Odes Project

Early Christian Worship from the First Hymnal 80-120 A.D.

A Mission for the Present from the Earliest Beginnings

From our site: www.TheOdesProject.com

The recently discovered Odes of Solomon provide a deeply moving portrayal of Christian worship in the 1st and early 2nd centuries. They allow us to experience the almost inebriated excitement of the Jews who felt such indescribable joy in their belief that Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah: “For a great day has shined upon us, And wonderful is he who has given to us of his glory (Ode 41.3-4).”

The mission of “The Odes Project” is to adapt the Odes of Solomon for use in worship today, bringing the past to the present. It is hoped that by doing so, a greater understanding of the nature and function of Christian hymns will be understood by Christian artists who are learning the principles and practices of Christian worship.

(See our website; www.TheOdesProject.com)

MAGNIFICENT HYMNS FROM THE EARLY CHURCH
Offered in new setting for today's worshippers!

From The Odes Project

From the earliest years of the church the evidence of the fullness of the Spirit was “speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.” Eph 5:18-20. The worship of the early church involved the singing of hymns as chants or antiphonal songs, sung in the synagogue. Continuing their traditional singing, the Jewish-Christians began writing and singing joyous songs of praise and thanksgiving on Sunday mornings in homes or on the hillsides.
Until now the Odes have studied from the standpoint of their archeological and historical interest. Now these Odes of Solomon are recognized by Christians to be authentic songs of praise and devotion from the very first Christian community written somewhere between 100 and 150 years AD. A collection of the lost ancient songs from their era has recently surfaced in fragments and has been adapted for worship in the Christian community.
They were identified as, “The Odes of Solomon,” not because they were written by King Solomon, but because they are considered to be in the tradition of “wisdom writings.” There are more than 40 of these odes, each a Christian elaboration of one of the biblical psalms.

The most prominent feature of the Odes is an expression of joy in the presence of eternal life and love. Salvation is achieved by Christ, through the incarnation. The spirit of New Testament worship is found in these hymns with an amazing freshness and vitality. One can only imagine singing, “Jesus has set us free!” And their response was a song of joy. The odes are a personal expression, birthed in the Word of God.

The mission of “The Odes Project” is to adapt the Odes of Solomon for use in worship today, bringing the past to the present. It is hoped that by doing so, a greater understanding of the nature and function of Christian hymns will be understood by Christian artists who are learning the principles and practices of Christian worship. The odes are now being heralded as a “new song” taken from the ancient odes of the early church.

Two Christian Music pioneers, Dr. Chuck Fromm and John Andrew Schreiner joined together to create this project, sharing a calling to serve Christian worship communities with “new song.” Both are lifelong students of worship and music, and as they joined their talents together, they resolved to make these ancient songs of faith accessible in the present tense. Fromm is the visionary publisher of Worship Leader magazine. Fromm relates the singing and teaching to his own experience in the Jesus Movement of the early 70s. John Schreiner is a noted musician, composer and worship leader/pastor and has dedicated his life to the service of the Word through music. For further information, please contact us at www.theodesproject or 949-240-9339.

Frequently Asked Questions

Ten Frequently Asked Questions about the Odes of Solomon

1. What are the Odes of Solomon?
The Odes of Solomon is a collection of hymns from the earliest Christian community written sometime before 125 ca. They reflect the joyful thanksgiving and praise of the early Jewish-Christians . Originally they were composed in Syriac--a Semitic language closely related to the Aramaic spoken in the time of Jesus. They are the praises, not of the Western church, but of the Eastern church, a church still very close to the Semitic roots of Christianity.

2. What is the origin of the Odes?
The 42 Odes seem to originate from one person, and this individual most likely was a Jew who became a follower of Jesus Christ. That means that some odes may be originally Jewish and others Christian. Some experts on the Odes believe that the author, before he became a Christian, was an Essene or part of a similar Jewish sect. Discerning the date of the Odes has provoked considerable interest. Some scholars contend that they originate as late as the third century. Others place them in the later half of the second century. Most, however, date them at some time around the middle of the second century. A date long after 100 CE is unlikely.

3. Why were these hymns named, “The Odes of Solomon”?
“The Odes of Solomon” could also be called “The Psalms of Solomon.” King Solomon is a pseudonym or “pen name” used by the author in place of his own name. The practice of writing under an assumed name was common during this period when the writers frequently made use of well-known names from the Old Testament. (Solomon, Enoch, Moses, etc.).

