PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
McClintock & Strong Cyclopaedia — Volume 6
John McClintock & James Strong · 1,371,720 words · 1335 reading sections
Section 1021
3. The Silver Age of Hebrew Music. — So we may per- haps fitly designate the period of the captivity and the restoration, as denoting that the national music was still preserved and cultivated by considerable numbers of the people, especially of the Levitical families, although much of its ancient glory and splendor ha…
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4. The Uses and Characteristics of Hebrew Music. — Sacred music, as in the above liturgical examples, was the most important application of the art among the Hebrews. The trumpets, which are mentioned among the instruments played before the ark (1 Chron. xiii, 8), appear to have been reserved for the priests alone (1 C…
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the full chorus, and sometimes with each choir alter- nately. In conclusion, both men and women joined in a single choir, in imitation of that on the shores of the Red Sea, which was led by Moses and^liriam. In the Scriptures love-songs are alluded to in Psa. xlv, title, and Isa. v, 1. There were also the doleful songs…
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On the scientific character of Hebrew music much has been written, but to very little purpose, and with extremeh' meagre results. Tiie trutli is that no ade- quate data exist to enable us to arrive at any satis- factory conclusions upon it. The Hebrews never were in possession of an}' system of notation, by which their…
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MUSIC 156 MUSIC it admitted ; and although it is ven' possible that this | monotonous, or rather unisonous music, might not be ! interesting to ears tuned to musical progressions, mod- ulations, and cadences, there is sometliing in it with i which the Orientals are well pleased. They love it ! for the very reason th…
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Among all nations music has always formed a part of public worship. "Praise," it has been aptly said, " is the appropriate language of devotion. A fervent spirit of devotion instinctively seeks to express itself in song. In the strains of poetry, joined with the melody of music, it finds an easy and natural utterance o…
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The earliest authentic record on this subject is the celebrated letter from Pliny to Trajan, just at the close of the apostolic age (A.D. 108, 104). In the investiga- tions which he instituted against the Christians of his period, he discovered, among other things, that they were accustomed to meet before day to offer …
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Such was the character of the psalmody of the early Church, consisting in part of the psalms of David, and Li part of hymns composed for the puqoose of worship, and expressive of love and praise to God and to Christ (Neander, Allffem. Kirchemjesch. i, 523 ; Engl. ed. i, 304). Few in number, and sung to rude and simple …
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3. Heresy largely pervading the Church, and mak- ing rapid headway by incorporation into hymns which were tlie laity's iiroperty, various restrictions were from time to time laid upon the use of hymns of /iiimnn com- position in dislinction from the insjiired jjsalms of David; and finally the Church authorities, in ord…
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III. Use of Instruments in the Church. — The Greeks as well as the Jews were wont to use instruments as ac- companiments in their sacred songs. The converts to Christianity accordingly must have been familiar with this mode of singing; yet it is generally believed that the primitive Christians failed to adopt the use o…
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his influence became simple, thoughtful, aspiring, sin- cere, and noble, but destitute of passion and tenderness. The most spiritual of all arts, it raised t\m heart into immediate communion with the Infinite, and, while cel- ebrating the mystery of the divine sacrifice in the dif- ferent parts of the mass to which it …
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Here it may most appropriately be stated that all sacred music since the 16th century must be divided into two general divisions, choral and Jigurate music. Choral music is, in its original form, Church singing only, in which the melody is solemnly slow. It is de- void of ornament, and not bound to a strict observance …
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MUSIC V62 MUSIC guments on the affirmative. Following so closely after ttie historical discussion furnished above, the inquiring student will be the better able to judge for himself whether instriimentals can be used in Christian worship. 1. Against tlic use of instruments in Christian church- es the following reaso…
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5. Instrumental music is incompatible with directions for singing given in the N. T. («) Heb. xiii, 15:" Let us offer the sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of the lips." This exhortation is given in terms of the O. T. (Psa. 1, 14; Ixix, 30, 31; cxvi, 17; Hos. xiv, 2, Sept.), yet the formal definition of praise ma…
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glory of which eye hath not seen nor ear heard ; it is "reserved;" yet it is "prepared" for them that love him ; where song and harp and organ blend with sweet odors ; while they sweep the chords of the heart to the Lord. (R. H.) II. In favor of Instrumental Music for Chiirclies, it may be replied that the above consi…
