How Did Christian Music Affect Jewish Culture

In the middle ages (or Christian era as Douglass Seaton calls it) some of the only experiences lower class people had with music were in church. The music and music practices experienced had multiple influences; everything from Greek and Roman theory to Jewish practices. The Doctrine of Ethos is the (originally) Greek idea that music has the power to affect character.¹ This was a major idea in the early church especially when church officials were trying decide whether or not music belonged in the church, and to what extent. Music was an important part of pagan traditions and early church leaders wanted to distance themselves from them. However, St. Augustine expressed guilt when he confessed that he sometimes enjoyed music above the words that were sung. He believed that when he was “moved more

Jewish practice used the same musical practices of the early church. Music was monophonic with unmetered rhythm. The rhythm that did exist were decided mostly by the natural rhythm of the text. Jewish music also tended to by primarily responsorial and antiphonal. Some early Christian melodies were exact copies of Jewish songs. Along with melodies and practices, scripture was passed from the Jewish tradition to Christian tradition and with that came text for the melodies. Psalms and canticles included lyrics pulled from the text from these scriptures, while hymns were poetry based on the ideas and principles found in the scriptures. Like the Greeks, the Jewish tradition also believed in the power that music had over mind. For example, in 1 Samuel King Saul was under an evil spirit before David played his harp. The Bible says that because of the music “Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him.”² There are countless other examples in the Old Testament that include the use of music in formal worship and praising God in day to day