Musical Offerings ⦁ 2026 ⦁ Volume 17 ⦁ Number 1 1 Musical Offerings 17, no. 1 (2026): 1–17 ISSN 2330-8206 (print); ISSN 2167-3799 (online) © 2026, Antonio J. Higgins, licensed under CC BY-NC-ND (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) To Keep in Tune So Long: “Worship Wars” in the Development of Anglo-American Psalmody, 1560–1800 Antonio J. Higgins Cedarville University ontentions regarding congregational music in the Protestant Church have existed since the Reformation in the sixteenth century. Famously, Martin Luther wrote in the vernacular, which was in opposition to the Latin prevalent in the liturgy of his time, and the basis for Calvinistic song was the poetry of Clément Marot, who wrote scandalous poetry for the elite class before he published his more pious metrical psalms.1 Both took opposite approaches in how they elevated the role music had in the liturgy, and their decisions have impacted the music in the Reformed and Lutheran churches to the modern age.2 In the present day, the term “worship wars” is used to describe these divergences and disagreements between traditions of church music in matters of textual critique, musical analysis, and market study. In modern Evangelical circles, this term has been used to describe the often hostile divide between churches that use traditional hymnody or Southern gospel, and those that use Contemporary Christian Music (CCM). Some thinkers, such as poet-author Douglas Bond, say, “If it is a war, the entertainment model [CCM] believes that the war is decisively over and that they long ago came out on top.” 3 In historically English-speaking cultures, the so-called “worship wars” are no different. In eighteenthcentury America, cultural divides between the Boston socialites and the rural farm boy led to criticism and vitriol regarding different styles of singing psalmody (which developed into the modern English hymn).4 The development of Anglo-American psalmody coincided with cultural and political shifts in the social milieu of England and colonial America 1 Macdougall, 5. 2 Marini, 180. 3 Bond, God Sings, 31. 4 Turner, 31–32. C
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