I just listened to three lectures given by John Makujina at the William R. Rice Lecture Series at Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary in 2005. They are outstanding. A must-listen, especially if you question whether. You can download them here.
Here’s a critical highlight:
Traditionally, this controversy has been contested under the rubrics of orthopraxy rather than orthodoxy. My closing challenge, however, is that CCM’s theology of music should be ranked among the theological aberrations of modern evangelicalism and be confronted from a doctrinal standpoint (what we’re here for today). CCM’s Pelagianist aesthetic autonomy, its pop Jesus, are desecrations of God majestic, and its error needs to be re-categorized as theology miscarriage – even heresy – rather than just aesthetic immaturity.
Before we engage in musical questions of consonance, dissonance, beat, and melody, we must establish a biblical worldview that permits criticism of these elements to begin with. And this is the responsibility of every Christian, but especially of those who are called to preach and teach the Word of God.
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.
