Here we have a brief and thoughtful theology of the use and place of music in the gathered worship of the people of God. Aniol argues that our current confusions over music in public worship are at the root, theological. Consequently, we need to understand what worship is (biblically), how sanctification happens, the nature and importance of religious affections, the relationship between God’s glory and beauty, and the purpose of music in corporate worship before we are in a position to evaluate the kinds of music most appropriate to that purpose. When it comes to musical forms, most evangelicals just don’t think that they matter in the end, and hence drop back to their own preferences as the benchmarks of what we do and don’t do musically in public services of worship. Aniol wants to challenge that approach. Rightly so.
– Ligon Duncan, BA, MDiv, MA, PhD (Edinburgh)
Senior Minister, First Presbyterian Church, Jackson, Mississippi, USA
President, Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals
Chairman, Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood
Past Moderator, Presbyterian Church in America
Adjunct Professor, Reformed Theological Seminary
About Scott Aniol
Scott Aniol is the founder and Executive Director of Religious Affections Ministries. He is director of doctoral worship studies at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, where he teaches courses in ministry, worship, hymnology, aesthetics, culture, and philosophy. He is the author of Worship in Song: A Biblical Approach to Music and Worship, Sound Worship: A Guide to Making Musical Choices in a Noisy World, and By the Waters of Babylon: Worship in a Post-Christian Culture, and speaks around the country in churches and conferences. He is an elder in his church in Fort Worth, TX where he resides with his wife and four children. Views posted here are his own and not necessarily those of his employer.
