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Paul also makes some observations that hint at aspects of a theology of music. He says or implies several things in 1 Corinthians 14:6-8. First, he introduces a musical analogy into a discussion of speech in the church, implying a parallel between music and language. That analogy becomes explicit as he returns to the argument about tongues in verse 9 - like an indistinct musical instrument, one who speaks in a tongue without being understood is only vibrating the air. We can put the analogy this way: A musical instrument is a lifeless speaker, and a speaker is a living instrument. Or: Language has musicality, and music has a linguistic character.
Second, the analogy depends on the possibility of musical meaning. Music is not just evocative or emotive. Music communicates. A trumpet blast is a call to arms; a flute an invitation to dance.
Third, Paul uses the verb "give" to describe what musical instruments "produce" (vv. 7-8). Instruments "give" voice or sound, and given the parallel with speech, it seems appropriate to see speech also as a form of giving.
Finally, musical meaning depends on difference (Greek, diastole). Without difference, no one can understand what a flute or harp is saying - the music becomes no more than white noise and communicates nothing. Paul hints at a kind of structuralism, but one that does not fall into the impersonalism of post-Saussurean structuralism. Meaning requires difference; but the difference of sounds are necessary to communicate from one person to another. Further (looking to Paul's claims about linguistic communities, vv 10-11), differential meaning operates within a communal setting. For Paul, we could say that difference operates within parole not merely at the deep structure of langue.
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Monday, January 29, 2007 at 08:37 AM
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