Apologetics Press, Inc. 230 Landmark Dr. Montgomery, AL 36117-2752 Sain Publications P.O. Box 616 Pulaski, TN 38478 © Copyright 2007 ISBN 10: 1-60063-30-49 ISBN 13: 978-1-60063-004-0 Cover by Rob Baker Text set by Jim Estabrook All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in articles or critical reviews. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Dave Miller (1953 - ) Richland Hills & Instrumental Music: A Plea to Reconsider Includes bibliographic references. ISBN 10: 1-60063-30-49 ISBN 13: 978-1-60063-004-0 1. Public worship & other practices. 2. Christianity & Christian theology. 3. Sacraments, other rites & acts. I. Title. 203-dc22 2007903519 DEDICATION To Deb— whose positive influence on my life has been inestimable, profound, and eternal. Table of ConTenTs “The Both/And Church—Part 1”. . . . . . . . . . . . .2 “The Both/And Church—Part 2”. . . . . . . . . . . . .4 “Old.Testament.Reasons.for.Accepting. Instrumental.Music”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 I/II ..Commanded.and.Blessed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 III ..Prophesied.for.the.Kingdom?. . . . . . . . . . . 17 Instruments.in.zamar?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19 Hebrew.Lexicons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 English.Translations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Theological.Dictionaries.and.Commentaries. . . .24 Human.Inference.and.Deduction. . . . . . . . . . . . 25 “New.Testament.Reasons.for.Accepting. Instrumental.Praise”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26 I ..Jesus.Did.Not.Address. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Prodigal’s.Homecoming. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28 II ..“Non-Issue.in.Acts”?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30 “No.Authority.for.Congregational.Singing”?. . . .36 III ..Not.Prohibited?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38 “Daily.Walk”.Only?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39 “Only.Solos.in.the.Assembly”?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42 “No.Command.to.Sing.Only?”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44 IV ..In.Heaven?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46 V ..Giftedness?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50 “Making.it.Difficult”?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52 “The.Authority.to.Forbid”?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53 “Connected.to.the.Cross”?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53 “Arguments.Against.Accepting.. Instrumental.Praise.to.God”. . . . . . . . . . . . . .55 I ..The.Psallo.Argument. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Greek.Lexical.Evidence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57 Summary.of.Lexical.Data.on.Psallo. . . . . . . . . . .61 Psallo.and.English.Translations. . . . . . . . . . . . . .62 Greek.Theological.Dictionaries.and. Commentaries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63 Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 Which.Instrument.in.Ephesians.5:19?. . . . . . . . 67 Grammatical.Parallels. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68 Quibble. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .70 Who.Must.Psallo?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 Summary.of.Psallo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 Early.Church.History. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .76 II ..The.Law.of.Exclusion/Silence.of.. Scripture.Argument. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 The.Biblical.Principle.of.Authority. . . . . . . . . . .79 Colossians.3:17:.“In.the.Name.of”. . . . . . . . . . . 80 Old.Testament.Illustrations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 New.Testament.Illustrations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 Illustrations.from.Secular.Society. . . . . . . . . . . 86 Authority.For.EVERYTHING?. . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 Jesus,.the.Synagogue,.&.the.. Feast.of.Lights. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .95 Wine.at.Passover. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .98 God.“Saying.Nothing”?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 “What.It.Says.About.the.Bible”. . . . . . . . . . . . . .102 “What.It.Says.About.God”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .104 Who.God.Is. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .105 Credibility.Gap?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .108 Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .110 “The Both/And Church—Part 3”. . . . . . . . . . .110 Sabbath.for.Man. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .110 Romans.14:5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 Communion.on.Saturday. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .112 Why.First-Century.Omission?. . . . . . . . . . . . . .113 Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .116 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 Appendix A:.Old.Testament.Occurrences.. of.zamar.in.the.Piel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .129 Appendix B:.New.Testament.Occurrences.. of.psallo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .145 Charts A.Comparison.of.Ephesians.5:19.&.. Colossians.3:16. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67 Ephesians.5:19.&.the.Psalms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .72 How.the.Bible.Authorizes.1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .90 How.the.Bible.Authorizes.2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .91 How.the.Bible.Authorizes.3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .92 Authority.&.the.Passover. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .99 Preface The church that claims to be the largest church of Christ in America now conducts a 5:00 p.m. Saturday afternoon worship service that incorporates both the Lord’s Supper and instrumental music (Ross, 2007). In preparation for this historically significant departure from past practice, Rick Atchley delivered three sermons (all titled “The Both/And Church”) in December 2006 from the Richland Hills pulpit in an effort to explain the rationale behind the change (2006). This book constitutes a critical review of the contentions contained in those sermons that purport to justify the use of instrumental music in Christian worship. The reader is encouraged to secure Rick’s sermons and give them a fair and equal hearing in conjunction with the critique that follows (see Atchley, 2006). [NOTE: Due to Rick’s reliance on the NIV, that version is used repeatedly in this critique.] No human on Earth today has the power to look into the heart of his fellowman and ascertain the man’s true motives. We are called upon by God to think the best, believe the best, and hope the best about each other (1 Corinthians 13:7). I absolutely refuse to question Rick’s motives, or charge him with deliberate misrepresentation of the facts. I desire to attribute to him the same sincerity that I would like him to ascribe to me. I have no desire to “nit pick” Rick’s sermons. My sole desire is to ascertain God’s truth on matters that will affect our eternal destiny. This is serious business. And the matter of how to worship God has eternal consequences— souls are at stake. Since God admonishes every accountable person to be a sincere seeker of truth (Proverbs 23:23; John 7:17), genuine Christians should have no hesitation in examining contrary viewpoints. My prayer is that those who have accepted the claims and conclusions that Rick has offered will be willing to give the contrary viewpoint an honest hearing. With humility I offer the following critique of Rick’s claims.