Psalms is the song book of the Bible and, therefore, a template for modelling the content of our music. Research, however, has shown that the lyrical content of contemporary Christian music (CCM) is quite different to Psalms. For example, there is much less emphasis on judgement, the law and obedience. How did it get this way? We know, also from research, that Charismatic megachurches have had a major influence on contemporary Christian worship. Therefore, to explain the change in lyrical content of CCM, it is helpful to go back to the roots of Holiness theology from which Pentecostal and Charismatic denominations emerged. It is well recognised that Holiness teachings and practices, including that of the Salvation Army, flowed through to the Charismatic movement and, therefore, has likely had at least some influence on the lyrical content of our music today.

General Booth had no problem preaching, teaching and singing about judgement in line with Psalms. The Booths certainly believed in the importance of obedience to God. This is reflected in General Booth’s statement:

“…neither do we mean by the atonement, as is maintained by some theologians, that Jesus Christ by his sacrifice met and satisfied the claims of the law man had broken so as to render any further obedience to that law by the entire human race unnecessary.”²³²

Having said that, it is suggested that Army converts did not often speak of sins of the mind, such as false beliefs or pride, but preached and taught more often of bodily sins, such as worldly leisure activities, drinking and gambling, which converts frequently spoke of in their testimonials.^{2 (p76)} Holiness theology taught that entire sanctification from these sins could be achieved in an instant. Perhaps this had an influence on the evolution of the personal empowerment emphasis in Charismatic megachurches of promising immediate, personal benefits like wealth, happiness and health.

Emphasis on Experiencing the Holy Spirit

The theology of Charismatic megachurches has less focus on traditional doctrine and law and a greater emphasis on personal experience and the active presence of the Holy Spirit in believer’s lives, including exercising spiritual gifts such as prophesying and healing. This emphasis on the Spirit can also be traced back to the Holiness movement. When Methodism was emerging, there was deeply held superstitious belief in spirits, fairies, witches and conjurers amongst many of the working class in parts of Britain. Historians have partly accredited Methodism’s striking success in these regions to these superstitions, as “Methodism did not so much replace folk-beliefs as translate them into a religious idiom.”^{454 (p177)}

Converts of Wesley’s revivals did not always totally disconnect themselves from former understandings of the spirit world. Sarah Williams, author of Religious Belief and Popular Culture in Southwark, c.1880-1939, said, “individuals could insist on the regular attendance of their child at Sunday School and still cut a lock of the hair of that same child, place it between two slices of bread and give it to a passing dog as a cure for the child’s whooping cough.”^{455 (p181)} Salvationists inherited aspects of this spiritual worldview. It placed significant emphasis on the influence of the spirit world.

Of note is the disproportionate emphasis on the Spirit in much of the early Salvationist writings. For example, in George Scott Railton’s book, The Authoritative Life of General William Booth, the words ‘Bible,’ ‘Scripture,’ ‘God’s Word’ and ‘Word of God’ are only mentioned 10 times, whereas the words ‘Holy Ghost’ and ‘Spirit,’ in the context of Holy Spirit, are referred to 41 times.⁵⁷

Salvationists placed much emphasis on the prompting of the Holy Spirit to guide their soul-saving work.^{2 (p38)} Mrs Booth said in one of her sermons:

“I maintain that the only qualification – the only indispensable qualification – for witnessing for Christ, is the Holy Ghost… The Lord is going to demonstrate in this land, that He is not going to evangelize it by finished sermons and disquisitions, but by the simple testimony of people saved from sin and the devil, by His power and His grace. He is going to do it by witnessing, as He began.”^{130 (p63)}

Reduced Emphasis on the Pursuit of Truth

While her motive was to push back against dry spiritless discourses, it removed the emphasis on the Bible and the pursuit of truth.