4. Why are the Odes attributed to Solomon?
Solomon was known to have written 1005 songs (1 Kgs 4.32). Since the writer of the Odes of Solomon was most likely a Jewish believer, he would have been very familiar with the Solomon hymns. Just as Solomon, the son of David, continued the doxological service of his father by writing the Song of Solomon, so the early Christians continued the doxological service of the Son of David, anointed by the Spirit, by writing and singing Christian psalms.

5. Why do you call these songs the “First Christian Hymnal”?
Quite simply because they are the only sizable collection of Christian hymns which has come down to us from the earliest centuries of the church.

6. Did the first Christians understand their hymns to be inspired holy scripture like the Psalms?
Probably not, which is the likely reason that nearly all early Christian hymns have disappeared. The New Testament never included a collection of Christian psalms to go with the Gospels and Epistles. The Odes of Solomon are not Scripture as Evangelical Christians understand holy writ. They are “inspired” in the sense that their writer loved God and wrote poetry that reflected insights, ideas and pictures that the Holy Spirit seems to have placed in his heart. They are neither scriptural nor apocryphal (belonging to a collection of disputed scriptures). They are simply ancient poems of worship and praise.

The most prominent feature of the Odes is an expression of joy in the presence of eternal life and love. Salvation is achieved by Christ, through the incarnation. The spirit of New Testament worship is found in these hymns with an amazing freshness and vitality. Jesus has set us free and our response is a song of joy. Even if their language comes from the ancient Orient, they seem to have a classic Evangelical quality about them. Recognizing their importance, the Billy Graham Association’s Decision Magazine called the Odes of Solomon, “Masterpieces of Christian Devotion”

7. What is the relationship between the Odes of Solomon and the Gospels?
There is a very close relationship between the writings of the Odes’ author and the Gospel of John. This connection has been noted by scholars since the Odes’ rediscovery in 1909. Dr. Charlesworth states, “I have been persuaded that the Odist eventually lived within the Johannine community, which most likely included not only Samaritans but also Essenes who believed that Jesus was the Messiah. These are my own views which have taken shape since the mid-sixties....”

8. Are there other early church hymn documents not embedded in New Testament Scripture?
Certainly, but none were written as early as the Odes of Solomon. Not too long after the close of the New Testament period the Church began to create its own hymns and psalms as its preferred expression of Christian praise.
In the Eastern churches the writing of Christian hymns enjoyed some popularity, while in the West the Church sang psalms and canticles almost exclusively until the time of Ambrose of Milan (ca. 339-97) toward the end of the fourth century.

9. Why are the Odes of Solomon important today?
They provide a deeply moving portrayal of Christian worship in the 1st and early 2nd centuries, and an important window and template for the substance of Christian hymn writing today. The Odes allow us to experience the almost inebriated excitement of the Jews who felt such indescribable joy in their belief that Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah: “For a great day has shined upon us, And wonderful is he who has given to us of his glory (Ode 41.3-4).”

10. What is “The Odes Project”?
The mission of “The Odes Project” is to adapt the Odes of Solomon for use in worship today, bringing the past to the present. It is hoped that by doing so, a greater understanding of the nature and function of Christian hymns will be understood by Christian artists who are learning the principles and practices of Christian worship.

Two Christian Music pioneers, Dr. Chuck Fromm and John Andrew Schreiner joined together to create this project, sharing a calling to serve Christian worship communities with “new song.”
Both are lifelong students of worship and music, and as they joined their talents together, they resolved to make these ancient songs of faith accessible in the present tense. Fromm is a visionary and publisher in the service of worship. He connected with the Odes of Solomon while studying the worship of the early 1970’s worship music and preparing to write his dissertation. The worship history scholar Hughes Oliphant Old, a regular columnist in Worship Leader magazine, pointed out the connection between the Odes and the wisdom doxology of praise. Fromm related the singing and teaching to his own experience of the Jesus Movement of the early 70s. John Schreiner is a noted musician, composer and worship leader/pastor and has dedicated his life to the service of the Word through music.
For Further Reading

Charlesworth, James H.
1998 Critical Reflections on the Odes of Solomon. Vol 1. Literary Setting, Textual Studies, Gnosticism, The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Gospel of John. Sheffield Academic Press, Sheffield England
Fromm, Charles E.
2006 Textual Communities and New Song in the Multi-media Age. Mission Town Productions, San Juan Capistrano, California, USA.
Old, H. O.
1995 Leading in Prayer. Grand Rapids, Michigan, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

