The word REST is the Greek PAUO and it is almost totally devoted to STOPPING the presumptious rituals of 'WORSHIP PERFORMERS.'
Click to see that MUSIC IS HERESY because it creates MENTAL EXCITEMENT in order to RAISE YOU UP in order to CARRY YOU AWAY for their own uses. The REST of Jesus invites the twos and threes to come learn of me.
Pauo means stop the polemos or battle, fight, war: stop levying war against another, anaireisthai or airô egeirein, kathistanai, epagein to begin a war; p. poieisthai to make war, -- opp. to p. anapauein, kataluesthai to put an end to it, make peace, all in attic
The singing which is to PAUSE to give rest is b. mostly of things, make an end of, stop, abate
Pauo means: STOP the: melôid-ia , hę, singing, chanting,
........... II. chant, choral song, melôidias poiętęs, lullaby, generally, musisPauo means: Stop the pain of: aoidę [aeidô]
Why is that important? Because aoiding is related to the MUSES of Revelation 18.
Pauo means: Stop the Thamyris, a Thracian aoidę
Pauo means: Stop worshipping the MUSES
........... kata-pauô put an end to, stopPauo means: Stop the charismatic music which is with clanging cymbals:
Klangę [klazô] any sharp sound, such as the twang of a bow, the grunting of swine, the hissing of serpents, the barking of dogs, of song, Cassandra-prophecies.
Pauo means: Stop the: Panos orgai panic fears (i. e. terrors sent by Pan), Eur.:--but, orgę tinos anger against a person or at a thing, hierôn orgas wrath at or because of the rites.
Pauo means: Stop the Dancing they tried to force on Jesus
Pauo means: Stop the Sorcery. The sOPHISts are the OPHIS serpents which, as in Genesis is a Musical Enchanter.
The Pauo Jesus died to give us means: To Take Thy Rest:
Klisia a place for lying down, henceI. a hut, cot, cabin, such as besiegers lived in during long sieges, Il.:--that they were not tents, but wooden huts, appears from Il. 24.448 sq.; and when an army broke up, it burnt them on the spot, Od. 8.501
- Ii. a couch or easy chair, Od., Pind.
- 2. a bed, nuptial bed, Eur.
- Iii. a company of people sitting at meals, NTest.
- Iv. a reclining or lying, Plut.
- Paue stop! have done! be quiet!
Victor Knowles: Geoffrey Wilson wrote, "The unpopularity of a crucified Christ has prompted many to present a message which is more palatable to the unbeliever, but the removal of the offense of the cross (1Co1:18) always renders the message ineffective. An inoffensive gospel is also an inoperative gospel."
That is why "a cappella" churches HAVE NEVER used performance preachers (or dancers) or "musicians." The CLAIMS are very clear: to ATTRACT people to hear the "GOSPEL" by entertaining them.
There are several proofs of this statement. First, preaching as opposed to reading and dialoging the Words of CHRIST is dramatic proof that we had rather PROCURE a popular rhetorician or sOPHISts (the serpent of Revelation) than to drink the FREE water of the Word (Isaiah 55). If you RETAIL it then you put yourself squarely between the so-called worshipers and Lord Jesus Christ. Grasping that there IS NOT gifted person called PREACHER, and that SERMO in the Latin means to DIALOG the read Word, the earliest heresy was a result of sugar coating:
"With the victory of Christianity and the development of the service came
a soaring of the sermon. Preaching became more frequent, being employed even during the week and during fast seasons in some places daily.
As the Church during that period assimilated more and more Greco-Roman culture, the sermon developed para passu.
The most noted Christian preachers had not seldom been educated in the rhetorical schools of the heathen,
and employed in their sermons the rule of rhetoric and the artistic effects taught there, and polish became almost an end, often giving more brilliancy than warmth.
The hearers came to look for esthetic satisfaction rather than for edification,
leaving after the sermon and before the Eucharist." (The New Schaff-Herzog Religious Encyclopedia, Preaching, p. 150, Period 300-450 A. D.).
Beginning in the spiritual realm and landing in the garden of Eden, the serpent or NACHASH was a "musical enchanter." According to Paul he/she wholly seduced Eve and Adam "bowed willingly." Cain was "of that wicked one" and the word CAIN means A MUSICAL NOTE. He/she is Lucifer indwelling the king/queen of Tyre who is identified as the "singing and harp-playing prostitute." He/she is the king/queen of the first Babylon who went into sheol with his/her harps and harpists to rot on a bed of maggots. As the end time babylon whore worship she is defined as Circe who gave her name to CHURCH.
And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee; Rev 18:22
The musicians are the MUSES. They are the LOCUSTS dug up by Apollo or Abbadon or Apollyon: the locusts are known as musical performers who lull you to sleep at noonday. The craftsmen are the techne: they were stage managers and house builders which, then and now, were theaters for "worship."