On another occasion, Mrs Booth said:

“There will be thousands of sermons preached to-day – the truth, and nothing but the truth. Nobody will pretend to say they were not in perfect keeping with the Word of God; and yet they will be perfect failures, and nobody will know it better than they who preach them!” She then asks the question, “what is the matter? The truth is preached. The people hear it, and yet they remain as they were. Where is the lack? Her answer is the want of power – the want of “the power of the Holy Spirit of God in the soul of the speaker accompanying His word, making it cut and pierce to the dividing asunder soul and spirit.”^{130 (p164-5)}

While Mrs White also believed that sermons preached without the Spirit are tame and pointless,^{47 (p36)} the premise of the Booths’ Holiness teaching was that excitement brings about manifestations of the Spirit. Music and emotional preaching were tools to achieve this end. That is why General Booth said the “beating and blowing is to get people first into the barracks and then to the Penitent Form.”³ In other words, he was using music as a primary means to lead people to conviction.

As already discussed, General Booth was very literal in proclaiming the gospel with a loud voice. He always made use of loud commotion to get people’s attention – loud instruments, loud preaching and anything that would shock the senses and cause people to turn their eyes and ears to listen. The Army was renowned for parading down the street and for their open-air performances, drawing attention by their singing and music. Once he got their attention, General Booth delivered to them a very simple but exuberant and often terrifying message, reminding listeners that they are sinners destined for the eternally burning flames of hell unless they repent and give their hearts to Jesus. He did not care much about the details of what the person believed, as long as that person accepted the blood of Jesus and was saved. George Railton said of Booth:

“…he always refused to allow any such use of the Bible in connexion with Penitents as has been usual in Inquiry Rooms, where the people have been taught that if they only believed the words of some text, all would be well with them.”^{57 (p35)}

In other words, unlike mainstream denominations at the time, he did not care if converts did not have a depth of understanding of what they were confessing before they said, ‘I believe’ and were accepted into the Salvation Army.

If he could only get people to repent, General Booth felt he had fulfilled his duty and saved them from ‘the jaws of hell’ as he put it.^{57 (p40)} He often spoke of people being saved after attending his evangelistic meetings. For example, of one young woman early in his ministry, he said, “I urged her to come to the communion rail at night. She did so, and the Lord saved her.”^{57 (p32)} For General Booth, he did not care very much what the person believed – whether they truly knew what they were confessing or who Jesus was and what he taught.

Determining the fitness of Salvation Army converts for ministry was not determined so much by Biblical knowledge but by sincerity to service, as stated by George Railton:

“As to those whom we take away from their secular calling to become our Officers, I will only say here that we judge of their fitness not alone by their ability to speak, but by their having proved themselves to be so devoted to the poor that we can rely upon their readiness to act as servants of the very neediest in any way that lies within their power.”^{57 (p21)} 

There is no mention of any need to have a sound knowledge of Scripture. As long as they could preach a heartfelt sermon and were passionate to help the poor, they were deemed fit for service. By having ability to preach, Railton meant to “take one line of thought and make enough of it to fill half an hour with anecdotes such as fit the subject.”^{2 (p101)}

Unlike his wife, Catherine, who had read the Bible cover to cover eight times by age 12 and read spiritual books widely,^{2 (p8)}General Booth was not a deep Bible student himself. He acknowledged the importance of knowledge to increase his power of usefulness and he prayed that God would enable him to acquire it, but books and study interested him little and he could not see the point of studying Latin or Greek.⁵⁷ He rarely spoke in-depth on doctrinal issues and, though he valued Scripture, he did not care much for study or formal qualifications, but rather he valued mingling with the people, meeting them at their level and bringing them a simple gospel message, to repent of their sins and accept the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.^{57 (p20)} He felt there was so much to do and so little time, so why waste time in studying books when the Lord could teach him?¹⁴ That is why Phoebe Palmer’s teachings on immediate entire sanctification and baptism of the Holy Spirit appealed to General Booth, as explained by Roy Hattersley in his biography on the Booths:

“The whole idea was ideally suited to William Booth’s theological position. Since her theory relied on feelings rather than thought – and by implication, dismissed scriptural study as a barrier to conversion — it appealed to his essentially anti-intellectual attitude towards theology. It was the perfect vehicle for the conversion of working, and often illiterate, men and women.”^{456 (p105)}

A striking difference between General Booth and Mrs White’s writings is the frequency in which they refer to the Bible. For example, General Booth published a book, Purity of Heart, which is a compilation of letters to Salvationists on living a holy life. It has a word count of approximately 16000 words and mentions the words ‘Bible,’ ‘Scripture,’ ‘Word of God,’ and ‘God’s Word’ only 7 times. By comparison, in Mrs White’s book ‘Steps to Christ,’ which has a word count of approximately 31000 words, the words ‘Bible,’ ‘Scripture,’ ‘Word of God,’ and ‘God’s Word’ are mentioned 78 times. This is almost 7 times the rate of use of these words compared to General Booth. This is a reflection of their depth of use of Scripture and anyone who has read books from both authors will notice how much more Mrs White’s writings are saturated with quotes and references to Scripture.

