Book Review: "Richland Hills & Instrumenal Music"

Dr. Dave Miller of Apologetics Press wrote this book in 2007. The subtitle, “A Plea to Reconsider,” is appropriate in this case. Richland Hills is the largest church of Christ and, in a bold and calculated move, they decided to add a third service (on Saturday!) where instruments would be used. Also, the Lord’s Supper would be served at this Saturday worship.

In preparation for that move, the preacher, Rick Atchley, preached 3 sermons entitled “The Both/And Church.” These sermons served as the message to the congregation as to why the change was being made. In Richland Hills & Instrumental Music, Dr. Dave Miller uses notes from the very sermons Atchley preached to defeat the arguments.

As you might expect, Atchley–over and over–goes to the silence argument. In other words, since God never said we couldn’t use instruments, then they are not sinful and no one will lose his/her soul by using them. Dr. Miller does a tremendous job of handling this touchy subject.

The book is a must-read for those who want to “re-learn” the reasons why instrumental music in the worship of God is unacceptable. The sermons preached by Atchley are taken piece-by-piece and his words are shown to be false. (Sadly, the second sermon was given a standing ovation when preached at Richland Hills. It just shows how much the people wanted this “new thing” instead of the “old paths.”)

Pick up this book from the Apologetics Press website, or from Sain Publications site.