Beholding the Beauty

I recently read this fairly good article , regarding Orthodox Music. However, in defending the exclusive vocality of Orthodox Sacred Music, it makes a statement (fourth footnote) that I see fairly consistently whenever such a discussion comes up.  It states, Conversely, the Psalms that mention mankind (and not the angels) praising God with musical instruments are generally understood by the Church Fathers as possessing a spiritual rather than a literal meaning. It is well known among Judaic scholars that the use of musical instruments was proscribed from ancient Temple worship just as it is still forbidden in the Orthodox Church today. Additionally, the top commenter adds: I especially am grateful for the paragraph regarding the Psalm mentioning use of instruments “Praise him with timbrel and harp,etc” as not being literal. This is an attitude that is pervasive these days in Orthodox musical circles: that the use of instruments was forbidden  in Judaic worship, and tha...

I am still very busy, as I said in my last post.  However, I would like to take a moment to point out something  that has been bugging me for quite some time, which has application to discussions everywhere. One of the most popular logical fallacies these days (in my experience, anyway) is a particular rhetorical tool known as "denying the antecedent."  Wikipedia describes this as: [T]he  consequent  in an  indicative conditional  is claimed to be false because the  antecedent  is false;  if A, then B; not A, therefore not B . Let me give an example.  Say you and I are having a debate, and you build your conclusion on the existence of purple polka-dotted people-eaters.  In this case, I have one of several options: I can 1) Ignore your argument entirely, and attack your conclusion from a completely different angle, and show why such a conclusion is impossible, or 2) Accept the logical deduction of your conclusion from ...