This is not to say Mrs White disregarded the importance of the Spirit. As with Mrs Booth, she regards the presence of the Spirit as essential for empowering the believer, as she describes here:

“The promise of the Spirit is a matter little thought of; and the result is only what might be expected—spiritual drought, spiritual darkness, spiritual declension and death. Minor matters occupy the attention, and the divine power which is necessary for the growth and prosperity of the church, and which would bring all other blessings in its train, is lacking, though offered in its infinite plenitude.

It is the absence of the Spirit that makes the gospel ministry so powerless. Learning, talent, eloquence, every natural or acquired endowment, may be possessed; but, without the presence of the Spirit of God, no heart will be touched, no sinner won to Christ. On the other hand, if they are connected with Christ, if the gifts of the Spirit are theirs, the poorest and most ignorant of His disciples will have a power that will tell upon hearts. God makes them channels for the outflowing of the highest influence in the universe.

Why do we not hunger and thirst for the gift of the Spirit, since this is the means by which we are to receive power? Why do we not talk of it, pray for it, preach concerning it? The Lord is more willing to give the Holy Spirit to us than parents are to give good gifts to their children. For the baptism of the Spirit every worker should be pleading with God. Companies should be gathered together to ask for special help, for heavenly wisdom, that they may know how to plan and execute wisely. Especially should men pray that God will baptize His missionaries with the Holy Spirit.”^{47 (p21)}

The difference, however, between the founders of the Salvation Army and the Adventists was their emphasis on seeking truth. General Booth instructed preachers to avoid controversial topics and never to speak disapprovingly of any particular form of error. David Earnshaw said that after reading five biographies of William Booth, he still really didn’t know what the General believed.¹⁴⁹ Consequently, the Salvation Army message was simple and light on theology. They valued spontaneous preaching over preaching that required education and preparation that most clergy relied on.^{2 (p102)} Railton, giving advice to one of their female preachers, wrote:

“Now all you need is to try and take one line of thought and make enough of it to fill half an hour with anecdotes such as fit the subject. You will find it an easy plan to take for your subjects at first the parables or miracles of Christ. You can find in any one of these a number of different points which will help you to a good sermon.” ^{2 (p101)}

There is much to be admired about General Booth and his enthusiasm to preach the gospel message in a way that people would understand and he had a lot of success at winning converts. He had a heart for the people, especially the poor, and was passionate like King David. However, just as we have learned many lessons from David’s mistakes, we can learn from General Booth’s mistakes. David’s enthusiasm in moving the ark did not make him right. Instead, we learn from David’s mistake that the most important measure of our success is not our enthusiasm, though that is part of it, but our allegiance to God and His Word. God expects us to study Scripture carefully and to be obedient to it – something the General was not always careful to do. No doubt, he often did things as he was moved by the Holy Spirit, but he was as human as David was human and, therefore, made mistakes.

Jesus said:

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you.” (Matt 28:19-20)

General Booth made disciples and did this exceptionally well in terms of numbers converted. However, he was not a careful Bible student and he did not teach converts to carefully observe all that Jesus commanded us. He had an almost indifferent approach to Scripture at times and avoided controversial subjects. Though Jesus commanded us to baptise new disciples and to observe the communion service in remembrance of Him, General Booth abolished these institutions without giving a well thought through scriptural reason for doing so, even admitting that he was not certain on these matters. Paul said, “stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle (2 Thes 2:15).” We must make every effort to cling to what is taught in Scripture.