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I. Stringed Instruments. — We begin with these, be- cause upon almost all occasions of the use of instru- mental music, either in public or private, we find them occupying the principal place; while in point of an- tiquity of date they were not inferior apparently to other instruments of a simpler and ruder character …
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The approximate illustrations of the kinnor, or harp, supplied by the Egyptian and Assyrian monuments are very copious and interesting, and we cannot err far in supposing the various modifications of the Hebrew in- strument to have been substantially the same as those in use among their neighbors. The most ancient form…
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• 'I'he iiebel was an instrument apparently much re- sembling the kiiinor in its nature and properties, tliough considerably different in form. According to Jost'iihus (.•lH^vii, 12, 13) it had twelve strings, which were played upon with the liand. One variety of it had only ten strings, and was distinguished as TiiU? …
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4. The tr^nH, giltith, a word which occurs in the titles to Psa. viii, Ixxxi, Ixxxiv, and is generallv supposed to denote a Chief of Musicians. (As* miisicalinstrument. From the i-^l'^Muleum r^"' ■^"'' name it has been supposed to be an instrument which David brought from Gath; and it has been inferred from Isa. xvi, …
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2. Of almost equal antiquity was the * jJT, Iceren, or horn, which sometimes, but not often, occurs as the name of a musical instrument (Josh, vi, 5; 1 Chron. xxv, 5; Dan. iii, 5, 7, 10, 15). Of natural liorns, and of instru- ments in the shape of liorns, the antiquity and general use are evinced by every ex- tensive c…
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Egyptian Single Pipes: 1. From tomb at Thebes; 2. From tonib near the Pyramids (Wilkinson). simple contrivance of cutting a larger or smaller num- ber of holes in one of its lengths; but it was afterwards, in the progress of the arts, more artificially made of wood, bone, horn, and ivory. It was sometimes single, and …
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Ancient Egyptian Tiunboiiriiu's (1, a) and Tabrct-dium. 2, circular) pinjr hands. (V ish Museum.) such as was afterwards imitated and somewhat improved upon by the Tomi)le organ before alluded to — the mar/rfphtih of the 'I'almud. Sec Ei,i-tk. III. Instruments of Percussion and A f/it a tion.—l. The most ancient pu…
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which all versions agree in rendering " bells," or "little bells." These bells were attached to the hem of the garment, and were separated from each other by golden knobs, shaped like pomegranates. They obviously pro- duced their tinkling sound by striking against the gold- en knobs which were appended near them. There…
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secure them from slipping through the holes. Several actual specimens of these instruments have been found, and are deposited in the British, Berlin, and other mu- seums (Wilkinson, Anc. Egypt, i, 131-133). They are mostly furnished with sacred symbols, and were chietiy used by the priests and priestesses in the ceremo…
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The musical instrument used as an accompaniment to dancing is generally believed to have been made of metal, open like a ring : it had many small bells attached to its border, and was played at weddings and merry- makings by women, who accompanied it with the voice. According to the author of Shilte Ilaggibborim, the m…
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MUSIMOES 174 MUSSULMAN man and Asaph, was ' to sound with cymbals of brass,' while the others played on the nablium and the harp. This appointment to the office was by election of the chiefs of the Levites (D"^"lb) at David's command, each of the three divisions probably choosing one. The first occasion of Jeduthun'…
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Muspel(l) or MiispeliDheini is, in Norse my- thology, tlic world of lii;ht niul h(at, situated in the south part of the universe; Nitllicini. the habitation of mist and cold, being situated in the north. The inhab- itants of this world are called '"the sons of Muspell," among whom Sturt or Surtur is chief, and the rule…
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Even these descriptions, however, seem hardly to come up to the ancient accounts of the plant in ques- tion. Hence the conclusion of Dr. Royle (in a paper read before the Eoyal Asiatic Society, March IG, 1844) has been preferred, who shows that there is a plant still known in the East by the name oi khardal (which cor-…
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near the lake of Tiberias and Damascus; but this state- ment is certainly erroneous. A\'e know from Pliny, Di- oscorides, and other Greek and Poman writers, that mustard-seeds were much valued, and were used as a condiment; but it is more probable that the Jews of our Lord's time were in the habit of making a similar u…
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salom, for whom it is recorded that he wept and mourn- ed passionately (2 Sam. xviii, 33). The renderings of the Sept. and Vulgate induced the early Christian com- mentators to refer the psalm to the Messiah. Augustine understands "the son" as "the only-begotten Son of God." The Syriac version is quoted in support of t…
