Peront ⦁ Re-forming Music 56 encouraged in the Lutheran Church.29 This was vastly more inclusive and musically open-minded than the Calvinist church was at the time. In fact, even as Catholics and Protestants disagreed on the appropriate use of music in church, not all Protestants agreed on guidelines surrounding music even within their own churches.30 In many ways, the visible disagreement over church music in the sixteenth century is closely related to the “worship wars” that are still present in churches today; though Lutheran Churches all supported the use of music as worship, “heated and polarized disputes emerged concerning the relation of music to the cosmos, music to words, music to the passions, instrumental to vocal music, the judgment of theory to the judgment of the ear.”31 Martin Luther simply led the Lutheran Reformation, but did not place restrictions or requirements on the Lutheran Church. As a result, there were various beliefs on the extent to which different types of music should be used during church services. As a whole, however, the Lutheran Church demonstrated overwhelming support for congregational worship. In fact, the “Reformers’ chief contribution to church music comes from the legacy of songs that they initiated, created, and propagated….The songs of the Reformation continue to call us as believers to an entire life of repentance. Through them, we hear the Word proclaimed and we join in the life of the church that is reformed and always reforming.”32 Prior to the Reformation, church music was sometimes limited to trained musicians and scripted music, strictly clinging to the liturgy. In the Lutheran Church, Luther advocated for the inclusion of “all believers in corporate worship.”33 Luther and his colleagues composed new songs, combining them with the familiar and traditional music of the past. These were designed to advocate the new theological thinking, centered on God’s Word and the Christian posture of humility before Him in worship. They were also designed, however, to be accessible to all members of the congregation, whether they were trained musicians or not.34 The lyrics of Luther’s songs were also woven into sermons, being preached and reflected on as well as simply being sung. This new mindset laid the foundation for 29 Dowley, 90. 30 Willis, 45. 31 Witte and Wheeler, 80. 32 Van Neste and Garrett, 144. 33 Dowley, 87–88. 34 Leaver, 81.
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