I have nothing against contemporary worship music. You can check the endorsement of Mark Shuttleworth’s CD that I posted earlier this week. And I’m a real fan of John Michael Talbot, who is himself a perceptive reader of the Church Fathers.
But I had to laugh when my son Michael presented me with the following, from the ancient “Canons of St. Basil”:
If a lector learns to play the guitar, he shall also be instructed to confess it. If he does not return to it, he shall suffer his penance for seven weeks. If he keeps at it, he shall be excommunicated and put out of the Church.
My son plays the guitar, but he favors old-fashioned hymns at Mass. Nevertheless, he insisted that, if I should post the bit from Basil, I must also post (as a sort of bronze serpent?) a link for readers to gaze upon a Gibson Les Paul with proper veneration.
That’s some pretty guitars. Fortunately, we know the fathers were not infallible . . . : )
Did the Fathers have anything to say about the age old Les Paul vs. Strat debate?
When I was younger adults would always turn down my music. Thankfully there’s this passage from Sirach: “Speak, you who are older, for it is fitting that you should, but with accurate knowledge, and do not interrupt the music” (Sir 32:3).
Amen.
The Fathers did settle the Strat/Les Paul debate.
They opted for hollow-body archtop guitars, jazz fans that they were!