2009 - THE 100-YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THE DISCOVERY OF THE ODES OF SOLOMON History
The Odes of Solomon are authentic songs of praise and devotion from the very first Christian community. Believed to have resided in the area of Antioch around the first century, the Odes were written and, apparently, copied as they are referred to in a variety of early writings from the early Christian church. Over the centuries they have only surfaced in fragments or as references quoted in these discovered writings.
The small collection survived as verses, or song lyrics, without any musical notation. They were identified as, “The Odes of Solomon,” not because they were written by King Solomon, but because they were considered for a long time to be in the tradition of “wisdom writings.” In fact they were not composed until sometime between 100 and 150 years A.D. They were not written in Hebrew, but in Syriac, a dialect blending Aramaic and Greek, spoken in the first century in the region of Antioch. The church at Antioch was also the place where the growing number of followers of Christ were first called “Christians.” Today the surviving Odes have been gathered and collated. Translations and commentaries have been published. But until now the Odes have remained primarily in the realm of archeological and historical interest, little known to the laity of today’s church and of little interest to the current worship conversation in the postmodern era—to our great loss as a body of believers in the living God.
The Sound of a Movement
The first Christians wrote hymns to Christ and sang them in their worship, with the Psalms, as fulfilled prophecies of the Messiah. In the coming of Jesus, God showed His faithfulness in the long awaited promise of the coming Messiah. It is also wonderful to note that we read of Christians singing hymns to Christ as God very shortly after New Testament period. This is written in one of the letters of the Roman governor Pliny the Younger (61-ca. 113) to the Emperor Trajan (53-117) giving a short description of a Christian service of worship.

The Odes of Solomon is the only sizable collection of Christian hymns that has come down to us from the earliest centuries of the Church. They were composed in Syriac and near the close of the first Christian century. They are the praises, not of the Western church, but of the Eastern Church, a church still very close to the Semitic roots of Christianity. “The Odes of Solomon are Christian psalms in a way very similar to the canticles in the Gospel of Luke. That, of course, is implied by the title of the work.” [i]

Tied to the Psalms
Just as Solomon, the son of David, continued the doxological service of his father by writing the Song of Solomon, so Christians continue the doxological service of the Son of David—anointed by the Spirit—by singing Christian psalms. The title is a sort of apologetic for Christian hymnody. There are more than 40 of these odes, each a Christian elaboration of one of the canonical psalms.

Although sometimes the imagery is a bit strange to our modern Western ears, it probably gives us about as clear a picture of the worship of the early church as any document that has come down to us. The spirit of New Testament worship is found in these hymns with an amazing freshness and vitality. And even if their language comes from the ancient Orient, they seem to have a classic evangelical quality about them.
They are as eloquent about Christian love as ever the Franciscans, about grace as the Calvinists, about holiness as the Wesleyans, and they are as filled with the Spirit as ever any charismatic could wish.

Dr. James Charlesworth sheds historical light on these beautiful songs.

A Conversation with Professor James Charlesworth
Dr. James H. Charlesworth, Princeton’s George L. Collord Professor of New Testament Language and Literature, has written and edited over 60 books on the New Testament, Dead Sea Scrolls, and other Jewish literature. He is also Director of the Dead Sea Scrolls Project, which is preparing the text, critical apparatus, introduction, and translation of all the non-biblical Dead Sea Scrolls. Professor Charlesworth specializes in the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old and New Testaments, the Dead Sea Scrolls, Josephus, Jesus Research, and the Gospel of John. Here he answers a few questions about the Odes of Solomon to help shed some historical light on these beautiful songs.

When were the Odes composed?
The date of the Odes has been a focus of debate since 1909 when J. Rendel Harris identified the Odes in a Syriac manuscript on his shelf. Most scholars now conclude that the Odes received their present form about 125 CE (Charlesworth, Lattke). Since a collection of “hymns” or poems would probably not have been written in one year, we should imagine some decades for the composition of these 42 Odes.

In your writings about the Odes, you differentiate between them and “apocryphal” writings. Could you explain the difference?
The Odes are “apocryphal” in that they were “hidden” from modern scholars and others until they were recovered in 1909. They were not hidden in antiquity but were probably originally used in Christian worship (N.B. the “Hallelujah” at the end of an Ode).

What can you tell us about the forms of worship in the synagogue in the 1st Century, following the destruction of the Temple? Was a specific liturgy used, does it still exist in any form, and did it incorporate hymns?
I wish scholars knew how to answer such questions. When the Temple was burned by the invading Roman armies, sacrifice in the Temple ceased. Worship shifted to the thousands of synagogues in and outside the Holy Land. Defining the Bible evolved with reading it liturgically and for study; benedictions shaped Jewish and Christian thought, including the Amida (18 Benedictions). Study of Torah was perceived also to be worship.