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Mutianus, Scholasticus. See Mlciasus. Mutiles de Runic. See Skopsis. Mutschelle, Skbastian, a German Roman Cath- olic tlicoliigian, was born Jan. 18, 1749, at Altershausen, Bavaria. He was educated at Munich, entered in 1765 the Order of Jesus, and completed his education at In- golstadt in 1776. He was then appointe…
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Muza, IiiN-XosKiit. Sec Spain. Muziano, fiiuoi.A.MO. a distinguished Italian paint- er, was born at Aiquafredda, near Brescia, in 1528. He painted a nunilier of Hiblical and religious subjects, one of which, the Ilesurrection of Lazarus, was greatly ad- mired by Michael Angelo. who pronotuiced liim one of the greatest…
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Mwetyi, a Great Spirit venerated by the Shekani and Bakele people in Southern Guinea. The following account of him is given by IMr. Wilson in his Western Africa : " He is supposed to dwell in the bowels of the earth, but comes to the surface of the ground at stated seasons, or when summoned on any special business. A l…
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Myconius (also known as Goinshihhr. his name be- fore he joined the Protestants), Os-wald, a Swiss Prot- estant tlieologian, was born at Lucerne in 1-188, and was educated at Basle. He taught for a while, accepting first a call to Zurich as director of a school : liut he was only three months there when he was recalled…
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Mylitta (perhaps = nib"'?3, Genitrix, "who causes to bear"), a name which, according to Herodotus (i, 131), was given bj' the Assyrians to the goddess Aphro- dite as the generative principle in nature. " She was apparently worshipped among the Babylonians, who gradually spread her worship through Assyria and Per- sia. …
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Coin of Myndus. Mynecena. See Mvnicess. MYNICEXS '782 MYRRH Mynicens (Lat. mi/necena, fern, of nninnc; allied to 1 moniules) is the name of a class of English monastics ■who flourished in 1009 and 1017, and were probably Benedictines. They differed from nuns in being of younger age, and under a rule more strict. Se…
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MYRRH ^83 MYRRH India, Ethiopia, Troglodytica, and Egypt; in which last country it was called bal (/3aX), according to Plu- tarch, De Iside et Osiride, p. 383 (Kircher, rrod. Copt. p. 175). Plutarch, however, was probably in error, and has confounded the Coptic sal, " myrrh," with hal, " an eye" (Jablonski, Opusc. i…
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2. u3P or tii^, lot (so called, perhaps, from covering, being used as a cosmetic or pomatum ; Gesen. Thesaur, p. 748; Sept. crTaicrri, and Vulg. stacte), occurs only in Gen. xxxvii, 25, '-Behold, a company of Ishmaelites came down from Gilead with their camels bearing spi- cery (nekuth), and balm (Jsori), and myrrh (lo…
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Myrtle (O^n, hadas', so called, perhaps, from its sprintfiny up rapidly) occurs in Isa. xli, 19 ; Iv, 1." ; Xch. viii, 15; Zech. i, 8, 10, 11; and is identical with the Arabic hadas, which in the dialect of Arabia Felix sig- nifies the myrtle -tree (Eichardson, Pers. and Arabic Diet.'), The myrtle is, moreover, known t…
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Mys'ia {y\vula, according to some, from the abun- dance of the beech-tree, ^ujjof, in the neighborhood ; according to others, from the Celtic moese, a marsh, showing a connection with the Danubian marshy dis- trict of Moesia; comp. Eustath. Ad Dion. Per. 809; Schol. Ad Apoleon. Rhod. i, 145), a province occupying YI.-…
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In time ecclesiastical dramatic representations were separated from the divine oliices, and, though still jier- formcd in churches, formed a distinct part of priestly teaching, and under the name of Jli/stcn'es were acted after the sermon. ^lysteries were probably taken from Biblical, and miracle plays from legendary s…
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We have said that the laity intended no opposi- tion to the Church, and that the clergy recognised no such opposition, and did not anticipate it; yet by or even before the end of the 13th century the laity had robbed the clergy of a great part of their influence, and in the course of the 14th became the means of paraly…
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MYSTERIES 7 burlesque clement, and contain many curious illustra- tions of contemporary manners. The Coventry mys- teries were famous in Kngland. Of these, Dugdale re- lates, in his //i.i/ori/ of H'uricicLf/iir,', i>ublished in 1G5C, that, "Before the suppression of the monasteries this city was very famous for the pa…
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But though the mysteries may still continue to be performed in Roman Catholic countries, it is neverthe- less a fact that a Roman (^atholic country struck the first blow for their extinction — this was done in the MYSTERIES (89 MYSTEIMES m Roman Catholic south of Germany, where th(M> niii i- cle plays and mysterie…
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II. Payan ^fystcrits in yeneral. — These were ceremo- ])erformers. The following are some of the iirincipal nies in which only the initiated coidd participate. The scenes given by a late eye-witness: " l.Thc triumplial practice may be obscurely traced to the early Orient, in entrj- of Christ into Jerusalem ; the chi…
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More important were the Persian m3'steries of Alith- ra, which appeared in Rome about the beginning of the 2d century of the Christian rera. They were propagated by Chaldoean and Syrian priests. The austerity of the doctrine, the real perils of initiation which neophytes were obliged to encounter, the title of soldier …
