Well folks, you heard it from the Saint himself. He doesn't mind people singing in church, because it can move weaker souls to be devoted to God. I don't know how I feel about that sentence. The prideful part of me gets indignant, because it feels like he's equating liking singing with being weak. It reminds me of the verses 1 Corinthians 7:9-10 that say "Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I am. But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion." My first instinct is to ask, what the heck Paul? Ever since I was a little girl, I wanted to grow up and find the love of my life and move in with them. While it's never been my priority - I'm of the opinion that what will happen will happen - the idea of marriage and partnership has always been on my mind. In this verse, it sounds like getting married is the last resort: something you should only do if you absolutely have to. If you take Augustine's comment and Paul's verse out of context, you get two very confusing and borderline condemning verses. Augustine, how could you ask us not to sing in church? The Scriptures tell us to "make a joyful noise unto the LORD!" Paul, how can you tell us it would be better to remain single, when God Himself commanded that man should cleave unto his wife?
It's a simple answer really. They're not saying that at all. Paul and Augustine realize something very important about good things: too much of a good thing can be bad. Aristotle's golden mean can shed some light on this topic. One must understand that Aristotle's golden mean illustrates that poverty and overabundant wealth in any possession or attribute are bad, having a balance between the two is a good thing. Augustine comes to a problem: singing praises can leave the listener focusing on the music and not on God, who is the point of the praise in the first place. Is the answer, then, to not sing? Augustine doesn't think so, and neither do I. On the other side of the pendulum swing from "too much noise, not enough worship," Augustine understands that praise is necessary and music is a good method of orienting the soul towards God when used correctly. A church without praise to God is hardly a church! What's the solution then? We must engage with songs and worship God in a way that is honoring to Him by remembering our motivation in worship. Similarly, in Paul's example, we should not sit out of marriage constantly wishing that we were married and forgetting about who God has called us to be; but neither should we get in a marriage and forget the reason for that marriage is to seek after God as partners.
PS Hailey Morgan and Jessef
As a member of the ASOTA society I am deeply offended at your distasteful title, I must say I expected more! Regardless, you make a good point. Augustine may not have meant that too much worship is BAD per se, he was simply trying to make the point that worshipping excessively for the wrong reason is bad. I agree that too much of a good thing can be bad. While my math compadres may not agree that a positive times a positive can be a negative, in reality it is possible. Take sugar for example. Sugar is considered good by many people (most of us would agree); however, too much sugar and you crash, and before you know it your body has taken a turn for the worst. So yes, I agree With your point about Augustine's statement.
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