Thomas Campbell called the church "A school of Christ" as indeed the ekklesia built by Jesus was a synagogue or School of the Bible.
EVERYTHING in the modern "worship ritual" intends to WIND UP the puppets so that they will cough up the tithes and offerings neither of which have any scriptural foundation. If you take away the LEGALISM of the "collection plate" the TRAFFICKING sowers of discord will have to get real jobs as Paul insisted.
Music and Drama are "at least twice removed from the truth." Why do we love the DRAMA of preaching and music? An expert says that it is "because we know that it isn't true." When we sang and twang "at the foot of the old rugged cross" we know that no blood will drip on us. And, while we are her, the Jewish "musicians" were Warrior's Panic and signal corp: they would mock Jesus right up to the foot of the cross.
See how they tried to triumph over Jesus with music and dancing.
Psalm 41 translated or as a version at the Dead Sea PROVES that Judas and the Levitical Warrior Musicians would try to PANIC Jesus into failure. If Jesus sang and danced while the clergy PIPED that would prove, to them, that He was their sought-after Dionysus. If Jesus had bowed he would have engaged in the DRUNKENESS they lied about and submitted to SODOMY which was the LAST ACT of the pagan worship. Or as the vineyard lady says, just before "giving of means."
"No wonder that it came at last to be firmly believed that the Messiah, on whom the hopes of the world depended, was Himself the "seed of the serpent"! This was manifestly the case in Greece; for the current story there came to be,
that the first Bacchus was brought forth in consequence of a connexion on the part of his mother with the father of the gods, in the form of a "speckled snake." *
* OVID, Metam. So deeply was the idea of "the seed of the serpent" being the great World-king imprinted (marked) on the Pagan mind, that when a man set up to be a god upon earth, it was held essential to establish his title to that character,
........... that he prove himself to be the "serpent's seed."Thus, when Alexander the Great claimed divine honours, it is well known that his mother Olympias, declared that he was not sprung from King Philip, her husband, but from Jupiter, in the form of a serpent. In like manner, says the authoress of Rome in the 19th Century, the Roman emperor,
"Augustus, pretended that he was the son of Apollo, and that the god had assumed the form of a serpent for the purpose of giving him birth."
Jesus identified the Jewish clergy this way because THEY SPEAK ON THEIR OWN.
Victor Knowles: We rather reserved Restorationists might bring ourselves to agree with Tyndale on the glad heart part (though some of us are wont to confuse sure gladness with sour godliness--which Wesley called the devil's religion).
To recognize the big lie that the A CAPPELLA churches of Christ invented the NON-INSTRUMENT POSITION and thereby became SECTARIANS, Click here.
CLARKE of the organ: "I am an old man, and I here declare that I never knew them to be productive of any good in the worship of God, and have reason to believe that they are productive of much evil. Music as a science I esteem and admire, but instrumental music in the house of God I abominate and abhor. This is the abuse of music, and I here register my protest against all such corruption of the worship of the author of Christianity. The late and venerable and most eminent divine, the Rev. John Wesley, who was a lover of music, and an elegant poet, when asked his opinion of instruments of music being introduced into the chapels of the Methodists, said in his terse and powerful manner, 'I have no objections to instruments of music in our chapels, provided they are neither heard nor seen.' I say the same." (Adam Clark, Methodist)
"When the Reformation came to England, the Anglican church came within one vote (58-59) of abolishing instrumental music in 1562. 12 John Knox called for Christianity to be purified of a "popish corruption" and urged the restoration of "plain singing of psalms unaccompanied by instrumental music."
John Wesley, who attempted further reformation in the Church of England in the 1700's, and ended by establishing the Methodist Church was also adamantly opposed to Instrumental Music. 13 Charles Spurgeon, perhaps the most famous preacher among the Baptists of the last century, refused to allow instrumental music in the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London where he preached to 10,000 weekly. He commented: "I would as soon pray to God with machinery as sing to God with machinery." Kurfees
No dancing or music:
John Wesley: He that uses the creature only so as to attain to more of the Creator, is alone temperate, and walks as Christ himself walked. And to patience godliness -Its proper support: a continual sense of God's presence and providence, and a filial fear of, and confidence in, him; otherwise your patience may be pride, surliness, stoicism; but not Christianity. Verse 7. And to godliness brotherly kindness - No sullenness, sternness, moroseness: "sour godliness," so called, is of the devil. Of Christian godliness it may always be said, "Mild, sweet, serene, and tender is her mood, Nor grave with sternness, nor with lightness free: Against example resolutely good, Fervent in zeal, and warm in charity."
People who use the ploy of UNITY to infiltrate and divert people into instrumental music ARE NOT mild or sweet.
John Wesley: It is true, there is a sort of religion, nay, and it is called Christianity too, which may be practised without any such Imputation, which is generally allowed to be consistent with common sense, -
that is, a religion of form, a round of outward duties, performed in a decent, regular manner.
