PSALLO

Erl Morrell-Stinson emorrell at scc.net
Thu Sep 3 00:56:15 EDT 1998


Greetings in the name of the Lord.

I a minister raised in the Church of Christ who a few years ago "went 
instrumental".  I am busy writing my reasons into a book I've entitled 
"Into His Courts With Praise".  It's an appeal for unity and understanding 
on the basis of freedom in Christ, as opposed to the quarreling engendered 
by the legalism I was raised with.  I did study Greek in college, but it 
has been several years ago and we have moved internationally several times. 
 My materials are back in Africa and I no longer have the skill that I once 
had with either the language or the research.  So then, there is a matter 
that I need a little help with, if someone reading this would be so kind.

Non-instrumentalists argue that PSALLO is an exclusive word that means 
"sing" and therefore does not mean "sing and play".  Thus, they argue, it 
is wrong for us to sing praises to the accompaniment of the instrument.  A 
few questions:

a) What then is the word(s) for "sing & play" together?

b) There are plenty of references in the Old Testament that clearly 
mentioning singing to the accompaniment of instruments.  What is the 
Hebrew, and is it an exclusive word?  More importantly, how does the 
Septuagint translate the original?  Are the words used for singing variants 
of PSALLO?  This is the question I really want answered!  If they are, then 
it can easily be demonstrated that PSALLO is not an exclusive word and is 
in fact much like our English word "sing" -- limited in meaning, but 
applied broadly in its actual usage.

c) Does anyone have any other thoughts about the validity or folly of the 
argument presented in general?

Anyone helping out would eventually receive a courtesy copy of the 
manuscript as a means of saying thank you.
May the joy of the Lord be with you all.

His servant and yours

Erl.

Erl Morrell-Stinson
Phone: (612) 586-9982  E-Mail:  emorrell at scc.net
Address:  503 Mississippi St N.E., Fridley, MN 55432




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