sung, and from the time of Gregory the Great, the same was true of the Gospels and the Epistles. All other parts of the Scriptures were read; but the mode of reading was very unlike that in common use; it was indeed a recitative or chant; each syllable was uttered with a measured cadence and modulation, in a style and manner midway between that of singing and ordinary reading. In the East especially was this art of chanting greatly cultivated; and the Koran to this day is thus read. It was a prevailing sentiment of the oriental church, that the words of the Most High ought to be pronounced in a higher and title of the Old and New Testament Dissected. It is said to have occupied three years of the compiler's life, and is a singular instance of the trifling employments to which superstition has led mankind. The Old and New Testament Dissected. Books in the Old...........39............. In the New.........27............... Total......66 Chapters...................... ..1,189 ..929......... ............260 .31,173 .773,692 Аростурка. Chapters..... Verses...... Words..... The middle chapter and least in the Bible, is Psalm 117. The middle book is Proverbs. Old Testament. .......183 .6,081 ..252,185 The middle chapter is Job 29th. The middle verse is the 2d Chronicles, 20th chapter, between the 17th and 18th verses. The least verse is 1st Chronicles, 1st chapter, and 25th verse. New Testament. The middle book is Thessalonians 2d. The middle chapter is between the 13th and 14th Romans. The middle verse is in chapter 17th of Acts, 17th verse. The least verse is 11th chapter of John, 35th verse. The 21st verse of the 7th chapter of Ezra has all the letters of the alphabet except j. The 19th chapter of the 2d of Kings and the 37th of Isaiah are alike. more joyful strain than that of common conversation and reading. On this interesting point it is to be regretted that so little is known. The ancient art of chanting the Scriptures was perpetuated by tradition, and only some slight traces of it can now be observed in the Greek, Roman, and Protestant churches. Augustin, the great rhetorician and musician of the ancient church, contends earnestly for an easy, simple, and unstudied style of psalmody, and commends highly the singing of Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria, which more resembled the performance of a reader than of a singer. In accordance with this author, the approved style of conducting the services of the church seems to have been to conform the exercise of singing as nearly as possible to that of reading; and the reading, to that of singing. The style was much the same both in the Jewish synagogue and the Greek church. In both, the rehearsals were so rapid, that it would be difficult to determine whether it most resembled that of singing or of reading. The reading was begun and closed with a set form. The reader, according to Cyprian, saluted the audience by saying, "Peace be with you." This prerogative was by the third Council of Carthage, A. D. 397, denied to the reader, as belonging exclusively to the presbyter or bishop. Then again, it became the usual salutation at the opening of public worship and before the sermon. Before the reading began, the deacon enjoined silence, and often called aloud again, роσxuɛv, attendamus, attention! Then the reader proceeded, saying, "Thus saith the Lord in the lesson from the Old Testament, or from the Gospels," etc., or again, “Beloved brethren, in the Epistles it is written." This was said to awaken attention and veneration for the word read.3 At the close of the lesson, the people responded frequently, if not uniformly, by saying, "Amen." The purport of which was, according to Alexander Halesius, "God grant us to continue steadfast in the faith." Or they said, "We thank thee, Lord;" "We thank thee, O Christ,"-for the previous word. Such abuses finally arose from this custom, that the people were forbidden to join in the response, and the minister closed the reading of the epistles by saying, "Blessed be God," and that of the evangelists by saying, "Glory be to thee, O Lord."4 Whenever the deacon, presbyter, or bishop, performed the office of reader, he introduced the service by a form which was substantially, the same as that which is still observed in the Episcopal service. At first the reading was performed from the ambo, a pulpit or desk, prepared for the purpose; afterward the reading was from the pulpit, with the exception of that of the Gospels and the Epistles which, out of reverence for these parts of Scripture, were rehearsed near the altar; the former on the right hand, and the latter on the left, of the altar. It was the duty of the subdeacon to read or chant the Epistles; and of the deacon to rehearse the Gospels. The reader was at all times required to stand in the discharge of his office; the people preserved the same attitude in the rehearsal of the Psalms, and the reading of the lessons from the Gospels and the Epistles at the celebration of their festivals. Cyprian represents this to have been, on all occasions, the custom in Africa. The Apostolical Constitutions recommend both the clergy and the people to stand in profound silence during the reading of the Gospels.5 Augustin urges all who are lame, or afflicted with any infirmity, so that they cannot conveniently stand, to sit and reverently listen to the word of God." But it was a general rule of the ancient church, which has at all times been observed, and still is to some extent, that the