There is nothing more FORM or ritualistic or legalistic than to believe that, in the words of Rubel Shelly, you can lead people into the presence of God.
You may add orthodoxy thereto, a system of right opinions, yea, and some quantity of heathen morality; and yet not many will pronounce, that 'much religion hath made you mad.'
But if you aim at the religion of the heart, if you talk of 'righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost,'
then it will not be long before your sentence is passed, 'Thou art beside thyself'.
2. And it is no compliment which the men of the world pay you here. They, for once, mean what they say. They not only affirm, but cordially believe, that every man is beside himself who says, 'the love of God is shed abroad in' his 'heart by the Holy Ghost given unto him'; and that God has enabled him to rejoice in Christ 'with joy unspeakable and full of glory'.
........... If a man is indeed alive to God, and dead to all things here below;
........... if he continually sees Him that is invisible,and accordingly walks by faith, and not by sight; then they account it a clear case: beyond all dispute, 'much religion hath made him mad.'
Victor Knowles: We all agree that singing is an expression of our worship and praise--
although we debate about the rightness or wrongness of using a small instrument to obtain the pitch or a larger instrument to maintain the pitch.
No, we do not agree on any such thing. There is not a hint that PRAISE be turned into a collective ritual. It is impossible to praise continually and ever allow it to be tagged to one hour on Sunday morning where the PRAISE TEAMS seeks, through the Lucifer principle, to bleed off worship for themselves.
Strong delusion comes when you interpret SPEAK and TEACH as SING and PLAY.
Paul speaks of the idolatry at Mount Sinai or the sin of Nadab and Abihu when he warns:
Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: Heb 12:28
Victor Knowles "knowles" that this is a FALSE premise. No one ever put an organ or a Rock and Roll band into a church to SET or MAINTAIN the PITCH. They were put in to "collect the largest miscellaneous crowds." The original SOWERS OF DISCORD said that IF the instrument were used for WORSHIP then that would be a sin.
The operative word Paul used was SPEAK or TEACH which means to PREACH and not SING. The resources were in Romans15 "that which is written," In Ephesians 5 "the Spirit" and in Col 3 "the Word of Christ." That is because Jesus Christ--Who refused to SING and DANCE wen the clergy PIPED--said:
What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before? John 6:62
It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. John 6:63
That is why the ASSEMBLY in Paul's writing is a form of the synagogue and "there was no praise service in the synagogue." Paul's UNIQUE worship word was to give heed to the reading of the Word. That is what you DO in a school of the Bible: only children sing in Sunday school.
Victor Knowles: But then comes the matter of dancing and leaping for joy. Here we find ourselves most uncomfortable. We know that David danced.
Click to see the meaning of RISING UP TO PLAY. This was the terminal musical idolatry at Mount Sinai and it was repeated by David who "made himself vile" where the belief that God cannot punish MAD men. God permitted David to make animal sacrifices at the Jebusite High Place in Jerusalem because he was so afraid of God that he could never return to Gibeon.
"By taking over and adapting Jerusalem's ancient cult, David provided Israel with a new worship, one that featured his own status and its sacral significance. Britannica OR Here
We also noted that the Bible is clear that both Israel and Judah worshiped like the nations.
And walked in the statutes of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out from before the children of Israel,
and (statutes) of the kings of Israel, which they had made. 2 Kings 17: 8
And David and all the house of Israel played before the Lord on all manner of instruments made of fir wood, even on harps, and on psalteries, and on timbrels, and on cornets, and on cymbals. 2 Sam 6:5
Long afterward, the ritual of the civil state was combined with the sacrifices commanded by God.
- And
the priests waited on their offices:
- the Levites also with instruments of musick of the Lord,
- which David the king had made
- to praise the Lord, because his mercy endureth for ever,
- when David praised by their ministry;
- and the priests sounded trumpets before them, and all Israel stood. 2Chr.7:6
Some of these instruments were not allowed in the Temple. Therefore, God warns about how we act even outside.
Stephen includes the Sinai event, the Amos story and the fact that God doesn't "really live in buildings." For this, the Jewish clergy had him murdered. Because David actually believed that God dwelled in the "box" he was not the "pattern" for "an act of worship.:
"The ritual dance was probably widespread in the ancient East. David's performance has Egyptian parallels. Seti I, the father of Rameses II, and three other Pharaohs are said to have danced before an deity (Budge, The Book of the Dead, I, xxxv), and Asiatic monuments attest the custom elsewhere." (Int. Std. Bible Ency., p. 1169-70).
"Probably the dancers in some cases joined hands and formed a ring, or part of a ring, as in some heathen representations. The description of David's dance: he 'danced before Jehovah with all his might... leaping and dancing before Jehovah' (2 S 6:14-16) suggests" (writer then compared to three forms of heathen dance). (Int. Std. Bible Ency., p. 1169-70).
The epod was a short vest and began as a feminine overgarment as all of the music was stolen from young girls and women. It was open on the sides.
