Rational Worship

Summarizing the thought of Epictetus, Wright ( Paul and the Faithfulness of God ) points to a passage that he describes as “one of the most remarkable and noble expressions of gratitude for divine favour to be found anywhere outside the Judaeo-Christian tradition”:

“Why, if we had sense, ought we to be doing anything else, publicly and privately, than hymning and praising the Deity ( to theion ), and rehearsing His benefits? Ought we not, as we dig and plough and eat, to sing the hymn of praise to God? ‘Great is God, that He hath furnished us these instruments wherewith we shall till the earth. Great is God, that He hath given us hands, and power to swallow, and a belly, and power to grow unconsciously, and to breathe while asleep.’ This is what we ought to sing on every occasion, and above all to sing the greatest and divinest hymn, that God has given us the faculty to comprehend these things and to follow the path of reason. What then? Since most of you have become blind, ought there not to be someone to fulfil this office for you, and in behalf of all sing the hymn of praise to God? Why, what else can I, a lame old man, do but sing hymns to God? If, indeed, I were a nightingale, I should be singing as a nightingale; if a swan, as a swan. But as it is, I am a rational being, therefore I must be singing hymns of praise to God ( nyn de logikos eimi, hymnein me dei ton theon ). This is my task; I do it, and will not desert this post, as long as it may be given me to fill it; and I exhort you to join me in this same song.”