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MYSTERY 192 3IYSTERY Ceres was invoked under this name, was a day of mer- ' ffoffus (/ivaraywyoc, also called i(po<tiavrt]c or irpoip);- rimeiit and raillery among the women themselves, in | rijc), and they received some kind of preparatory' in- commemoration of lambe, who was said to have made j struction, which en…
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enjoyed a local worship were now raised to the rank of national gods. This seems also to have been the case with the Eleusinian goddess, for in the reign of Theseus we find mention of a temple at Athens called Eleusin- ian, probably the new and national sanctuary of Ceres. Her priests and priestpsses now became natural…
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IV. Biblical Use of the Term " Jfi/stery." — A most un- scriptural and dangerous sense is too often put upon the word, as if it meant something absolutely unintelligible and incomprehensible; whereas in every instance in which it occurs in the Sept. or New Testament it is applied to something which is revealed, declare…
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MYSTIC VEILS 794 MYSTICISM the absence of an interpreter, and when, therefore, no man understood him, although "by the Spirit he was speaking m_vsteries," yet the apostle supposes that the man so doing himself understood what he said (I Cor. xiv, 2-1:). In the prophetic portion of his writings, " concerning the myst…
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MYSTICISM •795 MYSTICS of Nitzsch, in his System d. christUchen Lehre. Mys- ticism, then, in the objective sense, is the divine ele- ment imparted to man by external or internal com- munication (for instance, in the sacraments), and in the subjective sense it is special experience, visions, etc., subject to particul…
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Mystics are religionists who profess a pure and sublime devotion, accompanied with a disinterested love of God, free from selfish considerations; and who be- lieve that the writings which reveal to them the story of the supernatural have a mystic and hidden sense, which must be sought after in order to comprehend their…
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tion for realities. Sudden impressions were cherished as the illai)sc of the Spirit, and jjictures of morbid fancj- were hailed as exhibiting the odors, hues, and riches of a spiritual paradise. The forms of thought and modes of action in which mysticism has been developetl in different periods and among different nat…
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a true apprehension of what he is. Negation and affir- mation, accordingly, constitute the two opposed and yet simultaneous methods he lays down for the knowledge of the Infinite. These two paths, the Via Negativa (or Apophatica) and the Via Affirinativa (or Catapha- tica), constitute the foundation of his mysticism. T…
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the universe; as the crowning effort of creation, he em- bodies in himself the future recapitulation of all things ! in God. Substantial union with the Deity is only pos- sil)le in human nature: and it was made possible to all by the iniion of manhood and Godhead in Christ. Thereby man's spirit soars up to God through …
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Asceticism not unfrequentlj' issued from the mystical religious life, its highest instances being that of St, Francis of Assisi, the founder of the Franciscan Order. The Fratricelli of the 13th century were an offshoot from this stock. The Bcguine establishments, origi- nally asylums for the widows and daughters of Cru…
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To this pantheistic mysticism was opposed a less nox- ious kind of mysticism, which reared itself on the basii of Christian theism. The chief representative of this theistical mysticism is Ruysbroek, by whose efforts the mystical tendency in the Netherlands and Germany underwent a complete revolution. The system of thi…
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In all ages a yearning for more spiritual forms of re- ligion has driven ardent spirits into mysticism. The period heralding the approach of the Reformation was by far the most fruitful for the propagation of mystic views and life. Greatest among the Mystics of those days was Thomas h Kempis (q. v.), who in his Iloriul…
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The"6'p;vHaH Theohxjif had a great effect on the in- ner religious life of (iermany at the time of the Refor- mation, and gave to it a mystic tone. It is the title of a work that was first brought under public notice by Luther, an<l published by him ( .\.l). \h\^) as "eyn edels Biichlein, von rechtem Versland was .\dam…
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At the Reformation period, Paracelsus (Theophrastus Bombast of Hohenheim, born A.D. 1493, d. 1541) was among the first to show a decided leaning to mysticism, though medicine, not theology, was his peculiar faculty. He was by no means a partisan of Luther, although he was himself a zealous Reformer. His theological mys…
1,238 wordsSource & rights
Public-domain 19th-century biblical, theological, and ecclesiastical reference work; OCR text from Internet Archive. Historical scholarship and terminology reflect its era; OCR may contain errors. Verify quotations and current scholarly claims independently.
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Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.