10:45-46_), or the Ephesians who
"spake with tongues, and prophesied" (_Acts 19:6_), or perhaps the
disciples on the Day of Pentecost (_Acts 2:4_). Irenaeus, a second
century father of the Church and bishop of Lyons, referring to the scene
at Pentecost, mentions the singing of a hymn on that occasion.[17] The
nature of improvisations is fugitive. They arise from individual
inspiration and, even if expressed in familiar phrases, are not
remembered or recorded by the singer or hearer. To whatever degree
improvisation played a part in early Christian hymnody, to that same
degree we lack corresponding literary survivals. Possibly this is one
explanation of the dearth of sources which we now deplore.

On the whole, the hymnic evidence found in the New Testament points to a
predominant Hebrew influence. Both in the use of psalms and other Old
Testament hymns and in the phraseology of new hymns, the Christians found
themselves more at home in the traditional forms of expression. Features
of style, such as parallelism, uniformity and the repetition of words or
word order, were not necessarily restricted to Hebrew poetry but might be
found in other oriental sources--a consideration to which further
attention will be given later.[18] Still we may assume that the influence
of Judaism in form as well as subject matter was supreme.

IV. Liturgical Hymns

Christian practice reveals a third type of Hebrew influence, the
liturgical, which brought about the use of the psalms in public worship,
together with other elements familiar in the synagogue. At the close of a
service of this kind, made up of prayers, readings, psalms and preaching,
the eucharist was celebrated. Early writings, for example, the _Apologia_
of Justin Martyr, 100?-165,[19] the _Didache_[20] and the _Apostolic
Constitutions_,[21] testify to a somewhat fixed type of worship, which,
varying in details, seems to foreshadow the liturgical models of the
fourth century.

Briefly stated, the _Didache_, or _Teaching of the Twelve Apostles_, is a
second century treatise, the second part of which includes a ritual of
baptism, fasting and the eucharist.[22] A series of eucharistic prayers
is here recorded, beginning, {Eucharistoumen soi, pater hemon},

We thank Thee, our Father,

offered at stages of the communion ritual where we approach the heart of
Christian worship.[23] At this point, hymn and prayer origins merge. Many
Christians