JESUS CHRIST

The New Testament preserves at least three early Christian hymns and additional information about worship services that highlight the earliest meetings. Not unlike modern worship services, early Christian gatherings were beautified by the singing of hymns-typically sung antiphonally, or, in other words, by two separate choirs facing one another while singing without instrumental accompaniment. The Roman governor, Pliny, in writing to the emperor Trajan, said that the Christians met together early in the morning and “sang hymns to Christ as though he were a God” (Epistles 10). Christ together with his disciples sang a hymn-most likely the Hallel Psalms (Psalms 113-118)-prior to entering into Gethsemane (Matthew 26:30). Traces of these early hymns survive in the Gospels of Luke and John, as well as in the letters of Paul, the hymns of the Pauline letters showing signs of having been translated from earlier, probably Aramaic, originals.

The earliest Christian hymns are found in the New Testament. The first is sometimes identified as the Logos Hymn (John 1:1-5, 11-14). The second is “Christ the Creator and Redeemer” (Colossians 1:15-20) dated around AD 45. The third is “A Hymn to Christ the Lord” (Philippians 2:6-11).