Were the Odes ever considered for inclusion in the New Testament canon? Why or why not?
We have no record of a synod who voted on the works to be included in the canon. Probably, the Odes were not important for the Western church, and their celebration of private piety directly to the Creator may have caused them to be unattractive for those who were defining the institutional church.

There seems to be some confusion about the Odes and their relationship to Gnostic heresies. First, please define for us the word “Gnostic” and explain why you are convinced that neither the Odes nor the Gospel of John are Gnostic in nature. Finally, perhaps you can help us understand why the word “Gnostic” is so frequently used—or misused—as a pejorative term in discussions and debates about contemporary Christian culture.
To answer these questions adequately would demand a book. Scholars cannot agree on a definition of “Gnosticism.” To me, it is a philosophical system that began to dominate in some area in the middle of the second century CE. It emphasized a myth that a few humans have “gnosis” (knowledge) because they fell to earth from another world. The only way back to this heavenly abode for these “Gnostics” was to look inside, perceive a spark of knowledge, and from this light remember the way back to an original pristine condition. The Odes (and the Gospel of John) do not emphasize “self knowledge;” they reveal a love and knowledge of the Creator who shows the way of salvation to all who behold the beloved (and not a select few). The term “Gnostic” is used pejoratively today by those in an established institution that fear individuals who have a separate agenda.

In what language were the Odes originally written?
Some scholars think that the Odes were originally composed in Greek (Quasten). Other scholars conclude that they were composed in Syriac (Emerton) or a form of Aramaic-Syriac (Charlesworth). The Greek copy is full of Semitisms and is inferior linguistically to the Syriac, and the latter preserves many features usually typical of an original language (e.g., paronomasia, alliteration, assonance, metrical scheme, parallelism, rhythm). Variants in the extant manuscripts are sometimes explained by a Syriac original text (e.g. brk and krk in 22:6).

Do today’s Syriac liturgies have roots in Temple/synagogue worship?
It would be foolish to deny either the origins of these Semitic liturgies or to miss the creative “Christian” additions and developments.

The Gospels report that after the Last Supper Jesus and His disciples “Sang a hymn and went out.” Do any copies of Jewish hymns from the time of Christ still exist? How much do we know about the role of music in those days, and later in the Early Church?
Before the fourth century CE, “singing” was chanting. Jesus and His followers chanted a “hymn.” What was this hymn? Since the time was Passover, it could have been one of the Davidic psalms or part of the early Passover Haggadah.

You and others think it is possible that the author of the Odes belonged to a sect similar to the Essene/Qumran groups. Would the music of communities or sects such as the Essenes have differed significantly from the music of the Jewish Temple before its destruction, or the music of the post-Temple synagogues?
Only in the Temple before 70 CE would you find the following music: hundreds of Levites chanting, harps, trumpets, drums, flutes, tambourines, and dancing young virgins. In Essene, and other groups, you would find sectarian liturgies and chanting—perhaps without a flute or harp, since in many texts (including the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Odes) an author confesses that his heart or tongue is “his” instrument, harp, or flute.

For how long did Jewish Christians continue to worship in the synagogue alongside Jews who did not believe Jesus was Messiah? Could the Odes of Solomon have been first Jewish and then, as some have said, “redacted” into Christian hymns when the Christians formed their own congregations?
One has to be very careful about talking about “the parting of the ways.” One has to observe the time and place and perceive today some Christians worship, intermittently, with Jews in some churches and synagogues. Some of the Odes may be “Jewish” and others “Christian,” but one needs to define terms precisely.

What can modern Christians learn about spirituality and worship from the Odes of Solomon? And what contributions do you think the Odes of Solomon can offer to the development of contemporary songs and hymns?
Many Christians have come to me as a Methodist minister stating that all their lives they were told to say “mea culpa.” In my opinion, Jesus did not call into being a group of people that defined themselves as sinners who had to spend their lives seeking forgiveness from an angry God. In fact, Jesus gave His life to break such “yokes” of slavery. He showed the way to be free for God and to praise God for the joy of living. According to the Gospel of John, Jesus wished that His “joy” would be completed in His followers. If Christianity is a call to freedom and a joyous relation with a loving Creator then the Odes would be the perfect “hymnbook.”