hearers sat during the ordinary reading of the Scriptures, and arose when the Gospels were recited. If in the delivery of a sermon the preacher introduced a passage from the Gospels, the assembly immediately arose; which was the frequent occasion of much noise and confusion. The reason for this usage in relation to the Gospels is given by Chrysostom as follows:-"If the letters of a king are read in the theatre with great silence, much more ought we to compose ourselves, and reverently to arise and listen. when the letters, not of an earthly king, but of the Lord of angels, are read to us.' דיי Jerome, of the fourth and fifth century, is the first who mentions the custom of burning lighted candles in the Eastern church, though not in the Western, when the Gospels were read. But all antiquity offers no earlier conclusive authority for this unmeaning superstition, which is still observed, not only in the Romish church, but in the Lutheran churches on the continent. The authorities for this rite, as given by Jerome, are the lighting of lamps by the virgins in the Gospel, the exhortation to have our loins girded and our lamps burning, together with such passages as the following: Luke xii. 35; John v. 35; Ps. cxix. 105. § 5. OF THE PSALTER. THE use of the Psalter as a system of psalmody is an imitation of the synagogue and temple service. The usage is of great antiquity, and very general, both in the ancient and modern church. But the Psalter also partook very much of the character of a symbolical book, and constituted an essential part of the liturgy of the church. It contains appropriate lessons for reading, and religious formularies, suited to the capacities of the youth and of the people generally. These, the clergy were required to commit to memory, and to explain. Such indeed was the consideration in which it was held, that it was styled the Bible in miniature, a manual of all sacred things, and a representative of the Sacred Scriptures. Even in the dark ages, when men were denied the use of the Bible, the Psalter was allowed to the laity generally.3 2 The Psalms were very early introduced as a constituent part of religious worship, and were variously numbered and divided; sometimes into five books, corresponding to the books of Moses; and again they were arranged in different classes according to their character, as Hallelujah, Baptismal, Penitential Psalms, and many others. § 6. OF THE PERICOPÆ. IT has been before remarked that particular lessons were set apart from the Gospels and Epistles, to be read on certain sabbaths and special festive occasions. The custom was derived from the Jews, who were accustomed to read different portions of their Scriptures on their several festivals. These specific selections from the writings of the New Testament were denominated Pericopa. When these selections were first made, is a question on which the learned are greatly divided. Some contend that they are of apostolic origin; others that they originated in the fourth century; and others again, date them back no farther than the eighth century. For a discussion of these several theories, the reader is referred to Augusti, and to the authorities quoted by him. To aid those who could not read, pictures of Scripture scenes were also hung upon the walls. In the idolatrous devotion with which popish superstition bows down before the images and paintings of the sainted dead, the intelligent reader will easily discover only a perversion of the pure intents for which primitive piety first introduced them into the ancient churches. These remarks respecting the use of images are particularly applicable to the Christians of the fourth and fifth centuries. Previous to this period, pictorial representations of all kinds were generally repudiated, but in the sixth century the superstitious perversions of such works of art had already begun. The taste for pictorial representations and images was a corruption of paganism, an imitation of the ornaments of its temples. It may be said to have begun with Constantine. As a substitute for embellishments of pagan art, he lavished on the public monuments, with which he adorned the imperial city, representations of scenes from the Scriptures, such as Abraham offering up Isaac, Daniel in the lions' den, Christ as the Good Shepherd, &c. Constantia, the sister of Constantine, sought to obtain an image of Christ. At Rome, the images of the apostles Peter and Paul attending Christ were painted upon the walls. Similar representations of scenes in sacred history adorned the dress of Christian women, such as the marriage-feast at Cana, the man sick of the palsy, the blind restored to sight, Mary Magdalene embracing the feet of Jesus, the resurrection of Lazarus. Asterius, in the latter part of the fourth century, severely censured these ornaments, admonishing Christian women, that instead of wearing a kneeling penitent in embroidery, they might more fitly mourn over their own sins with a penitent spirit. Augustin and Chrysostom inveighed against images in churches in such terms as clearly show that many had already begun to make them objects of religious worship. John of Damascus, A. D. 750, defended the worship of images. The Synod of Constantinople, A. D. 754, decided against the worship of images; the second Synod of Nice, A. D. 787, pronounced in favour of it. These data indicate the progress of degeneracy in the worship of images, of saints, and martyrs, and of the virgin, all which were closely connected. |