Mechanical Instruments Are Not Authorized For Use in Christian Worship

Con claims that my using of the Bible to argue the authority of the Bible is fallacious. While giving much thought to this idea, I would say maybe so in most cases, but not when it's being used to argue against the addition or subtraction of the authority being used, it's not fallacious. Con claims that I stated that churches from the first century "often" didn't use musical instruments in worship. That is false, I've never stated that. What I actually said was this, ["The first century church did not use mechanical musical instruments. The word "accapella", which means without musical accompaniment, is a compound Latin word which means, "according to chapel, or church. " There was a time when everyone sung at church without musical accompaniment. Martin Luther (Protestantism-Lutheran Church), John Wesley (Methodism-Methodist Church), and John Calvin (Reformed Church) are all famous denominational scholars who did not use mechanical musical instruments in their worship. The foundation of these churches date back to the 1500's. The first appearance of instrumental music in church worship was about the sixth century A. D. The exact date of its introduction varied in different localities; but it can safely be concluded that there was no general practicing of it until after the eighth century, and even after this date it was long resisted by leading religions. "] This is what I said implies, that the reason for the branched off denominations non use of musical instruments, was because they didn't believe the bible authorized it. Con continues to twist my words and ignore the point of my arguments. It is not impossible to tell why the denominations, after branching off from the original church, did not use instruments in worship! !! The denominations became denominations because they disagreed with certain original practices of the early church or another denomination. Now, one can imply, if a denomination rejects the use of musical instruments after separating from the church, that the rejection of use of musical instruments in worship was not one of the practices that they were in disagreement about. Con states that, "I fail to demonstrate that the early churches solely praised God through voices, or that the early churches are the "correct" churches and should be emulated. " Solely- not involving anyone or anything else; only. That also is false! ! I've given you every verse that references to the type of music which the early New Testament church used in worship to God. Which all SOLELY included singing! !! 1) And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the Mt. of Olives - Matt 26:30; Mark 14:26. 2) And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God - Acts 16:25. 3) For this cause I will confess to thee among the Gentiles, and sing unto thy name - Romans 15:9. 4) I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also - 1Cor 14:15. 5) Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord - Eph 5:19. 6) Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord - Col 3:16. 7) In the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee - Heb 2:12. 8) Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms - James 5:13. Can't speak on all of the early churches, only the one I read about in the Bible(church of Christ, Romans 16:16), who by the way, did not use musical instruments in worship. Con inquires about the specific command that Christians use ONLY vocal praise, and claims that the Bible commands exactly the opposite, as he proves in Contention One. I've given Con the specific command but I will post the command again. In Ephesians 5:19, the Bible says, "SPEAKING to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, SINGING and making melody in your heart to the Lord. -Well in order for everyone to speak to ourselves we would all have to be speaking. -We are to speak to ourselves in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. -While doing the above, we are to sing while making melody in our hearts to the Lord. -None of the above requires instruments of music Hebrews 13:15 even says, " By him therefore let US offer the sacrifice of PRAISE to God continually, THAT IS, the fruit of OUR LIPS giving thanks to his name. Umm Con, did you pay any attention to the last part of your "As bible. ca"post? ? Con states that the statement of, "Christians should only care about the New Testament", is false. I agree I've never said anything different. What I said was, [All of the scripture that you've submitted regarding the use of, or mention of instruments are listed in the Old Testament. Unfortunately, the church didn't began until the book of Acts, which is in the New Testament. Like I said in my first argument, the most careful, meticulous investigation of the New Testament will not produce a single word in favor of this practice. One may search the New Testament in vain for either command, example, or inference for the use of musical instruments in worship service. "] Christians need to yield to or "care about" all of the written word of God. Instructions for church worship are instituted in the NEW TESTAMENT. There aren't any Christians in the Old Testament(Acts 11:26)! ! If you find one let me know. Con claims that, " one verse in thousands only mentions vocally praising the Christian God. This, as well as many of Con's other claims, is also false. First, Con must not be reading my posts, because I've given him a numerous amount of verses that "only mentions vocally praises of the Christian God. " I'm sure you all have read them. Second, the debate isn't titled, "Mechanical Instruments Are Not Authorized For Use in The Bible". It's actually titled, "Mechanical Instruments Are Not Authorized For Use in CHRISTIAN WORSHIP". Once again, none of the verses you've submitted pertain to the New Testament church! ! So you still haven't proven that the Bible is pro-Church-music when it comes to Christian worship. Con, I suggest that you consider this: We need not pay attention to what the Lord didn't say in His word if He has already given instructions on the matter in his word. Please keep in mind, that just because God didn't forbid it in His word doesn't mean it's ok. Just because it was allowed for a certain period of time doesn't mean that it is allowed in a future or present period. Let me illustrate with the bible. There's a particular incident in the Bible where Moses did something that God didn't forbid him from doing but, God hadn't authorized either. In Exodus 17:5-6, the Bible says, 5 "And the Lord said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand, and go. " 6 Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. So here God tells Moses to smite the rock and he did. In Numbers 20:6-12, the Bible says, "And Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and they fell upon their faces: and the glory of the Lord appeared unto them. 7 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 8 Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink. 9 And Moses took the rod from before the Lord, as he commanded him. 10 And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock? 11 And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also. 12 And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them. " Then here, God told Moses to speak to the rock but he smoted the rock. So in the first incident, god authorized Moses to smote(strike) the rock. In the second incident, god authorized Moses to speak to the rock. God never authorized Moses to smote the rock in the second incident even though he authorized it in the first incident. Due to Moses doing something that God hadn't authorized at that current time, even though God had authorized it before, God didn't allow for Moses to see the promise land. The same standards apply to God's commands for the New Testament church. In the OT, God authorized the use of musical instruments as praise in worship. In the NT, God Authorized singing as praise in worship. God never authorized the use of musical instruments in the NT. God is no respecter of persons(Acts 10:34), so I believe he would punish those who use musical instruments in worship because he didn't authorize it, just like he punished Moses and might not let them see the promised land. Will anyone of today's church consider themselves more righteous then Moses? Probably not. Questions that Con is obligated to answer: Where in the inspired record of the New Testament church is there found a single reference authorizing the use of mechanical musical instruments in worship? (Never been answered even though I posted it in first argument. ) Are there any Christians in the OT? If so, who and where? Does Jesus have a church in the OT?