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Throughout the history of the church, John Calvin and Martin Luther are two characters
that are essential to know and study. These two characters played a very important role during
the Protestant Reformation. And thanks to the passion and dedication of those, now the modern
churches enjoy a theological freedom, such as emphasizing the Scripture as supreme authority
and rediscovering the core doctrines. Among many changes, worship was also part of the
reformation. And although it may seem that these two men were only Bible scholars, the records
confirm and let us know that they were also very familiar and close with music. Therefore, they
came to influence the role of music in churches as well.
John Calvin
Calvin was a man who valued music, but he was cautious when approaching to it. The
main idea that Calvin had about music in church was that it must be simple and should maintain
reverence in worship. And as result, his approach succeeded in getting the congregation to
actively participate. Therefore, the active involvement made people to feel sense of community
while worshiping God. More than anything, Calvin wanted to use music as an instrument of
music. But at the same time, he feared and worried that people could be distracted from
worshiping God since music has emotional power. Anyway, Calvin recognized that music has
the power to mold the thoughts and to teach people, so he encouraged the congregation to sing
the Psalm as a spiritual discipline to train their holiness.1 To accomplish this goal, Calvin
collected metrical psalms into a unified psalter that could be used in daily life. 2 The reason why
John Calvin thought that metrical psalmody is valuable is because the content of it was directly
1 Bellanti, “Sing to the Lord a New Song: John Calvin and the Spiritual Discipline of Metrical Psalmody.”,
65.
2 Bellanti, “Sing to the Lord a New Song: John Calvin and the Spiritual Discipline of Metrical Psalmody.”,
65.
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taken form the Scriptures.3 And in his results he could see that people come to meditate on the
word of God without any difficulty, which leads to communion with God. Therefore, Calvin
emphasized the Psalms as the central idea of congregational singing, developing the worship as
only text (the Scripture) centered in the Reformed tradition.
Martin Luther
Martin Luther is commonly known for his theological influences. But also, Luther was a
well-trained musician. Consequently, his musical education also came to strongly influence his
theological beliefs. Luther, having a strong musical background, not only deeply loved music but
he believed that music has a critical power so it can be used as part of worship.4 He could
develop his thoughts of using music as part of worship because Luther had a conviction that
music has the power to uplift the soul and glorify God through it. Besides that, he desired to
involve the laity in active worship and foster a sense of community. And Luther, knowing the
power of music, affirmed that the role of music in church could not only impact individuals but
also to draw an entire congregation closer to each other and God.5 So, Martin Luther made
hymns inspired by the Scripture.6 And, while composing the hymns, he enjoyed the beauty of
music felt through polyphony and the intertwining of voices. Furthermore, he believed that
denying oneself of the enjoyment of music is same as to rejecting the divine gift that God gave to
3 Bellanti, “Sing to the Lord a New Song: John Calvin and the Spiritual Discipline of Metrical Psalmody.”,
71.
4 Peront, “Re-Forming Music: Martin Luther’s Impact on Church Music through the Lutheran
Reformation.”, 52.
5 Peront, “Re-Forming Music: Martin Luther’s Impact on Church Music through the Lutheran
Reformation.”, 53.
6 Peront, “Re-Forming Music: Martin Luther’s Impact on Church Music through the Lutheran
Reformation.”, 54.
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mankind.7 So, he encouraged the participation of the congregation when worshiping and also
encouraged the use of choir, organs, and other musical instruments because he thought that all of
the beautiful source can be used as emotional impact that helps the congregation to be more into
the worship. In other words, Luther valued a lot the role of music in worship as an instrument of
leading the congregation closer to communion with God.
Conclusion
Although Calvin and Luther agreed on theological basis, they had different opinions
regarding the methods and content of congregational worship.8 Calvin argued that monophony
helps the laity to focus more on developing a holy life. But in the contrary, Luther mostly used
polyphony, which is the opposite method to Calvin, since he valued the complex beauty of music
and thought it a useful source for adoration. Calvin denied this method because he considered it
as a distraction in worship, because he thought that the complex melody can blur the lyrics.9
Even though they disagreed on certain ideas, their goal and desire to guide the congregation into
an intimate relationship with God agreed. And it is inevitable to mention that thanks to their
effort, the modern believers enjoy the freedom of singing worship songs in guaranteed ease.
Therefore, all the sources given by God can be used in a good way to develop our faith and holy
life because everything made from God is good to the humanity. So, it is everyone’s
responsibility to take wise decisions on how to use it. (927)
7 Peront, “Re-Forming Music: Martin Luther’s Impact on Church Music through the Lutheran
Reformation.”, 54.
8 Peront, “Re-Forming Music: Martin Luther’s Impact on Church Music through the Lutheran
Reformation.”, 54.
9 Peront, “Re-Forming Music: Martin Luther’s Impact on Church Music through the Lutheran
Reformation.”, 54.
