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"Angelic Liturgy"
liturgical phrases, not a consecutive paragraph, from the manuscripts discovered at Qumran (Dead Sea Scrolls). "Praise Him. . . for in the magnificence of the praise is the glory of his kingdom. . . For he is God of all who sing with knowledge for ever . . . Chant to the powerful God with the chosen spiritual portion, so that it is a melody with the joy of God, and celebration with all the holy ones, for a wonderful song in eternal happiness . . . Sing to the God who is awesome in power." --from what scholars call "the Angelic Liturgy," mostly from Cave IV, as translated in THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS TRANSLATED, Florentino Garcia Martinez, , pp. 422-423. [The initial Dead Sea Scrolls discovery was in 1946-7, but in 1952 researchers found the most important discovery of all in Cave IV, a library containing some 400,000 fragments from 400 different manuscripts, one-fourth of which were biblical. I wonder what church historians will find to document the worship life of the Christian Church at the end of 2nd millennium after Christ. Will it be clear from "our" documents what was important to us - unity, diversity, instruments, voices, corporate worship, personal worship, music, text, accompaniment, harmony, celebration, contemplation, confession, knowledge of God's word, experiencing God's presence and power, etc.?] Have a great week, Chip Stam |