This is one of the reasons why Mrs White warned not to adopt the Salvation Army method. What we think of as the Salvation Army today is not what it was in the late 19^th century. In the early years it was characterised by a non-conventional sensationalist method of conversion.¹⁷⁵ It was a prominent branch of the Holiness Movement from which the Pentecostal and Charismatic traditions emerged.⁵⁹ Of the Salvation Army, Mrs White wrote:

“They follow impressions and claim to be taught of the Spirit… they place these impressions above the written word of God, while they trample upon the divine law because their hearts are not in harmony with its precepts. The Spirit and the word agree. The Spirit of Christ leads into all truth; but there is in these spirit-taught ones an enmity against the plainest statements of the Bible. The spirit that guides them leads to the believing of lies rather than the truth, showing that their teacher is the great master spirit that ‘worketh in the children of disobedience.’”⁵⁶

Her bluntness was not intended to denigrate them but to warn Adventists, for she said, “There are in the Army honest souls, who are sincerely serving the Lord and who will see greater light, advancing to the acceptance of all truth.”^{47 (p184)} There is no doubt the Booths, for example, were sincerely serving the Lord with greater zeal than the majority of us today. Adventists were not to judge Salvationists, but neither were they to imitate their ways. As harsh as Mrs White’s words may sound, it is a fitting warning to any churches who take lightly the words of Scripture and, consequently, “call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness (Is 5:20).”

Many Christians believe, for example, that churches are starting to compromise our beliefs on homosexuality, calling evil good and good evil. The Salvation Army,⁵⁸ along with some other denominations, has officially embraced the LGBT lifestyle. In 2018, the Uniting Church of Australia was the first of the three major Australian Christian denominations to endorse same-sex marriage.⁴⁵⁷ Those opposing homosexuality refer to the numerous references to homosexuality as a sin and an abomination in the Bible:

“If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination.” (Lev 20:13)

 “And they called to Lot and said to him, ‘Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may know them carnally.’ So Lot went out to them through the doorway, shut the door behind him, and said, ‘Please, my brethren, do not do so wickedly.’” (Gen 19:5-7)

“as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.” (Jude 1:7)

“For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.” (Rom 1:26-27)

“Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.” (1 Corinthians 6:9-10)

Commentators affirming same-sex relationships argue that these passages address different ancient assumptions and practices than the committed same-sex relationships we see today. Unlike passages in the Bible that give authority to women to speak, allowing wriggle room for reinterpretation of Paul’s ‘silencing’ of women, there are no exceptions concerning homosexual practices. All passages discussing same-sex relationships are strictly negative. Therefore, though Progressive theologians have provided novel interpretations for these passages, the conservative Christian view is that there is no room to budge on this topic. They believe homosexuality is a sin no less than adultery, and those who persist in unrepentant sin will feel the full force of God’s wrath. A conservative Christian and a Progressive Christian may be equally concerned about the welfare of the LGBT community, but from very different perspectives.⁴⁵⁸ In addition to this, Jesus affirmed the marriage institution between a man and a woman established at creation (Matt 19:4-6). For this reason, many denominations still maintain that same-sex practice is immoral, despite shifting sentiments in society. Ellen White spoke in no uncertain terms of the sins of Sodom:

“Indulgence in unlawful things has become a power to deprave mankind, to dwarf the mind and to pervert the faculties. Just such a state of things as exists today existed before the flood and before the destruction of Sodom. Dissipation is on the increase in our world. Handbills on which indecent pictures are printed are posted up along our streets to allure the eyes and deprave the morals. These presentations are of such a character as to stir up the basest passions of the human heart through corrupt imaginings. These corrupt imaginings are followed by defiling practices like those in which the Sodomites indulged. But the most terrible part of the evil is that it is practiced under the garb of sanctity. Our youth will be defiled, their thoughts degraded, and their souls polluted unless they are barricaded with the truth.”^{459 (p169)}

Mrs Booth argued that if we speak truth without the spirit, it will lack power and fail to move the people to action. Mrs White believed the same. However, the way she measured the presence of the spirit was different to Mrs White. Mrs Booth believed that the presence of the Spirit was determined largely by the outward demonstrations of the preacher – perhaps waving the hands in the air excitedly, speaking loudly and banging the pulpit. Music helped to facilitate the fervour. She found that excitement moved people. The way she measured the success of a preacher was the response of the people.

