Erie Presbytery historian on the sacred authority of Rous's Psalter

Source: the-transition-from-psalmody-to-hymnody-in-the-southern-presbyterian-church
Page: 31
Type: quote
Confidence: high
Date mentioned: 1800
Topics: exclusive-psalmody scottish-psalter theological-arguments
Places: Pennsylvania, Erie
Institutions: erie-presbytery

Context

The dissertation discusses the veneration of the Scottish Psalter among Presbyterians who emigrated from Scotland and Ireland. An historian of the Presbytery of Erie, Pennsylvania, provides this description of the profound attachment to Rous’s Psalter and the theological objection to “words of human composition.”

Extract

There were almost intolerable prejudices in the minds of the people against the use of anything but Rous. Some who did not appear to have much conscience in regard to other things of greater importance, were here immovable. They could not sing words of “human composition” in the Lord’s worship. They were wedded to the rough, jagged lines of Rous and could as readily be diverted from them as from the Holy Bible itself. . . . These old psalms had been hallowed in their minds as being connected with the blessed memories of early years, as associated with the family altar, as having been sung by lips voiceless now upon earth, but tuneful on the heights of Mount Zion.

Significance

This extract provides remarkable documentation of the psychological and theological foundations of exclusive psalmody resistance:

  1. Theological principle: The explicit statement that they “could not sing words of ‘human composition’ in the Lord’s worship” captures the core exclusive psalmody argument
  2. Degree of commitment: Their attachment to Rous was such that they “could as readily be diverted from them as from the Holy Bible itself” - equating the Psalter with Scripture
  3. Emotional and memorial attachment: The psalms were “hallowed” through associations with family worship, deceased loved ones, and celestial worship
  4. Observer’s perspective: The historian’s observation that some “did not appear to have much conscience in regard to other things of greater importance” hints at criticism of priorities, but also confirms the genuine depth of conviction

This helps explain why the psalmody controversy caused such deep divisions - the issue was not merely aesthetic preference but theological conviction about the nature of worship, combined with powerful emotional attachments to inherited tradition.