ABSTRACT
The earliest extant references to musical instruments in Christian literature are found in the New Testament in Corinthians, a letter written by Paul of Tarsus to the Christian community in Corinth in the mid 50s of the first century CE. The musical instruments in early Christian literature are of two main types: figurative and concrete. Figurative references occur most frequently in exegetical, homiletic and instructional writings. Concrete references may be positive or negative depending on the relationship of the writer to the instruments in question. Christianity differs from Judaism in significant respects in addition to those of religious belief. Christianity is defined neither by blood ties nor by national or ethnic identity. In the early centuries of the movement Christians had no social or political status. The Jews of antiquity, bound together by their ethnic, historical, national and religious ties, constituted a strong political, religious and social entity recognized throughout the known world.
