Subscribe to this page via e-mail here - Subscribe
0634
The church of Christ in Murray Ky. was once a united band of Christians, working and worshiping in peace and harmony and conforming to God's word. But a number of years ago a portion of the congregation, led by the wisdom of men, brought into the worship of the church things not taught in the word of God, of which things instrumental music was one. A portion of the congregation, among whom were some of the oldest and best members, were forced to meet for worship elsewhere. They were driven out of the very house they had helped to build, by the introduction of these unscriptural things into the worship. These formed the members of the Water Street church of Christ, which is, at the present time, one of the strongest congregations in West Ky.
The loyal brethren tried for years to get the "digressives" to defend their practice. They never had any success. During the past summer, however, their "pastor" Joel E. Vouse, preached one Lord's day for the Methodists taking his theme on the scripturalness of instrumental music in worship. In this sermon he made certain gross misrepresentations concerning the Water Street church. These he refused to correct when approached privately; consequently bro. Overby, of Murray exposed the same in a leaflet and also through the county paper. This warmed the "official board" to the extent that the following agreements were entered into. The proposition: "Instrumental music in church worship is scriptural" was to be affirmed by J. J. Walker and denied by Coleman Overby. The first two days of October were set as the time. The first Christian Church in Murray and the high school auditorium were the locations. They were filled to overflowing.
High points of the debate: Walker introduced ten versions of the N.T. in which the word "psallo" was translated variously as "make music," "praising." "playing," "playing on a harp," "striking the strings." Bro. Overby accepted 8 of the 10, where the instrument was named as being the heart, but rejected the two naming the instrument as being the harp, on th ground that the word for "harp" was not in the original. Overby then introduced as rebuttal thirty versions translating "psallo," "to sing," "make melody," and "sing praises." He contended that since the word was translated "to sing" and the heart named as the instrument on which the melody was to be made, therefore, when one added a mechanical instrument thereto, he did that for which he had no scriptural authority. This turned the discussion on the N.T. meaning of "psallo," which was clearly shown from lexicons to be "to sing." Charts were used in giving the meaning.
Bro. Walker then introduced the Hebrew word, "zamar," contending that it meant to sing and play, and that when the Greek translation of the Septuagint was made from the Hebrew it was translated "psallo," hence, must carry both ideas. This was refuted by reading a Hebrew-English translation of the Septuagint, in which "zamar" was translated "sing" in the passage in question.
Bro. Walker made a flowery speech, one worthy of a better cause, for instrumental music in the church, on the ground that it is used in the home, was used in the temple worship, will be in heaven, and is on a par with hymn books and tuning forks. But these arguments have been made and remade so much that so say more about them would be tedious to the reader. Sufficient to say that they were ably refuted.
It is seldom that a man tries to defend error that he does make some very damaging admissions to his cause, and it was especially true of Walker in this debate. These admissions were three in number. (1) Under pressure he admitted that Eph. 5:19; Rom. 15:9; I Cor. 14:15; Jam. 5:13; Matt. 26:30 and Acts 16:25 could be acceptably obeyed without the use of the mechanical instruments, thus committed himself to the defense of an unnecessary thing.
(2) When pressed for a command for the use of the instrument he said he was not sure that there was a command for it's use, but was very sure it's use was scriptural. When pressed for an example for it's use, he said a thing could be scriptural without having either command or example. Also, he said that he was not sure that singing was commanded.
(3) After making the foregoing admissions and avoiding saying so as long as possible, he said plainly that the use of the instrument was optional and not essential. These admissions were used very effectually against him, showing that, while he professed a great desire for unity, he let that which was not commanded, not necessary to acceptable worship, stand in the way of unity.
The deportment of speakers was excellent. W. Claude Hall of Henderson, Tenn. moderated for Overby. Bro. A. J. Veteto, Little Rock, Ark. led the singing that itself was a refutation of the need for instrumental music. The truth triumphed and much good was done.
