A47407:360
The breach repaired in God's worship, or, Singing of psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs,…
The breach repaired in God's worship, or, Singing of psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, proved to be an holy ordinance of Jesus Christ with an answer to all objections : as also, an examination of Mr. Isaac Marlow's two papers, one called, A discourse against singing, &c., the other, An appendix : wherein his arguments and cavils are detected and refuted / by Benjamin Keach ...
London: printed for Author, 1691
Title page typeset from the transcription.
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
I. Of the Essence of Singing.
Thus you begin, viz. Though intelligible Singing for teaching and admonishing others cannot be without the use of the Organical Instruments of the Voice, yet the Essence or Being of Singing consists in an inward spiritual Exercise of the Soul or Mind of Man. And this must be granted: for we all do own that true Prayer may be made in our Hearts to God without the use of our Voice.
And then come and tell your Reader the ⟨p. 122⟩Essence of Sin is in the Heart, and the Essence of other things Good and Evil, and take […] four Pages in this kind of nonsensical way […] speaking, confounding the proper Acts […] God's Worship, nay, destroy them utterly, by starting an uncouth term, as here applied, […] Essence; nay, and I perceive this mighty Ma• of Straw you have made and set up, you […] at a strange manner; 'tis, as it were, the […] on which all the stress of the whole Superstructure of your new-found Contrivance to evade God's blessed Ordinance of Singing […] laid; so that if this be razed, you must find another Singing in the New Testament besides this Essence of Singing, which you say is in the Heart; and I perceive 'tis only that inward joy of the Spirit that you mean by the Essence of Singing, and that to be all the Singing you would have the Saints to use in Gospel-days. And be sure if you have missed the mark here, your Book has nothing in it of instruction. A Man cannot be so vain as to attempt to overthrow an Act of Divine Worship, as it hath been received and practised for many Ages amongst all the Godly generally; but he must set up something in the room of it which he must call by that name, since God's Word bears positive witness to such a Church-Ordinance. A Gospel-Singing there is, as well as a Gospel-praying, preaching, &c. But rather than it shall be that which indeed it is, as owned by the Law, and the Prophets, Christ and his Apostles, and most wise, learned, and