"Wearing a linen ephod, David once performed an ecstatic (charismatic) dance before the ark of the Lord.
From the fact that his wife Michal chided him for having uncovered himself before his servant's handmaidens (2 Sam. 6:20),
it seems likely that the king's exhibition was vulgar and revealing. Apparently as a retaliation for her scolding, David fathered no children by Michal (2 Sam. 6:23)" (Garrison, Web, Strange Facts About the Bible, Abingdon, Nashville., p. 31-32).
Victor Knowles: But so did the daughter of Herodias! Shades of Salome! Shall we unveil the dance of the seven veils on the platform of the church? Heaven forbid. (Some insist heaven does!) And "leaping for joy?"
Maybe the lame man at the Gate Beautiful, who was healed by Peter, went to the temple walking and leaping and praising God, but we rather reserved Restorationists might consider that display of emotion a bit much.
Interesting that the SONG and DANCE they tried to induce into Jesus and others in the religion of Jerusalem under the Kenites was used ONLY by one other case: The daughter of Herodias. She danced the sexual dance which allowed her step father to murder John the Baptists just as they murdered Jesus because He would not BOW.
Aristotle notes that leaping is LOCOMOTION and not "worship." [3] And the same is true of walking and the other forms of locomotion. For if locomotion is motion from one point in space to another,
and if this is of different kinds, flying, walking, leaping and the like, and not only so,
but if there are also differences in walking itself (for the terminal points of a race course are not the same as those of a portion of the course, nor are those of one portion the same as those of another; nor is traversing this line the same as traversing that one.
The dramatic dance with the chorus and lamenting for Dionysus would have meant that the paganistic Jews would have triumphed over Jesus with their pipes or trumpets. This perverse act is define by Joseph Campbell:
"This cry of Zeus, the Thunder-hurler, to the child, his son, Dionysos, sounds the leitmotif of the Greek mysteries of the initiatory second birth (Second Incarnation)..The word 'Dithyrambos' itself, as an epithet of the killed and resurrected Dionysos, was understood by the Greeks to signify 'him of the double door', him who had survived the awesome miracle of the second birth." - Joseph Campbell, The Hero With a Thousand Faces
"A fourth-century BC hymn in honor of dionysus contains the invocation: 'Come to us, King Dithyramb, Bacchus, god of the holy chant.'"
Dithurambos, Dithyramb "comes to be used of a Dionysiac song which possessed some infectious quality that led his votaries to take it up as a ritual chant. Later it became the subject for competition at Dionysiac festivals, and with its formalization it lost any spontaneity it may have possessed originally."
Hoping that Jesus was Bacchus or Dionysus:
But whereunto shall I liken this generation? It is like unto children sitting in the markets, and calling unto their fellows,
And saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned unto you, and ye have not lamented. Mt.11:17 Mt 11:16
Mourned is:
Threneo (g2354) thray-neh'-o; from 2355; to bewail: - lament, mourn.
Thriambeuo (g2358) three-am-byoo'-o; from a prol. comp. of the base of 2360 and a der. of 680 [touch or set on fire] (mean. a noisy iambus, sung in honor of Bacchus); to make an acclamatory procession, i.e. (fig.) to conquer or (by Hebr.) to give victory: - (cause) to triumph (over).
Throeo (g2360) thro-eh'-o; from threomai , (to wail); to clamor, i.e. (by impl.) to frighten: - trouble
"At the beginning of the fifth century BC tragedy formed part of the Great Dionysia, the Spring festival of Dionysos Eluethereus. Three poets completed, each contributing three tragedies and one satyric play.
The latter was performed by choruses of fifty singers in a circle, dressed as satyrs, part human, part bestial, and bearing before them huge replicas of the erect penis (i.e. church steeples or columns or asherahs), as they sang dithyrambs." - John M. Allegro, The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross
"The gods, forsooth, delight in mimics; and that surpassing excellence which has not been comprehended by any human faculty, opens its ears most willingly to hear these plays, with most of which they know they are mixed up to be turned to derision; they are delighted, as it is, with the shaved heads of fools, by the sound of flaps, and by the noise of applause." (Arnobius Against the Heathen, Ante-Nicene Fathers, VI, p. 531).
Satyr Play
In the Satyr Play (Saturikon) the chorus members (who belong to a Dionysian Society) dress up as the God's companions to celebrate His Phallic Power. Its subject is related to that of the Tragedies, but brings the Hero down a peg by its earthy humor. Some Satyr Plays hint at initiation into a Dionysian Thiasos (Society) through riddles or stories concerning release from the Underworld, or the capture and escape of the Satyrs, or the care of Divine Children.
In many ways the Satyr Play reveals deeper mysteries than the Tragedies or Comedies; it is the most ancient Mystery Play (predating the Tragedies and Comedies, which developed from it).
