What is the biblical basis for the prohibition of instruments in worship?

Question

I understand that some Protestant churches prohibit the use of musical instruments in their worship services. What is the specific biblical basis for this practice, or, if there is no specific biblical basis, what is the principle behind this practice?

Is it an issue of mixing musical instruments with vocal music? Can they have one or the other, but not both? Which churches follow this teaching?

Answer 1

I'm familiar with a couple different schools of thought on this. Doubtless there are others as well.

The first comes from Greek Orthodox tradition. I can't really speak to it directly, but a quick google search turned up a result indicating that it might have more to do with history and wanting to separate themselves from pagan worship. But there's likely a lot more to it.

The other is from the churches of Christ. To understand this, you need to know something of their history. The churches of Christ descend from the Restoration movement of the mid-1800s. This was a movement that strove to throw off all of the excess structure that had arisen over the years since the 1st century and restore 1st century-style worship. The primary means of achieving this goal was through a very careful and strict interpretation of scripture. "Innovations" from known historical patterns of the first century should only be permitted when there is a clear case for them, shown either through direct command, example, or necessary inference.

The reason for the return to 1st century worship was a reaction to all divisions, and a desire to fulfill the Lord's prayer "that they may all be one." It was a drive for unity, and one part of this was to push away anything that a true seeker might possibly see as contrary to scripture, and hold up only those things that meet an exceptionally strict criteria for doctrinal purity (the other two parts are congregational independance/freedom and an strong emphasis on individual study). Don't knock the process too hard, as it met with some success... this is one of the few major groups to begin it's history as the result of a merger of a few smaller groups, rather than as a split from a larger group, and was the only group in existence at the time to make it through the Civil War without dividing over the issue.

There are three pieces that combine to contribute the general (not universal, but nearly so) use of a cappella music among church of Christ congregations.

The first is a very strict interpretation on the silence of scripture. I don't want to go into this at length, but you can read my answer to this question on faith healing to get a vague idea on how it works. The upshot is that we are lacking an explicit instruction to use instruments (while singing or otherwise) in congregational worship — scripture is silent here, but we do have explicit instructions to sing. Because we have an explicit instruction about how to use music in worship, the silence in this case is prohibitive rather than permissive. This by itself is weak, but remember that it's only part of the reasoning.

The second reason is participatory. The command to sing praises is interpreted to mean that music in worship should include everyone as a participant... that if the music portion of your service consists mainly of just a few performers or even a choir, while the majority of the congregation is only listening (even if this is the effect rather than the intent), you're doing it wrong. The entire congregation should take part in producing the music. Instruments are seen as counter-productive to this effort, as history shows they have a tendency to take over and dominate the performance to the exclusion, rather than inclusion, of audience participation. Additionally, successful use of a cappella music in worship is something that takes a commitment. If you decide to just try out a cappella music one week in service, you're likely to fail miserably if few of the participants have done this before. Therefore, as a practical matter the choice to use a cappella music came down to an "all or nothing" approach, where those that use a cappella music in worship tend to do so exclusively.

The third reason is historical. Remember that this group comes out of a movement whose goals were to restore 1st century worship styles. We do know from historical documents (sorry, no reference handy :( ) that the earliest Christians, without exception, did not use instruments in their worship. At all. In fact, it's already the third century before we find examples of any instrumental accompaniment. It's possible there were forces other than doctrine driving this: for example, funds, fear of persecution if louder instruments gave away a secret service, or simply modeling congregational worship after Jewish synagogue worship (which also did not use instruments). But the fact of the matter is that the historical record indicates a cappella is the way to go.

Answer 2

This website gives a general idea about what some of the Churches of Christ teach about music in worship.

As a result of the distinctive plea of the church - a return to New Testament Faith and practice - acappella singing is the only music used in the worship. This singing, unaccompanied by mechanical instruments of music, conforms to the music used in the apostolic church and for several centuries thereafter (Ephesians 5:19). It is felt that there is no authority for engaging in acts of worship not found in the New Testament. This principle eliminates the use of instrumental music, along with the use of candles, incense, and other similar elements.

I have been to a Church of Christ myself (my wife and I also got married at a Church of Christ). I asked the Pastor there about this. He said something like:

"We don't use musical instruments because the New Testament does not mention musical instruments. We are silent where the NT is silent and hence we don't use musical instruments."

Other than that, I don't see any other reason, Biblically, why some churches don't have musical instruments for worship.

Answer 3

I attend a wonderful church of christ and there is a piano player and two candles. I do not believe we are doing anything wrong. The bible doesn't ban instruments. It merely stays silence on the issue which I believe makes it a church's choice. Additionally, many people find it difficult to sing acapella. As far as the candles, the silence of the bible leaves the choice to the church.