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A Collection of Dad's Essay's & Writings - Welcome

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- FAITH -<br />

“One life is all we have and we live it<br />

as we believe in living it.<br />

But to sacrifice what you are<br />

and to live without belief,<br />

that is a fate more terrible than dying.”<br />

here is the unimpeachable fact that Faith is considered to be many things, but for those who consider<br />

it a freedom, there can be no argument. For those who believe it to be a part <strong>of</strong> civilization is another<br />

facet <strong>of</strong> truth and those believe it to be a form <strong>of</strong> happiness, can live in security. But it is also a power,<br />

a form <strong>of</strong> aesthetics and morality. So the Christian faith must be a combination <strong>of</strong> what is spoken in<br />

the Credos, the teaching <strong>of</strong> Christ, a form <strong>of</strong> disciplined and tasteful worship combining the Liturgy,<br />

the Word and all the Sacraments. Over two thousand years <strong>of</strong> religious rites has rendered a variety <strong>of</strong><br />

forms, divisions and dissention and in 1517, the most honest and the Middle Ground was found that gave mankind a<br />

form <strong>of</strong> worship and belief that combined Christian principles with common sense, a purpose and honesty. What<br />

evolved in the previous 1500 years became the basis for the most honest form <strong>of</strong> Christianity since the Week <strong>of</strong> the<br />

Passion. What Luther achieved was the pure, the untainted, the honest and the most intelligent form <strong>of</strong> Worship and<br />

Word.<br />

What the new freedom gave, though, was also a distortion <strong>of</strong> religion and religious values that brought with it<br />

many divisions within the protesting reformers in the 16th century and in only the four major faiths within the<br />

Roman Catholic, the Orthodox, The Anglican and the Lutheran, did God and Christianity get its most honest<br />

evaluation. Only in the Lutheran Faith did Aesthetic Worship and the Teaching Word attain its perfection by<br />

combining all the elements <strong>of</strong> proper worship and clarity <strong>of</strong> thinking.<br />

At the time <strong>of</strong> the upheavals within the church in the years from 1519 onward, it was only Luther who understood<br />

and appreciated the fine hymns in the Latin Hymnody and, 15 <strong>of</strong> the 38 hymns he translated into the German<br />

language were from this source. Zwingli, Calvin and Knox ignored the whole body <strong>of</strong> these fine hymn texts and<br />

sometimes <strong>of</strong>fered crude vernacular paraphrases <strong>of</strong> the Psalms. Lutheran authors such as Gerhardt, Arnt Heermann<br />

and others <strong>of</strong>fered verses closer to Scripture when <strong>of</strong>fering new German hymns and also translated many from the<br />

Latin. But in the pre-Reformation days there were no hymns sung by the people at Mass. The use <strong>of</strong> hymns was<br />

associated with Hour Offices and the Father <strong>of</strong> Latin Hymnody was St. Ambrose.<br />

In the whole <strong>of</strong> hymnody there is little question that the best texts where those written by great poets, early<br />

theologians and men <strong>of</strong> the Middle Ages, Reformation and Renaissance. The finest music composed for use as hymns<br />

in the congregations <strong>of</strong> Lutheran parishes were those that came out <strong>of</strong> the Reformation era and the two centuries<br />

following as well as those composed in England, Germany and Scandinavia in the 18th and 19th centuries.<br />

Martin Luther, who was not only the great reformer and renewer <strong>of</strong> the ancient church, was also a man <strong>of</strong> culture<br />

who understood the pr<strong>of</strong>ound meaning <strong>of</strong> hymn texts and noted that they deserved the best musical dressing. It is<br />

true that Luther and many <strong>of</strong> the Reformation composers used tunes they heard in the taverns or love songs <strong>of</strong> the<br />

minstrels and troubadours, but he qualified it with the comment that the devil didn’t deserve all the good tunes. But it<br />

can be said that Luther not only taught the German nation to sing in church, but led the way in a significant<br />

development <strong>of</strong> German culture in general. It gave every parish congregation an opportunity to participate in the<br />

worship service in more ways than one. He regarded music as one <strong>of</strong> the greatest gifts given to man by God.<br />

In the early years, the Lutheran hymnody reflected the mystery <strong>of</strong> worship and Holy Communion and there was<br />

some liturgical conservatism and mysticism retained by reformers not only in paraments, church buildings, but in<br />

music. So Lutheranism had a sense <strong>of</strong> historical continuity as well as a high appreciation <strong>of</strong> the esthetic. Good<br />

hymnody <strong>of</strong>fers a sense <strong>of</strong> reverence and honor due to the Almighty, rather than secularizing it by stooping to the<br />

lowest common denominator in verse and music. Hymnody serves the Almighty, not the secular pop scene. The<br />

hymnody should also complement the Liturgy and Scripture.<br />

Certainly the most famous <strong>of</strong> all Lutheran composers was Johann Sebastian Bach, (1685-1750) whose faith was<br />

deeply rooted in the faith <strong>of</strong> the great reformer. His greatest sacred choral works such as the “St. Matthew Passion”,<br />

the “Christmas Oratorio” and the “Mass in B Minor” were only a part <strong>of</strong> his output with over 200 cantatas used at<br />

church services. Also there was a huge collection <strong>of</strong> organ pieces, with the famous “Well Tempered Klavier”, the<br />

Brandenburg concertos, the four orchestral suites and a wide selection <strong>of</strong> instrumental works. Bach was a<br />

conservative Lutheran with a great respect for the teachings <strong>of</strong> Martin Luther and understood the Lutheran doctrines<br />

<strong>of</strong> the church and the communion with Christ and the ideals <strong>of</strong> the church. He understood the Church Year and, with<br />

great care and devotion, created Cantatas for every Sunday in the calendar <strong>of</strong> the church. Such a very large output <strong>of</strong><br />

his music is devoted to the church as well exemplified by his 200 cantatas as well as his organ compositions, motets<br />

and Passions. There were many Reformation hymn tunes that apparently are by unknown composers whose names<br />

have disappeared through carelessness or lack on interest in preserving their names. But many <strong>of</strong> these are found in<br />

various books and listed in the Lutheran Book <strong>of</strong> Worship (LBW) with an indication <strong>of</strong> their original source. These are<br />

noted as from Gesangbuch in Augsburg, Berlin, Mainz, Munster, Nurnberg and other cities in Germany.

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