It is certainly Biblical that truth must always be combined with the Spirit. But how should we measure the working of the Spirit? Noah preached for 120 years, but it fell on deaf ears. Jesus spoke truth but it failed to move many of his listeners. Paul preached the truth and was beaten, stoned and cast into prison. Though they spoke truth in the power of the Holy Spirit, their messages failed to move the masses – the majority of listeners remained steadfast in unbelief. Therefore, the response of the people to hearing a message cannot necessarily be used to measure the presence of the Holy Spirit in the message or the speaker.

Certainly, a dull, monotone discourse will not help with the imparting of truth – it puts people to sleep. The message has to be interesting to ensure the message is heard. There has to be some effort to make worship interesting to keep the mind engaged, but excitement and enthusiasm by no means demonstrates the presence of the Holy Spirit. David and the Israelites danced and sang exuberantly in the name of the Lord, yet their worship was rejected by God. Therefore, the presence of the Holy Spirit is not determined by the excitement of the music or the forcefulness of the preaching. Real power is in truth imparted by the Spirit. In the parable of the sower, Jesus said:

“Behold, a sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them. Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” (Matt 13:3-9)

Truth itself is from the Spirit. Truths are spiritually discerned “but the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God (1 Cor 2:14).” When truth is proclaimed, the success of the message is largely dependent on the hearer. They will either accept it or reject it as they are guided by the Spirit. Even if they accept it, they have to decide if they will maintain it. If truths are only received when coupled with emotionalism, it likely will not be sustained. It will be choked out by trials and tribulations and by the cares of the world.

Mrs Booth argued that we need the power of Pentecost, we need to “make haste back to those days of simplicity and power?”^{130 (p62)} By power, she primarily meant the power of the Holy Spirit. The early church truly was given power from the Spirit to achieve great things. We can achieve nothing without God’s Spirit. But Jesus said, “true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth (Jn 4:23).” God did not only impart the Holy Spirit, but He raised up apostles well versed in Scripture. The most prominent missionary and evangelist of all was Paul, a theologian, who often preached the gospel with simplicity but also used his scholarship to confront and defend every controversy. 

Paul said to “Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy… he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men (1 Cor 14:1,3).” The Benson Commentary says that the word ‘prophesy’ here means to open and apply the Scriptures and discuss divine things.^{225 (p210)} Therefore, it is the preaching and teaching of truth from Scripture under the guidance of the Holy Spirit which is to be elevated. Jesus said, “he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty (Matt 13:23). In other words, it is the Word of Truth that moves us to action – to correct and lasting action.

According to Paul, even the singing is to be with ‘understanding’ and not just with ‘the spirit (1 Cor 14:15).’ This can be achieved by having theologically rich lyrics as well as by using music to lead people into a state of mind to receive truths from Scripture. Rather than dominating the church service, the music should help to prepare us for the most important part of the service – the opening up of Scripture, for God’s Word is the source of life. Truth is what leads to true conviction. Much emphasis in Scripture is on the depth of understanding and truth. John said, “do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God (1 Jn 4:1).” Paul said to “Test all things (1 Thes 5:21).” If we have a feeling or a thought, how can we discern its source – whether it be of ourselves, of the Holy Spirit or of some other spirit? It is only by a thorough and continual abiding in God’s Word, prayerfully comparing Scripture with Scripture, that we can know we are being guided by truth. Paul said:

“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Tim 3:16-17)

If we want to be led by the Spirit, we must read the words that were inspired by the Spirit in Scripture. It is true, as Mrs Booth suggested, that the Holy Spirit is essential for witnessing for Christ, but the sword of the Spirit is the Word of God (Eph 6:17). The Bible is a central component of the working of the Holy Spirit.

Though they were sincere in their Christian faith and worked tirelessly for the salvation of others, the conclusion of this chapter is that the Booths emphasised the presence of the Spirit above the importance of scriptural integrity. The measure of the presence of the Holy Spirit was determined by physical demonstrations of enthusiasm and by numbers converted, rather than by commitment to prayerful Bible study and preaching of the whole truth in the Spirit. Without a firm and resolute commitment to faithfulness to every word of Scripture, the messages we share in our discourses and in the lyrics of our songs eventually lose harmony with the Bible.