Hymns and the Nicene Creed (Or Jack Chick comes to Islam)

As the Anglican world continues to fragment and continue its death spiral, there is no lack of pundits to provide us with their perspective on this demise.  Most are merely parrots of one another, and most, again, are probably not worth reading.  Along the way, I've had the pleasure to read a blog by someone who, I think, gets it better than most.  Now, in the interest of full disclosure, he's an old friend, so its not like I'm being entirely objective.

9.West has focused his blog, by and large, on the music, and more specifically, on the lyrics.  I'll get to why that means he "gets it" in a minute.  His latest installment addresses some observations he made while visiting a recent escapee from the ECUSA here in San Diego.  I hesitate to say which one, because while I think I recall, I can't be sure.  9.West has taken to identifying two groups, the Schism I group, and the Schism II group (technically they should be Schism II and III, but the Schism I group, the REC, is oft forgotten about in the current Anglican Wars).  He notes that, at least with this Schism II group, that they have not yet critically analyzed the more recent "innovations" of the ECUSA, vis the 1982 hymnal.

The reason I think he "gets" it, is that the hymns of the Church are far more important than is commonly appreciated.  How many people can recite the preamble to the Constitution today, unless they happen to sing it as well?  My guess is not many.  I, however, grew up on the "hymns" of Schoolhouse Rock, and thus can sing about conjunctions, and 9, the magic number, all day long.  Those hymns taught me much.

That is the way that it has always been in the Church.  Much care needs to be taken with the hymns, because they, along with the prayers of the various liturgies, serve as the primary instructional methods of the Church.  Just because a theologian of some sort has written a song, does not qualify it for addition to the list of hymns.  It must actually reflect the teaching of the Church.  Rewriting hymns, for any reason, is a risky undertaking.

9.West compares hymns to the Nicene Creed.  Where I think he may be a bit off, is in the assumption that the Nicene Creed established doctrine.  It is a common mistake, especially amongst protestants.  I was somewhat amused by this site, which 9.West had sent me, with a Greek Muslim who apparently is under the same impression (and also the impression that Constantine the Pagan introduced paganism to the Church, which is so absurd as to be not worth the time to respond to, as it is much like the ridiculous teachings of Jack Chick).  Although the medieval West, under Rome's influence, took to establishing new doctrines with their councils.  The first 7 councils of the undivided Church were much more interested in setting boundaries around existing doctrines.  That is, in defining what had been passed down, then defining what could not be accepted within those boundaries.  This is a far different thing.

So, the Nicene Creed, the hymns and prayers, and even the Scripture itself, servers to codify what had been passed down from Christ to his Apostle's to the Church.  Nothing new is to be invented here, at all.