Christians have responded to various art forms in many ways over the centuries. Four typical responses are described in this article. These approaches to art in general necessarily influence how the Christian community approaches the visual arts in worship.
Very little can be said with certainty about the music of the first three centuries of the church beyond texts used and liturgical forms followed. Judging from later music in the Eastern churches and in Gregorian chant in the West, the musical settings of these texts probably shared characteristics with much Eastern music, including tunes in various modes. Ecstatic song continued in the practice of the thanksgiving of the “prophets” in some early liturgies.