There will be two or three actors, a reed-flute player, and a chorus of twelve, who will be dressed as tipsy Silenoi (horse-men), Satyrs (goat-men) or various blends of the two. Thus they wear short pants to which a large Phallus and a horse's tail are attached; they also wear soft dancing shoes that resemble hooves. The chorus leader will play Silenos, the traditional drunken attendant of Dionysus; he will wear a shaggy costume resembling an animal skin and over his shoulder a panther hide (a traditional attribute of Dionysos). Wine and dance are proverbially connected, for one must dance on the grapes to make wine, and the wine in turn makes you dance!
. This especially associates the Satyrs with the Divine Shepherd Pan (called Aposkopos, "Beholding from Afar"). Thus Dionysian routs often include Pans, Satyrs and Silenoi indiscriminately.
Similar Latin
Canatim , adv. [canis] , in the manner of a dog, like a dog, kunędon,
I. a dog or bitch, Hom., etc.; most commonly of hounds, id=Hom., etc.; the Laconian breed was famous, Soph.;-- nę or ma ton kuna was the favourite oath of Socrates, Plat.: cf. trapezeus.
II. as a word of reproach, to denote shamelessness or audacity in women, rashness, recklessness in men, Hom.
2. at Athens a nickname of the Cynics, Arist., Anth.
II. the Trag. apply the term to the ministers of the gods; the eagle is Dios ptęnos kuôn Aesch.; the griffins Zęnos akrageis kunes id=Aesch.; the Bacchantes Lussęs k. Eur., etc.
IV. a sea-dog, mentioned as a fish in Od.
V. the dog-star, i. e. the dog of Orion, placed among the stars with its master, Il.
[akrageis kunes = barkless dogs]
For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. Ps.22:16
His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber. Is.56:10
Keleb (h3611) keh'leb; from an unused root mean. to yelp, or else to attack; a dog; hence (by euphemism) a male prostitute: - dog.
Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough, and they are shepherds that cannot understand: they all look to their own way, every one for his gain, from his quarter. Isa 56:11
Come ye, say they, I will fetch wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and to morrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant. Isaiah 56: 12
But draw near hither, ye sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer and the whore. Isaiah 57:3
Against whom do ye sport (effeminate play as at Mount Sinai and by David moving the ark) yourselves? against whom make ye a wide mouth, and draw out the tongue? are ye not children of transgression, a seed of falsehood, Isaiah 57:4
Sport: Anag (h6028) aw-nag'; a prim. root; to be soft or pliable, i. e. (fig.) effeminate or luxurious: - delicate (-ness), (have) delight (self), sport self.
Sachaq (h7832) saw-khak'; a prim. root; to laugh (in pleasure or detraction); by impl. to play: - deride, have in derision, laugh, make merry, mock (-er), play, rejoice, (laugh to) scorn, be in (make) sport.
The Jewish clergy are identified as children of the Devil who "spoke of himself" and as "seed of the vipers."
Victor Knowles: Well, maybe we might walk and even praise God a little, but as for "leaping for joy"--
...... we would rather remain lame.It's not a beautiful gate we want to enter.
...... It's a dutiful gate at best! It's just not how we "do church."
There are 168 hours a week and Knowles is free to sing, leap, strip naked like David to MAKE HIMSELF VILE or whaterver strikes his fancy. However, it a giant LEAP for mankind to think of this as an ACT OF WORSHIP which can be exploited by a LEAP MINISTER.
"The development both of religion and of the arts can be traced back in a continuous line to the hunting era. The group ritual of the primeval tribesmen were the origin not only of all religious ceremonial, but also of the drama and of poetry and music, while magic gave birth to the visual arts." (Parkes, Henry Bamford, Gods and Men The Origins of Western Culture, p. 30, Knopf)
Beecher, commenting on the musical idolatry at Mount Sinai compares it to David's naked dance as he believed that he "dragged along" God--
"The Hebrew verb means to dance to music, vocal and instrumental. See 1 Chron. 13:8)" (Cook). "This was playing before the ark, as it slowly made progress; that is, there were evolutions and marching figures and religious dances" (Professor Beecher, quoted by Peloubet's Selects Notes, 1903, p. 270).
When the Israelites "rose up to play" we are pointed to the "sending across the sea" rituals of paganism (Rom. 10:5f) to see that the outrageous acts were really a "ritual drama" which forced their god to imitate them. From the context of Amos it is clear that they "dragged their god along" with music. In later years this practice continued and Tertullian taunted those who adopted pagan worship by saying--
"The writer of comedy, expressing his dissatisfaction with the common usages, tries to expose the impious arrogance of the prevailing error in the drama of the Priestess, sagely declaring:
'If a man drags the Deity
Whither he will by the sound of cymbals,
He that does this is greater than the Deity;
But these are the instruments of audacity and
means of living Invented by men.|
(Tertullian, Exhortation to the Heathen, Ante-Nicene, II, p. 193).While the people thought they were worshipping, God said--
Moses saw that the people were running wild and that
Aaron had let them get out of control and so
become a laughingstock to their enemies." -- Exo 32:25
In the LXX, "Moses saw that they were scattered." The "spiritual exercises" which they thought looked good was seen by others as utter madness. The result was that they were "scattered" or divided and God would destroy those who had run wild. Of this use of music and dance to induce ecstasy one writer said:
Not to be overlooked here is the accompaniment of music and dancing which, with the character of the ensuing phenomena, makes the diagnosis (of idolatry) certain." (Schaff-Herzog, Ecstasy, p. 71).