You mentioned that the Odes of Solomon have helped shape your career since 1966. In what way have they played a particularly significant role in your broader work with ancient document fragments, etc.?
During advanced studies at Duke University, Edinburgh University and the Ecole Biblique de Jerusalem, I was attracted to the Dead Sea Scrolls, Gnostic texts and other documents that sometimes had been branded inferior to those in a closed canon. As I read some of these early writings, I perceived that God had not talked to humans only in a select list of texts. The Odes were special, and I decided to devote my energies and time to comprehending the genius in them. Why? Because I felt the joy, freedom, love, and oneness with the Beloved that the Odist shared in his masterpieces.

Since 1985, I have been editor and director of the Princeton Theological Seminary Dead Sea Scrolls Project. When I began exploring the sacred texts allegedly on the fringes of “the canon,” I never imagined I would hold such an elevated position. Certainly, that way was opened as I focused my Ph.D. dissertation and E.T. [Ecole Biblique] on the Odes of Solomon. My first book was published at the Clarendon Press, Oxford, and is the critical text and translation of these ancient hymns.

The Odes and similar writings have been more or less the domain of scholars, historians and artifacts experts. What are your thoughts about the Fromm/Schreiner Odes Project and its role in popularizing the Odes and making them available to contemporary worshippers?
In my first decade of teaching at Duke University (1969-1979), I was thrilled to perceive the popularity of the Odes and the celebration of my earliest publications. Some musicians rendered the Odes into music for churches and Billy Graham’s magazine featured them as ideal for young Christians. Now the Odes Project is dedicated to reviving this recognition and appreciation. Finally, the edict of the Protestant Reformers (ad fontes) leads us back to the time we were all “Catholics” (global) and when the Odist captured the excitement of God’s joyous reunion with his creatures.

If the Church is conceived to be a collection of sinners who fretfully fear the condemnation of God, the Odes are not an appropriate hymnbook. If the Church is defined as a group of holy people in a closed institution, the Odes do not fit. If the Church is perceived to be a growing number of the faithful who not only yearn for acceptance from a loving Deity, and are loved fully, but who also feel empowered to live joyfully by God’s grace, the Odes are singularly appropriate.

We would like to know more about your enormous body of work with The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha. To begin with, can you give us a laymen’s definition of Pseudepigrapha, and explain what kind of literature it encompasses?
The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha is a category of ancient Jewish and Christian documents that usually date from about 300 BCE until about 135/6 CE when Bar Kokhba was defeated and the history of ancient Israel ended. Most of the books in this category—which are frequently attributed to Adam, Enoch, Abraham, David, Solomon, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Baruch, Job, or Ezra—were considered by early Jews and Christians to be sacred and full of God’s Word for His faithful followers. It is imperative in studying these books to perceive that when they were written, or compiled from oral traditions, the Bible had not yet been defined, let alone closed. The term “Pseudepigrapha” means writings “falsely” attributed to someone; it can be misleading since the Davidic psalms and the Wisdom of Solomon (as well as the Gospels and some of the letters in the New Testament) are usually judged to be pseudepigraphical.

Within the context of the Pseudepigrapha, are the Odes of Solomon unique? How do the Odes relate and compare to other documents in this larger body of work?
The Odes of Solomon like other documents are pseudonymously attributed to Solomon; among the collection are the Proverbs of Solomon, the Wisdom of Solomon, and the Psalms of Solomon. The Odes, unlike the Qumran “Thanksgiving Hymns,” are composed like the Psalms in parallel lines of thought (parallelismus membrorum).

How do you explain the Odes’ unique appeal to scholars?
The Odes of Solomon have attracted Jewish scholars, and specialists on such diverse fields as the New Testament, Jewish-Christianity, Gnosticism, and Patristics. These odes (or psalms or hymns) are attractive because of their poetic language and thought. The dominant theme is joy in experiencing acceptance and love at the appearance of the Messiah: “My joy is the Lord” (7:2). Numerous aspects of Jesus’ life appear in the Odes, including His birth (Ode 19), His baptism (Ode 24), His walking on the water (Ode 39), His elevation on a cross (Odes 27, 42), His resurrection (passion), and His descent into hell (Ode 42). Note the beautiful thought in this excerpt:

Who can interpret the wonders of the Lord?
Though the one who interprets will be destroyed,
Yet that which was interpreted will remain. [Ode 26:11]

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Odes of Solomon forum at:

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Hi there, I’ve found a website with some free downloadable books in PDF format at internet archive

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