VIEW NEXT REPORT >>
Print
Coleman Overby vs J. J. Walker (Christian Church)
November 1, 1923
Murray, Kentucky
(By David Thompson)
November 1, 1923
Murray, Kentucky
(By David Thompson)
The church of Christ in Murray Ky. was once a united band of Christians, working and worshiping in peace and harmony and conforming to God's word. But a number of years ago a portion of the congregation, led by the wisdom of men, brought into the worship of the church things not taught in the word of God, of which things instrumental music was one. A portion of the congregation, among whom were some of the oldest and best members, were forced to meet for worship elsewhere. They were driven out of the very house they had helped to build, by the introduction of these unscriptural things into the worship. These formed the members of the Water Street church of Christ, which is, at the present time, one of the strongest congregations in West Ky.
The loyal brethren tried for years to get the "digressives" to defend their practice. They never had any success. During the past summer, however, their "pastor" Joel E. Vouse, preached one Lord's day for the Methodists taking his theme on the scripturalness of instrumental music in worship. In this sermon he made certain gross misrepresentations concerning the Water Street church. These he refused to correct when approached privately; consequently bro. Overby, of Murray exposed the same in a leaflet and also through the county paper. This warmed the "official board" to the extent that the following agreements were entered into. The proposition: "Instrumental music in church worship is scriptural" was to be affirmed by J. J. Walker and denied by Coleman Overby. The first two days of October were set as the time. The first Christian Church in Murray and the high school auditorium were the locations. They were filled to overflowing.
High points of the debate: Walker introduced ten versions of the N.T. in which the word "psallo" was translated variously as "make music," "praising." "playing," "playing on a harp," "striking the strings." Bro. Overby accepted 8 of the 10, where the instrument was named as being the heart, but rejected the two naming the instrument as being the harp, on th ground that the word for "harp" was not in the original. Overby then introduced as rebuttal thirty versions translating "psallo," "to sing," "make melody," and "sing praises." He contended that since the word was translated "to sing" and the heart named as the instrument on which the melody was to be made, therefore, when one added a mechanical instrument thereto, he did that for which he had no scriptural authority. This turned the discussion on the N.T. meaning of "psallo," which was clearly shown from lexicons to be "to sing." Charts were used in giving the meaning.
Bro. Walker then introduced the Hebrew word, "zamar," contending that it meant to sing and play, and that when the Greek translation of the Septuagint was made from the Hebrew it was translated "psallo," hence, must carry both ideas. This was refuted by reading a Hebrew-English translation of the Septuagint, in which "zamar" was translated "sing" in the passage in question.
Bro. Walker made a flowery speech, one worthy of a better cause, for instrumental music in the church, on the ground that it is used in the home, was used in the temple worship, will be in heaven, and is on a par with hymn books and tuning forks. But these arguments have been made and remade so much that so say more about them would be tedious to the reader. Sufficient to say that they were ably refuted.
It is seldom that a man tries to defend error that he does make some very damaging admissions to his cause, and it was especially true of Walker in this debate. These admissions were three in number. (1) Under pressure he admitted that Eph. 5:19; Rom. 15:9; I Cor. 14:15; Jam. 5:13; Matt. 26:30 and Acts 16:25 could be acceptably obeyed without the use of the mechanical instruments, thus committed himself to the defense of an unnecessary thing.
(2) When pressed for a command for the use of the instrument he said he was not sure that there was a command for it's use, but was very sure it's use was scriptural. When pressed for an example for it's use, he said a thing could be scriptural without having either command or example. Also, he said that he was not sure that singing was commanded.
(3) After making the foregoing admissions and avoiding saying so as long as possible, he said plainly that the use of the instrument was optional and not essential. These admissions were used very effectually against him, showing that, while he professed a great desire for unity, he let that which was not commanded, not necessary to acceptable worship, stand in the way of unity.
The deportment of speakers was excellent. W. Claude Hall of Henderson, Tenn. moderated for Overby. Bro. A. J. Veteto, Little Rock, Ark. led the singing that itself was a refutation of the need for instrumental music. The truth triumphed and much good was done.
VIEW NEXT REPORT >>
| Powered By |
| TheLordsWay.com |
| Click here to host your own church web site today! |
