Set II \i i i i. Wh.n Paul and Silas were imprisoned at Philippi, "at midnight they prayed .and sang praises unto God" (vfivovv rbv -■ ■■> ', ^cts xvi, 25). Whether
what they sang were BOme of the .ancient psalms or spontaneous utterances of adoration and worship we
have no means of determining. See Htmk. In his epistles to the Ephesians (v, 19) and to the Colossians (Hi, 16), the apostle Paul recognises and enjoin- the n-e of sacred song. So does the apostle James i v. 13). Mi- chaelis and others suppose thai such passages as Acts iv. 24-30 are fragments of apostolic hymns. The Apoca- lypse contains some of the most magnificent bursts of worship-song. In the passages just cited of Ephesians and Colossians the apostle enjoins the use of hymns in the social worship of Christians, classing them with psalms and spiritual Bongs (xpaXfiolc Kai vpvoic, ko.1 <i>Cciic TrvivpaTiKatc,). In what relation these stood to each other is a question which has occasioned consider- able differences of opinion. According to some, the dis- tinction between them was one of subject; according to others, it was merely one ofform, having respect to the manner in which they wire sung; while others con- tend that the sowa whence they were derived, and the general character of the composition, determined the difference between them. Under these leading opin- ions, endless differences of minor opinion have been ad- vocated. Of those who adopt the first opinion is St. Jerome, who thinks that the hymn was devoted to the celebration of the divine majesty and goodness, that the psalm was occupied with themes of an ethical nature, and that the spiritual ode was occupied with things above, and the subtle discussion of the concert of the world, and the order and concord of creation (Comment. in Eph. r. 19). ( Ithers. again, who hold the same gen- eral view state the difference thus: The psalm belongs to ethics; the hymn, as setting forth the praises of God for redemption, to theology; and the ode, as celebrat- ing the works of God in creation and providence, to natural science (Thomasius. la Prafationibus, p. 525). All this, however, is purely arbitrary. The second opinion was held by Augustine, Basil, Hilary, and oth- ers of the Christian fathers, and has been adopted by several in more recent times. By some who take this view, the distinction is supposed to lie in this, that the xluX/ioi were compositions which were chanted to the accompaniment of an instrument, the \pa\rf}piov, the vpvot songs of adoration uttered by the voice alone, and the wi'iii, short chants uttered also only by the voice (Augustine, Etiarrat. in Psa. Hi: Basil. Mag. In Psa: xxix ; Greg. Nyss. 'Jr. ii in Psalmos, cb. iii. etc. I : w bile others think that the distinction is to he determined by reference to the Hebrew terminology C^""'i".~"~" "'-". ~*;nr. which is in fact determining nothing, as the distinction between these is itself entirely uncertain. The third opinion is that of He/a (Nov. Test, ad loo.) and Grotius (Comment.ad Matt. xxvi, 30, et h. 1.) ; they think that by psalms tire designated the sacred songs hearing thai name collectively in the Old-Test, canon; by hymns such extemporary songs of praise as we have in the utterances of Deborah, Hannah. Zachariah. and Mary, and such as the apostle and his companion sang in the prison at Philippi ; and by odes premeditate d com- positions of a more elaborate nature and stricter form than hymns. To this, in the general, most subsequent in- quirers have given their consent ; only some think that the term ••psalms" should not he restricted t" the com- positions bearing that name in the < (Id lest.. hut should he extended to all of a similar character which might be composed for the use of the Church in later times; and that by "spiritual odes'* tire to lie understood specif- ically all sacred songs, of whatever kind, composed by Special inspiration of the Holy Ghost (StOTTVaiOToi),
The former of these modifications is rendered almost imperative by 1 Cor. xiv. 26; and the latter by the general Bense of the adjective TrvevfiaTiKoc, in the New Test. Not a few. despairing of satisfactorily discrimi- nating these three kinds of sacred song, have contended that the apostle merely accumulates terms for the sake
ot force, and that no distinction between them i- to lie
-ought (Clem. Alex. Padag. ii. 1, p. 565; Clericus, In Not. apud Hammondii AtmoU, ad loc, etc.); but this
PSALMODY
737
PSALMODY
otiose method of disposing of the difficulty has been ' positions after their model — the angels' song at the
repudiated bv most. nativity, and the songs of Zacharias and Simeon leading
As to the form in which these early hymns of the the way. The earliest Christian hymns seem to have
Church were composed, we have no means of even been simple glorifications of Christ,
approaching a certain conclusion. Among the Jewish Eusebius intimates that private individuals wrote
Christians the chanting of the psalms was familiar, and hymns to Christ as God, which were generally sung
it would be easy for them to compose hymns that could (//. E. v. 38 : vii. 24 : ii. 17). In his letter to Trajan,
be suno- to their accustomed tunes; but with the Gen- Pliny says. " The Christians are accustomed to sing al-