"The triumphal hymn of Moses had unquestionably a religious character about it;
but the employment of music in religious services,
though idolatrous, is more distinctly marked in the festivities which attended the erection of the golden calf." (Smith's Bible Dictionary, Music, p. 589).Victor Knowles: Even though our spiritual ancestors danced and leaped for joy at Cane Ridge, the mother of us all, and did a few other things that we would rather forget. Or am I barking up the wrong tree here?
Suicide and religious division was a primary product of the First and Second "Great American Awakening." Someone has noted that there was a POPULATION EXPLOSION about nine months after the "revivalist" began their voodoo.
Notice what an an Orthodox who calls the church The Church of Christ says:
The deceit was uncovered only when the fathers of the monastery found out about his aversion for the New Testament (although the Old Testament, which he had never read, he could quote by heart), and by their prayers he was brought to repentance, his "miracles" ceased, and later he attained to genuine sanctity. Again, St. Isaac of the Kiev Caves (Feb. 14) saw a great light and "Christ" appeared to him with "angels"; when Isaac, without making the sign of the Cross, bowed down before "Christ," the demons gained power over him and, after dancing wildly with him, left him all but dead. He also later attained genuine sanctity. There are many similar cases when "Christ" and "angels" appeared to ascetics and granted astonishing powers and "gifts of the Holy Spirit," which often led the deluded ascetic finally to insanity or suicide.
It occurred to me that these people were having a good time praying! Is that what they meant by the Holy Spirit dwelling amongst them?" And at another Catholic Pentecostal meeting, "except for the fact that no one was drinking, it seemed like a cocktail party" (Ranaghan, pp. 157, 209). At interdenominational "charismatic" meetings the atmosphere is likewise sufficiently informal that no one is surprised when the "spirit" inspires an elderly woman, in the midst of a fit of general weeping, to stand up and "dance a little jig" (Sherrill, p. 118). To the sober Orthodox Christian, the first thing noticeable about such an atmosphere is its total lack of what he knows in his own Divine services as genuine piety and awe, proceeding from the fear of God. And this first impression is only strikingly confirmed by observation of the truly strange effects which the Pentecostal "spirit" produces when it descends into this loose atmosphere. We shall now examine some of these effects, placing them before the judgment of the Holy Fathers of the Church of Christ.
Many, many examples could be collected of this truly strange reaction to a "spiritual" experience, and some "charismatic" apologists have a whole philosophy of "spiritual joy" and "God's foolishness" to explain it. But this philosophy is not in the least Christian; such a concept as the "laughter of the Holy Spirit" is unheard of in the whole history of Christian thought and experience. Here perhaps more clearly than anywhere else the "charismatic revival" reveals itself as not at all Christian in religious orientation; this experience is purely worldly and pagan, and where it cannot be explained in terms of emotional hysteria (for Fr. Eusebius, indeed, laughter provided "relief" and "release" from "an intense feeling of self-consciousness and embarrassment" and "emotional devastation"), it can only be due to some degree of "possession" by one or more of the pagan gods, which the Orthodox church calls demons.
Shamanism The necessary spiritistic atmosphere is commonly induced by artificial means, such as the singing of hymns, the playing of soft music, and even the offering of prayer."
As opposed to the true Orthodox spiritual life, the "charismatic revival" is only the experiential side of the prevailing "ecumenical" fashion - a counterfeit Christianity that betrays Christ and His Church. No Orthodox "charismatic" could possibly object to the coming "Union" with those very Protestants and Roman Catholics with whom, as the interdenominational "charismatic" song goes, they are already "one in the Spirit, one in the Lord," and who have led them and inspired their "charismatic" experience. The "spirit" that has inspired the "charismatic revival" is the spirit of antichrist , or more precisely those "spirits of devils" of the last times whose "miracles" prepare the world for the false messiah.
"Little Children, it is the Last Hour" (1 John 2:18)
It was this urge to UNITY which turned out to be the urge to SHEEP STEALING which caused the mental and moral breakdown in BOURBON county.
Those at Caneridge are NOT my spiritual ancestors. First, they were led by Barton W. Stone seeking a MACHINERY to generate the "exercises." This could be TURNED IN at Calvinist churches as proof that one had been PREDESTINATED and had received the high sign.
