, the Apostles’ Creed after the Long Prayer, a Psalm during the distribution of the Lord’s Supper, and a Psalm or the Song of Simeon before the Aaronic Benediction.[4]
In terms of eschatology, Calvin says, “People were not to sing hymns of praise to God for only a temporary period of time, but until the end of the world.” Again: “We have said that this song is not limited to a short period, but, on the contrary, extends to the whole of Christ’s reign,” that is, for “eternity.” In closing his commentary on the Psalms, Calvin reiterates this belief, looking forward to the eternal state of glory: “A time was coming when the same songs, which were then only heard in Judea, would resound in every quarter of the globe. And in this prediction we have been joined in the same symphony with the Jews, that we may worship God with constant sacrifices of praise, until being gathered into the kingdom of heaven, we sing with elect angels an eternal hallelujah.” An exciting picture can begin to be formed when one takes into account that Calvin saw God himself as the ultimate “leader of the singers.” Not only is God and the Lamb the worthy cause, subject, and object of our eternal praises, but he is the conductor around whom all sanctified creatures will be singing together.[5]
Calvin has a high regard for the quality of music in the church. The music in Calvin’s church was to be not performed “blindly or at random,” but “exquisite and not ordinary, even as the manner of his deliverance was singular and worthy of everlasting remembrance.” Calvin taught that all of our church song should be obedient, from the heart, excellent, and intellectual. Toward this end, he demanded that the liturgy be understood – “We believe that all prayers ought to be made with clear understanding” – that is, in the vernacular.[6]
In terms of style, Calvin gives general directives. First, regardless of the exact style or mood of the piece, he insists that the music is suitable and complimentary to the text and in no way should the music detract from the message:
Yet we should be very careful that our ears be not more attentive to the melody than our minds to the spiritual meaning of the words…Therefore, when this moderation is maintained, it is without any doubt a most holy and salutary practice. On the other hand, such songs as have been composed only for sweetness and delight of the ear are unbecoming to the majesty of the church and cannot but displease God in the highest degree.
Because of their generic character, little can be gleaned from Calvin’s directions. It is probable that Calvin did not give specific instructions because he viewed the music as a “general rule,” the style of which is a circumstance that can vary by culture to fit the requirements of edification, order, and love.[7]
Calvin spared no words in his critique of the abuses of the Roman Catholic Church, including the polyphony in worship, the unintelligibility, the lack of congregational singing, the use of instruments, and the secular nature of many songs used.[8] The music of all of Calvin’s psalters (1539-1562) is in unison, using simple rhythm based on the natural accents of the text, sung syllabically (one note per syllable), and the melodies are in mostly stepwise motion (although leaps ranging from thirds to octaves are not unusual). The distinctiveness of each melody, as well as their dignity, beauty, and portability, all contributed to their popularity even outside of the church.
Many writers have erroneously claimed, and consequently many people have the false impression, that Calvin taught and required exclusive psalmody. Calvin, to be sure, showed a preference for the Psalms, but in practice and in principle he authorized other texts to be sung in worship. Indeed, he himself authored metrical translations of the Decalogue, the Song of Simeon, and the Apostles’ Creed for most of his psalters, and included the Lord’s Prayer in 1542. In addition, not only does Calvin not argue for exclusive psalmody from Scripture, but he also interprets key Biblical passages (e.g., Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16) as referring to “all kinds of songs.” Also, Calvin says we are called to “sing the praises of God, intimating at the same time that abundant matter was not wanting, since new proofs still meet our eyes of his power, goodness, and wisdom.” This and many other related passages seem to call for new words to sing of God’s newly seen greatness. Calvin views the element of singing as a means of proclaiming the gospel, admonishing one another, prayer, confessing our faith and making vows, and prophesying, seeming to call for more than the Psalms alone. Therefore, Calvin was not an exclusive psalmist.[9]
Having said that, it is equally certain that Calvin rejected exclusive hymnody. One quotation in particular makes clear Calvin’s esteem for the Psalms:
No one is able to sing things worthy of God unless he has received them from Him. Wherefore, when we have looked thoroughly everywhere and searched high and low, we shall find no better songs nor more appropriate to the purpose than the Psalms of David which the Holy Spirit made and spoke through him. And furthermore, when we sing them, we are certain that God puts the words in our mouths, as if He Himself were singing in us to exalt His glory.
