How the Choir Converted the World: Through Hymns, With Hymns, and In Hymns

by Mike Aquilina

Music is the most effective delivery system for feelingslove, joy, sadness, glory. The early Church Fathers knew that music also has power over minds, and they used that power to maximum effect, writing hymns through which the early Christians would learn, retain, and spread the Gospel message. In How the Choir Converted the World, best-selling author Mike Aquilina demonstrates how the earliest Christians used music to transform a world that desperately needed transforming. As Aquilina suggests, "If we did it once, we can do it again."

Genres: Catholic, Theology, Music, History, Church History, Christian, Nonfiction

162 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 2016

About the author

Mike Aquilina is author or editor of more than thirty books, including The Fathers of the Church, The Mass of the Early Christians, and A Year with the Church Fathers. He has co-hosted eight series that air on the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN). He has co-authored books with Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington, D.C., and theologian Scott Hahn. He is past editor of New Covenant magazine and The Pittsburgh Catholic newspaper. He appears weekly on Sirius Radio's "Sonrise Morning Show." Mike and his wife, Terri, have six children, who are the subject of his book Love in the Little Things.

In 2011 Mike was a featured presenter of the U.S. Bishops' Diocesan Educational/Catechetical Leadership Institute. He also wrote the USCCB's theological reflection for Catechetical Sunday in 2011.

His reviews, essays and journalism have appeared in many journals, including First Things, Touchstone, Crisis, Our Sunday Visitor, National Catholic Register, and Catholic Heritage. He contributed work on early Christianity to the Encyclopedia of Catholic Social Thought.

Mike is a also poet whose works have appeared in U.S. literary journals and have been translated into Polish and Spanish. He shared songwriting credits with Grammy Award-winner Dion DiMucci on the forthcoming album "Tank Full of Blues."

Reviews

[Julie Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I often catch myself humming or singing snatches of hymns when I'm cleaning the kitchen. This makes me laugh because I never in a million years would have thought I'd be the sort of person who sang hymns around the house. But it goes to Mike Aquilina's main point.

Our lives have a soundtrack, and the soundtrack has a lyric sheet. When we remember music, the words come back with it. Music is the most effective delivery system for words and ideas. And we don't need to read or study to get the message ... music is the most effective way to make a message memorable ...

The [Church] Fathers knew the power that music had over our minds—power over thoughts and feelings—and they respected that power. And they used that power to maximum effect. They knew that beautiful music could change the world. It makes us remember, it moves us to virtue, it heals us, and it makes us one.

The Fathers knew all these things—and one more important thing as well: they knew that music is a foretaste of heaven.

Aquilina talks about the power of music in the context of Jewish and Christian history. These chapters are fascinating and don't feel at all like history lessons. He takes us effortlessly into the times when music permeated the air, both from pagan rituals and Jewish worship as well as everyday life lived in the open. We learn why the Jewish music was unique and how it meant more than just a good tune to get you in the mood to think about God. As the story continues through history we see the development of music into what we are more familiar with today. I began thinking about the music during Mass in a whole new way. In fact, I broadened my sights and began considering a lot of things in terms of the music which is often integral to them.

This book is really insightful about both music in relationship to human beings and to faith. It was much more than I was expecting from a book which I feared would be more interesting to music professionals than it is to me. I'll be honest. It was not only insightful but revelatory because it made me think about music and how integral it is to us in a way that just never occurred to me.

(I just never think about music at all, honestly. Certainly not like that. Talk about a whole new world.)

Aquilina points out that the earliest Christians used music to tell truths which helped change a violent, ugly, pornographic culture. Our culture mirrors that early one in a lot of ways, sadly. This book helps reorient us so that we can also make and appreciate music which can tell the truth to a world desperate for beauty and truth.

Note: The typesetting and layout are beautiful. That is all too rare these days and that visual beauty is especially complementary to Mike Aquilina's message that the beauty of music helped convert the world.

[Marcas · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not what I was expecting. This is a somewhat interesting account of the history of music in the church. However, there is a lot left out that really needs to be in a book about music in Christian history- such as the beautiful music of Oriental Orthodox churches and its central role in the liturgy, and much, much more on St Augustine, Bach etc.
It would have been much better if Mike had critiqued some of the mistakes that 'orthodox' Christians have made about music, proffering a more Catholic take across space and time. This book is more descriptive, but would have gained from some prescription and more detail where it does describe.

