
Some scholars believe that the Bible begins with “a great formal creation hymn.” Whether Genesis One is a hymn or not, there’s no doubt the Holy Spirit was acting as a Master Composer and Choir Director each day of creation. As the foundations of the earth were set, “the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy.” Indeed, being “made in the image of God” included not only the capacity to
We too quickly pass over the admittedly short mention of Jubal, son of Lamech, in Genesis 4:21, where we’re informed that “he was the father of all those who
From day one (or six, to be precise), men and women possessed a vast, Holy Spirit formed vocabulary, being created as speaking, and yes, singing people. Speech allowed mankind to re-form the world after the flood. Even following God’s
Matthew E. Gordley, in his imaginative (in the best sense) and well-researched book, New Testament Christological Hymns: Exploring Texts, Contexts, and Significance, discusses little of the above – he does refer to Genesis One in his discussion of the prologue in the Gospel of John as a hymn and repeatedly points out the importance and abundance of hymn writers and choirs in the ancient world. However, the masterful manner in which he explores and explains the ancient history, content and context of hymns, both pagan and Jewish, not only enlightened and engaged me in his fresh look at the Christological hymns in the New Testament, but also called to mind the creation of mankind in the image of God and the music that has filled heaven and earth ever since. I have no idea if the author hoped this would be the case, although he points out that new creation themes are present in early church hymns. Regardless, that’s what transpired as Gordley opens his first chapter with this powerful insight:
“’The Christian church began with
As the early church utilized hymns in innovative ways with Jesus at the center, they experienced “Christian worship as a phenomenon that was dynamic and complex.” At the end of the
That strikes me as profoundly true. It also caused me to contemplate on how the world itself, including the first church of Adam and Eve, made its debut as a heavenly choir sang with joy. Creation itself was “formed within the womb of worship” and that worship used hymns to powerful effect. The worship could quite possibly include what would have been the obscured, but very real act of “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” Although I’m speculating on this, it would fit into the theme that is most prominently featured in the Christological hymns of the New Testament: Jesus crucified on the Cross. This is a topic I’ll return to below.
My Creation/New Creation, Old Testament Church/New Testament Church parallel continued to grow as Gordley laid out the context for early Christian worship by touching on the history and use of hymns throughout the ancient pagan and Jewish world. “Hymns and hymn singing,” Gordley tells us, “were important features of Greek and Roman public life. Hymns were composed in praise of gods in connection with several aspects of society, including the cultic offering of sacrifice, public thanks and praise, large public festivals, and more intimate banquets known as symposia. Accordingly, they played important roles not only for religious rituals but also in shaping culture, teaching values, and promoting particular ways of the world.”
The early Greeks held festivals accompanied by hymns. “Special choruses were formed for the singing of hymns, a practice that continued well into the Roman era. Individuals were given special titles of
Gordley provides this historical narrative to demonstrate, among other things, that the ancients made clear distinctions between hymns, psalms and other praise songs, and their use. “Hymns carried
This brings us to the main purpose of the book, which is “a study of those New Testament passages that have captured the attention of biblical scholars and that have been identified as Christological hymns—hymns in praise of Christ,” although it is much more than that.
The author begins by defining what is a hymn, which I found interesting, a section that offers a scholarly critique from those who disagree, which may be needed as it is essentially an academic look at the subject, but held little interest to someone like me who was reading from a pastoral-applied theology perspective, and also discusses hymn composition and singing in the early Christian worship. This, for me, was captivating as he presents the Christian use of hymns as “innovative,” even to the extent they tackle thorny political issues (in reality, however, all issues are theological), teach doctrine and counter false or heretical teaching, or as Paul puts it in his first letter to Timothy, “protect right belief and encourage right behavior in the church…to protect ‘sound teaching that conforms to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which He entrusted to me.”
Critically, the New Testament church did not shy away from appealing to the whole being of the worshiper, but hymns actively engaged the emotions of its participants as “the language used is intended to create an experience for the listener,” and it wasn’t “merely an exercise in thinking but also one of experiencing an event.” Christians wrote and sang hymns as ways to develop a comprehensive worldview, a way of “conceptualizing the world,” but the “passing on of values, teaching, and other worldview dimensions was not simply a rational, cognitive process, but also an emotional,
But what makes these hymns so effective is that they are, obviously, unabashedly Christological, and almost all of them strikingly feature Christ’s humiliation and death on the cross “as the center point of the hymn and its turning point.” Writing specifically on the Philippian hymn Gordley notes that “the status of a slave and the ignominious death by crucifixion represented the lowest possible position of dishonor. By placing these as central themes within this hymn, Paul was putting forth a new paradigm… In this
Vitally important, however, is that while the central theme may be the death of Jesus on the cross, the hymns certainly don’t leave Him there. These hymns rejoice in the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead, His ascension into Heaven and His rule over all the cosmos. I’m reminded of what Michaelangelo once reportedly said following visits to several great art galleries in European cities. It seems the great artist was deeply impressed by the preponderance of paintings depicting Christ hanging on the cross. He asked, “Why are art galleries filled with so many pictures of Christ upon the cross—Christ dying? Why do artists concentrate upon that episode, as if that were the last word and the final scene? Christ’s
The Christological hymns make sure that message
New Testament Christological Hymns by Matthew E. Gordley is a book that will be of interest to all pastors and staff who lead musical worship in the church. The Bible is filled with songs and singing and multiple styles, and of
Theologian Karl Barth, in his Church Dogmatics, points out that singing is not an option for the people of God; it is one of the essential ministries of the church:
“The Christian church sings. It is not a choral society. Its singing is not a concert. But from inner, material necessity it sings. Singing is the highest form of human expression….What we can and must say quite confidently is that the church which does not sing is not the church. And where…it does not really sing but sighs and mumbles spasmodically, shamefacedly and with an ill grace, it can be at best only a troubled community which is not sure of its cause and of whose ministry and witness there can be no great expectation….The praise of God which finds its concrete culmination in the singing of the community is one of the indispensable forms of the ministry of the church.”
Matthew E. Gordley has written a superb, fascinating and refreshing book the Christological hymns and their use in early church worship. The author makes no attempt to downplay psalms, spiritual songs or praise songs in his journey, thus it is not a book that will
New Testament Christological Hymns: Exploring Tests, Contexts, and Significance
Matthew E. Gordley
Paperback: 252 pages
Publisher: IVP Academic (August 7, 2018)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0830852093
ISBN-13: 978-0830852093