As the revival interest grew, and as the meeting became larger and longer, unexpected and bizarre manifestations, called 'exercises,' began to occur. They were considered visible manifestations of the direct action of the Holy Spirit... The commonest were the 'falling exercise' and the 'jerks.' The names are sufficiently explanatory. The barking exercise sometimes accompanied the jerks, and the dancing exercise grew out of them. There was also the running exercise. It was reported that those who came to scoff were not immune to these seizures. However, it was only the devout who ever experienced the laughing exercise. (Winfred E. Garrison and Alfred T. DeGroot, The Disciples of Christ, St. Louis: The Bethany Press, 1948, p. 99).
Later, Campbell wrote to dispute that the church is the product of Cane Ridge--
When then shall we think of that religion which is the mere offspring of excited feelings--of sympathy with tones, and attitudes, and gestures--of the noise, and tumults, and shoutings of enthusiasm--of the machinery of the mourning bench, the anxious seat, the boisterous interlocutory prayers, intercessions, and exhortations to 'get religion on the spot' etc., with which all are conversant who frequent revival meetings in seasons of great excitement. (Millenial Harbinger. 1840:167)
THAT was the spiritual DNA of the later Christian churches but the churches of Christ NEVER experienced what historically is identified as witchcraft or insanity or even devil worship.
The brief brush with the "holiness movement" by Restoration churches was really a "brush off" and there was never any serious ecstatic manifestation in churches which depended upon Scripture for sole authority.
In 1853 W. K. Pendelton wrote of these earlier events:
Simply that it was a peculiar form of nervous disease, that was both epidemic and contagious. It came suddenly, as the destruction and the pestilence, both at noonday and in darkness--seized upon all classes and conditions, good and bad, old and young, male and female, bond and free, saint and sinner; affected them all with the same characteristic symptoms of bodily derangement--tarried for a season and then disappeared. Its effect on the mind, so far as it was peculiar, was simply excitement. No new truths were communicated,--no old errors corrected--nor miraculous utterances given; but simply an excitement, despondent or hopeful, gloomy or joyful, clear or confused, according to the convictions of the mind at the time of the attack and influence of circumstances during its continuance. (quoted by Randall, p. 373).
The fact is that what happened at Caneridge was almost identical to ancient and even modern DEVIL WORSHIP among some tribes in Iraq:
Victor Knowles: So why steer you out on the ballroom floor with this title: "Dancing At Arm's Length?"
First: Dancing! Is this not one of the seven cardinal sins? In the 1600's a Puritan,
Second: Philip Stubbs, bemoaned the practice of dancing around the Maypole: "What clipping, what culling, what kissing and bussing, what smooching and slabbering of one another, what filthy groping and unclean handling is not practiced at these dancings."
Maybe this is where we get the term "dirty dancing."
And if so, it appears to STILL be acceptable? Victor Knowles is going to ridicule Stubbs and affirm the DANCING which he bemoans!
Victor doesn't grasp the connection with ANY form of charismatic rituals which EXCITE the passions. ALL such practices including MUSIC had SEXUALITY as its only meaning: trying to dance with God, undoubtedly, but I don't get the impulse to dance with a MALE God. For instance,
In the "Encyclopedia of Religion," edited by Mercia Eliade and published by Macmillian Publishing Company for the University of Chicago, there are references to these Sheila-Na-Gigs (sometimes spelled Sheelagh-na-gig). Notice what the encyclopedia tells us about them:
"Aside from the transformative religious mysteries of sacrifice and initiation, the obvious life-giving and growth-promoting powers of the vulva and its secretions have given rise to a widespread use of representations of the female genitalia as apotropaic devices.
The delicious "incense" and "drink" provided by a menstruating woman was the reason they SHOULD NOT engage in religious rituals. The story is too long to tell. But, you do know that when the Jews ATE the sacrifices made to Baal-Peor the previous "worshiper" had deficated and spread it on the idol's nose. All such rituals including music was an attempt to HAVE SEX with the gods. In fact, the idea of ridiculing the gods to shame them into action was common in the musical rituals. Remember that Elijah taunted Jezebel's musical prophesiers by asking, in effect, "has your god turned aside to take a leak?"
"The Praise Team leads the congregation into the presence of the Lord with exciting praise and worship. The Word says that God inhabits the praises of His people and we are a people desiring to be inhabited!
Praise plows the ground for the seed to be planted when the Word is taught (Hosea 10:11). The team unites together as the Levites did in the Old Testament to bring praise and glory to God."
Praise and Worship plows the ground to make it ready for planting. A good worship team does the plowing and the pastor (and others) plant the seed. Without the plowing, the seed might fall on the stony ground and not take root!
Yes, the Holy Spirit still is welcome and still comes whether you are participating or not.
That intends to be explicitly sexual. Carol Wimber, mother of the end-times praise singing says so. After you have sex with "god" brought on by music the next act is GIVING OF MEANS. Music has always been used to seduce you out of your hard earned money and music has the universal meaning (in worship) of fornication and sodomy.