Calvin desired the congregational singing of Psalms from his earliest days in Geneva with his Articles of 1537 by calling for their use on three grounds. First, “we have it exemplified in the ancient Church and in the evidence of Paul himself, who says it is good to sing in the congregation with mouth and heart.” Second, “As things are, the prayers of the faithful are so cold, that we ought to be ashamed and dismayed. The psalms can incite us to lift up our hearts to God and move us to an ardour in invoking and exalting with praises the glory of his Name.” Third, we ought to sing praises to God in his own words, and, in Calvin’s time at least, the Psalms were the most suited for this purpose. Calvin, unsatisfied with the music of his time, found the Psalms extremely suitable for incorporating congregational singing into the worship of the church.[10]
Like many of the church fathers of the first millennium after Christ, Calvin rejected the use of musical instruments in public worship. Calvin believed that they were part of the ceremonial system fulfilled by Christ’s atonement. It would now be a Judaical denial of Christ for us to return to those ceremonies, including instruments. So he says, “When he speaks of musical instruments the allusion is evidently to the practice of the Church at that time, without any intention of binding down the Gentiles to the observance of the ceremonies of the law.” Calvin also took this position against instruments in church because he saw them as imitation of popery, unnecessary aids to worship, distractions from worship, and contrary to Paul’s principle that praise be in a known tongue.[11]
Domestic Music.
Calvin says, “There is a great difference between the music which one makes to entertain men at table and in their homes, and the psalms which are sung in the Church in the presence of God and His angels.” Therefore Calvin is able to limit his prohibition of instruments to the church: “It is true that God ought to be heartily praised, both by musical instruments and by mouth. But it is another matter when we conduct the worship of God in church.” Besides the use of instruments for music, Calvin recognizes other valid uses. For Calvin, trumpets were used as signals for gathering sacred assemblies or for communication with military units, or to symbolize God’s control of the nations.[12]
Calvin obviously had much to say about singing in the church, but the same is not the case for singing outside the church. He encourages the use of psalms outside of worship: “And how much more widely the practice of singing may extend. It is even in the homes and in the fields an incentive for us, and, as it were, an organ for praising God and lifting up our hearts to Him.” Some comments seem to indicate approval of polyphony outside the church: “Musical sounds, though various and differing from each other, are so far from being discordant, that they produce sweet melody and fine harmony.” This is confirmed by the numerous polyphonic editions of the Psalms published in Geneva, without any resistance from Calvin.[13]
Conclusion.
This short introduction is only the briefest of summaries. Calvin praises music for its beauty and utility, and showed his gratitude to God for this gift by promoting its practice in the church and school. We are to use music for our own recreational enjoyment, and primarily for the purpose of praising God’s mercy. Song especially is a wonderful catalyst to help us offer to God the praises that he infinitely deserves. In light of this, it no doubt brought Calvin much pleasure to contemplate singing the wonders of God for all of eternity.
[1] In Covenant: The Monthly Newsletter of Covenant OPC, 1:12 (September 2003): 2-4.
[2] Comm. Ps. 104:33; Ps. 96:1.
[3] Comm. Isa. 38:20; Articles. Calvin eventually had the children practice singing together at school for an hour daily.
[4] Comm. Ps. 149:1; Epistle; Comm. 92:1.
[5] Serm. II Sam. 6:1-7; Comm. Isa. 12:5; Ps. 150:6; Hab. 3:19. For the eternal nature of Christ’s rule, see Inst. 2.15.3-5.
[6] Comm. Ps. 47:5; 40:3; 47:5-7; Genevan Confession.
[7] Inst. 3.20.32; Inst. 4.10.30-31.
[8] Interestingly, Calvin neither criticizes nor uses plainchant.
[9] Comm. Col. 3:16; Psalm 147:7 (Emphasis mine). Cf. Comm. Ps. 57:9; 101:1; Serm. Ps. 119:49-56; Epistle; Inst. 3.11.22.
[10] Articles.
[11] Comm. Ps. 98:4. Cf. Serm. I Sam. 18 #66; Comm. Dan. 3:2; Serm. II Sam. 6:1-7; Comm. Ps. 33:2.
[12] Epistle; Serm. II Sam. 6:1-7. Cf. Comm. Lev. 25:9; Comm. Jer. 4:19; Isa. 27:13.
[13] Epistle; Matt. 26:33.