…the command to sing psalms in the name of the Lord was obeyed by everyone in every place: for the command to sing psalms is in force in all Churches which exist among the nations, not only for the Greeks but also for the Barbarians; and further, throughout the whole world, in towns and villages and in the fields also, in short, in the whole Church, the people of Christ, who are gathered from all nations, sing to the one God, whom the prophets foretold, hymns and psalms with a loud voice, so that the voice of the psalm-singers is heard by those standing outside.
—Eusebius of Caesarea, Commentary on the Psalms. Quoted in Peter Wagner, Gregorian Melodies: A Handbook of Plainsong 2nd edition, trans. A. Orme and E. G. P. Wyatt (London, 1901).
R. Scott Clark
R.Scott Clark is the President of the Heidelberg Reformation Association, the author and editor of, and contributor to several books and the author of many articles. He has taught church history and historical theology since 1997 at Westminster Seminary California. He has also taught at Wheaton College, Reformed Theological Seminary, and Concordia University. He has hosted the Heidelblog since 2007.
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It appears that Eusebius also mentions the singing of hymns. Would that exclude singing psalms exclusively?
The Fathers (and others) used “psalms” and “hymns” interchangeably. It seems most likely that, in context, “hymn” is a synonym for psalm here.