The almost-gnostic view of music, especially instrumental music, by some of the church fathers is eisegetical. While well intentioned given the historical milieu, that Aquilina draws our attention towards- degenerate pagan gatherings and their use of instruments, etc, it is still not in line with Christ and His kingdom. Mike didn't highlight their mistakes however, which I think is necessary in a work like this. He mentions that some of them suggested that God's permission for David to use music for worship in the Old Testament was merely a 'concession', like His concession for divorce and that the New Testament overrode this. That is not Biblical and a layered critique of that view would have been most welcome.

There was a similar instance mentioned in passing early in the book, regarding some patristic views of food- as if mankind won't eat in Christ's kingdom in their glorified bodies. This is absurd, given what the Bible actually depicts about Christ and His kingdom, and reveals more about the role people like Plotinus played for the church fathers than the nature of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ. I really wish Mike would have placed these notions into their historical context and shown how the church has grown since then. I'm pretty confident he doesn't agree, and has written some great Blues music, etc.
Dr Norman Wirzba and Wendell Berry have written incarnate and in-depth histories pertaining to food in the Christian story that can serve to correct some patristic mistakes.
Jeremy Begbie's and Bruce Ellis Benson's work may be of interest to Christian readers interested in music and theology.

[Stuart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Music is an essential part of every society. It's art. It's a distraction. It elicits emotions. It's how people express themselves. It's how history is recorded and stories are remembered. Music is also a vital part of religion. In his latest book, How the Choir Converted the World, Mike Aquilina tells us how effectively the earliest Christians used music.

The book begins by taking us back to the Old Testament. The Babylonian Exile has ended. The Temple has been rebuilt. The people have been purified. And then, we have music! Aquilina then takes us even further back and shows us who was Biblically credited with creating the first instruments (Jubal). We also see references to Miriam's song, the walls of Jericho, and the many Psalms of David. The second chapter details music as it was used with pagan sacrifice. Aquilina even goes so far as to compare ancient Roman culture with our culture and how the music and entertainment then was just as abhorrent as what passes today for music in popular culture.

The book then walks us through important figures and moments Church music history. It begins by discussing music in the times of Apostles, which leads to Ephrem, Ambrose, and Augustine. The book ends with a chapter dedicated to the Te Deum and a closing chapter about what we need to make music more central to our Church again. Aquilina firmly believes that if we utilized music the way the early Church did, then we could change the world for the better.

As with all of Mike Aquilina's books I have read, he shows a great deal of research and scholarship to argue his case effectively. I really like that he continues to focus heavily on the early Church, as it is sadly a forgotten time that more Christians could benefit from learning about. As someone who doesn't have a musical bone in his body and therefore doesn't appreciate music as much as I should, I walked away from this book a lot wiser and more informed. I normally attend an early enough Mass during the week, specifically because there is no singing. However, having learned about both the history and significance of music in the early days of the Church, I realize now that I should not avoid music, merely because I lack the ability to beautifully make it, but I should seek it out and let it transform my life. In doing so, hopefully, I can make a little difference, and slowly perhaps we can transform and convert the world.

This book was provided to me for free by Emmaus Road Publishing in exchange for an honest review.

[Ben Eastman · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a really interesting premise for a book and I did learn a lot about early Christan music. But the book felt really repetitive and it didn't feel like the author spent enough time applying it to present day like he intended to.

[Chaplain2 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good historical analysis of the role of music in the mission of the church.

[Donald Owens II · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Roman Catholic perspective on the importance of Christian hymnody in history and theology.

[Richard Grebenc · Rating 5 out of 5]

For starters, Aquilina takes us, in some detail, through music in the OT and NT, something, I wager, few of us think about when reading Scripture or meditating on it. Then he delves into his particular expertise, the early Church. I had no idea that music for Christians was such a contentious issue due to the bad example of pagans -- a topic he goes into quite extensively. Then the author highlights two figures in particular (the great Fathers Ambrose and his protege Augustine) as having a great influence in not only making music acceptable in the Church, but eminent. Aquilina's focus is on beauty (convertible with truth and goodness -- the transcendentals -- I should note) and how music is integral to our worship. For those readers who might not find sufficient evidence to back up the thesis in the title as they are reading the book, Aquilina uses the closing chapter, as he often does, to bring home the point well.

Particularly interesting to those who are involved in music ministry, this will be quite enlightening to anyone who loves and appreciates liturgical music.