The custom of plowing a furrow for magical protection around a town was practiced all over Europe by peasants. It was still observed in the twentieth century in Russia, where villages were thus annually 'purified.'
The practice was exclusively carried out by women, who, while plowing, called on the moon goddess. A similar apotropaic function seems to have prompted the placing of squatting female figures prominently exposing their open vulvas on the key of arches at church entrances in Ireland, Great Britain, and German Switzerland. In Ireland these figures are called Sheelagh-na-gigs. Some of these figures represent emaciated old women. These images are illustrations of myths concerning the territorial Celtic goddess who was the granter of royalty. When the goddess wished to test the king-elect, she came to him in the form of an old hag, soliciting sexual intercourse. If the king-elect accepted, she transformed herself into a radiantly beautiful young woman and conferred on him royalty and blessed his reign. Most such figures were removed from churches in the nineteenth century. [We have pictures]
"The Christian church opposed May festivals. A 16th century English Puritan writer Philip Stubes, railed against May pole dancing. He said, "What clipping, what culling, what kissing and bussing, what smooching and slobbering one of another, what filthy groping and unclean handling is not practiced in the dances." Stubes estimated, though how he got his statistics is unknown, probably from peeping through bushes, that not one girl in three retained her virginity after taking part in May pole rituals. After dancing around the Maypole celebrants would retire to the open fields where they would have sex with anyone and everyone in the plowed fields in order to insure the fertility of the land and prosperous yield of crops. May was a month of sexual freedom throughout rural Europe up to the 16th century. Marriage bonds were suspended for the month of May, commenced again in June - hence, June weddings.
The CLERGY tried this on Jesus: In Roman times, Bacchus, the god of wine, became the lord of these festivals. During the Bacchanalian festivals the everyday rules were turned topsy turvy. The masters waited on the servants. All sexual prohibitions were lifted. It was a time of true good will towards all men. Even dresses were exchanged with men dressing as women. Erotic dances were performed with a large erect phallus being carried around in the dancing processionals.
Note that the Abomination of Desolation included music and sex right there in the holy places. See 2 Maccabees
The custom of exchanging clothes during Saturnalia and Bacchanalia was an activity frowned upon by the Jews and Christians as it is prohibited by the Bible, Deuteronomy 22;5 "The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment; for all that do so are abomination unto the Lord thy god" So much for Biblical transvestites.
Please note that Rubel Shelly says that John got the idea of the LOGOS from Greek Philosophy. However, they were not the same. The logos or messenger of the gods was Mercury or Hermes. Click Here. Note the musica-Magica connection above.
However, the god Hermes in order to become a god of magic went into the temple of his consort Aphrodite where he wore a woman's robes and artificial breasts. In the temple he learned all the secrets of the Goddess Aphrodite [Lucifer, Helios, Phos, Zoe] which were exclusively taught to her female priestesses. The priests of the very masculine Greek hunk, Hercules, always wore female dress, probably in memory of Hercules service in female dress to the Queen Omphale. Zeus had sent Hercules to be a slave to the Queen for having killed a young man, Eurytus, after his father had insulted Hercules.
The Ephod worn by the "like the nations' priests" and by David before he went naked was a FEMALE GARMENT.
See how this fits the Praise Craze as one of the world's oldest and most ignorant superstitions.
That could define Caneridge and later "awakenings."
How musical idolatry was restored after the flood:
"Now therefore, since you do not yet understand how great darkness of ignorance surrounds you, meantime I wish to explain to you whence the worship of idols began in this world.
And by idols, I mean those lifeless images which you worship, whether made of wood, or earthenware, or stone, or brass, or any other metals: of these the beginning was in this wise.
Certain angels, having left the course of their proper order, began to favour the vices of men, [Comp. Homily VIII. 13.-R.] and in some measure to lend unworthy aid to their lust,
in order that by these means they might indulge their own pleasures the more;
and then, that they might not seem to be inclined of their own accord to unworthy services,taught men that demons could, by certain arts-that is, by magical invocations-be made to obey men;
and so, as from a furnace and workshop of wickedness, they filled the whole world with the smoke of impiety, the light of piety being withdrawn.
"But when all these things were done, men turned again to impiety; [ and on this account a law was given by God to instruct them in the manner of living.
But in process of time, the worship of God and righteousness were corrupted by the unbelieving and the wicked, as we shall show more fully by and by.
Moreover, perverse and erratic religions were introduced, to which the greater part of men gave themselves up,
by occasion of holidays and solemnities, instituting drinkings and banquets,
following pipes, and flutes, and harps, and diverse kinds of musical instruments, and indulging themselves in all kinds of drunkenness and luxury.Hence every kind of error took rise; hence they invented groves and altars, fillets and victims, and after drunkenness they were agitated as if with mad emotions.
By this means power was given to the demons to enter into minds of this sort, so that they seemed to lead insane dances and to rave like Bacchanalians; hence were invented the gnashing of teeth, and