Scott Aniol

Scott Aniol is the founder and Executive Director of Religious Affections Ministries. He is Chair of the Worship Ministry Department 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.

Author Archives: Scott Aniol

Children and Worship

May 14th, 2014 | 0 Comments

This entry is part 8 of 10 in the series Back to Basics You can read more posts from the series by using the Contents in the right sidebar.

Any concerned, Christian parent is committed to training his or her child to be obedient to the Lord and His Word. From the earliest of ages we inundate our children with Bible verses, we make sure that they faithfully attend church, and we seek to instill in them Bible truths that they can carry with… Continue Reading

A great model for pastoral worship oversight

May 8th, 2014 | 0 Comments

Last week in two separate posts I addressed the issue of pastoral oversight in worship and music. I agreed with Michael Lawrence’s article that pastors should have oversight in these matters, but I also insisted that this means that pastors must be equipped to do so. In response to those posts, I received an email from Steve… Continue Reading

More on pastors and musical training

May 1st, 2014 | 0 Comments

There has been a profitable discussion happening in the comments of my recent observations about the need for pastors to be trained in worship and music if they are going to (rightly) reclaim their role as those primarily responsible for worship music choices. A commenter asked for a fuller explanation for why I believe this… Continue Reading

This is why pastors should be educated in music and worship

April 24th, 2014 | 0 Comments

9Marks published that “some elder should exercise oversight over picking the music and all the other details of the worship service.” I agree with Lawrence for all the reasons he listed; there is simply too much at stake in choosing music for corporate worship. The songs we sing are more than simply good truth set to… Continue Reading

Harold Best vs. Ken Myers on Musical Meaning

April 17th, 2014 | 0 Comments

This is an excellent illustration of where Evangelicalism is on issues related to music and worship. I’m thankful to 9Marks for doing this. It’s very instructive. The folks at 9Marks asked three questions to two individuals who have written and spoken on the subject of musical meaning: Can God employ any musical form for redemptive… Continue Reading

The Regulative Principle of Worship

April 16th, 2014 | 0 Comments

This entry is part 7 of 10 in the series Back to Basics You can read more posts from the series by using the Contents in the right sidebar.

Pastors and parishioners perennially battle over who has authority in matters of church practice, particularly in corporate worship. Should what happens in the corporate gatherings of God’s people fall under the control of church leadership, or should these decisions be left to congregational input and direction? If the former, are pastors to be guided by… Continue Reading

Immodest hymns

April 11th, 2014 | 0 Comments

Perhaps the most influential figure to express a reaction against the condition of music in 19th century America—especially church music—was Thomas Hastings (1784-1872). Hastings was a composer, hymn-tune book compiler, hymn writer, and music critic. While he composed almost one thousand sacred compositions and many hymns tunes—some of which are still sung today—his influence extends… Continue Reading

Change your tastes

April 10th, 2014 | 0 Comments

During the years I was in college and the one year before I was married, I ate a lot of junk food. I grew to love junk food. So when I eventually married, and my wife began to prepare healthy, well-balanced meals for me, I’ll admit that I really didn’t have a taste for it… Continue Reading

Article 11: On Popular Culture

April 1st, 2014 | 0 Comments

This entry is part 13 of 17 in the series A Conservative Christian Declaration You can read more posts from the series by using the Contents in the right sidebar.

This is a series to further explain the articles of “A Conservative Christian Declaration.” . We affirm that much of popular culture is formulaic and sentimentalized, and that it tends toward banality and narcissism. We affirm that much popular music, through its stereotyped form, lacks the ability to communicate transcendent truth, virtue, and beauty, which are… Continue Reading

“Churches” or “Christians” and Culture?

March 27th, 2014 | 0 Comments

Richard Niebuhr’s classic taxonomy in Christ and Culture attempts to articulate various ways of understanding the appropriate response of Christians toward culture: Christ Against Culture Christ of Culture Christ Above Culture Christ Transforming Culture Christ and Culture in Paradox One of the problems with any discussions of Niebuhr’s taxonomy is an equivocation, however, between Christians and churches. In… Continue Reading

Worship in the Assembly

March 26th, 2014 | 0 Comments

This entry is part 6 of 10 in the series Back to Basics You can read more posts from the series by using the Contents in the right sidebar.

It is becoming increasingly popular today to assume that since the essence of worship is the language of the gospel, then it follows that worship is all of life, and there is nothing distinct or significant about corporate gatherings of worship. Several problems with this perspective exist, however, deserving careful consideration. First, the nature of… Continue Reading

Article 10: On Meaning

March 25th, 2014 | 0 Comments

This entry is part 12 of 17 in the series A Conservative Christian Declaration You can read more posts from the series by using the Contents in the right sidebar.

This is a series to further explain the articles of “A Conservative Christian Declaration.” . We affirm that expressions toward God, be they prayers, preached sermons, poems, or music, may be parsed for their meaning and judged for their appropriateness for worship. We affirm that understanding of meanings is gained both from Scripture and from… Continue Reading

Discussion about Christian rap with Shai Linne: Roots

March 20th, 2014 | 0 Comments

This entry is part 18 of 18 in the series Discussion about Christian Rap with Shai Linne You can read more posts from the series by using the Contents in the right sidebar.

This is Shai Linne‘s final question to me in our conversation between Christian brothers about Christian rap. This post will not make sense unless you start at the beginning of this discussion and read through all the posts. You can find the other posts in this discussion on the right hand side of this page. Scott, in your statements… Continue Reading

What is Worship?

March 19th, 2014 | 0 Comments

This entry is part 5 of 10 in the series Back to Basics You can read more posts from the series by using the Contents in the right sidebar.

Many of the “worship wars” today are fueled by, I believe, differing views of the nature of worship itself. Clearly differences over what worship is and the function of various worship elements would lead to significant differences over what kind of music we might use in a worship service, for example, and so I believe that… Continue Reading

Discussion about Christian rap with Shai Linne: Subjectivity (Rebuttal)

March 13th, 2014 | 0 Comments

This entry is part 17 of 18 in the series Discussion about Christian Rap with Shai Linne You can read more posts from the series by using the Contents in the right sidebar.

Shai Linne and I are having a conversation between Christian brothers about Christian rap. This post will not make sense unless you start at the beginning of this discussion and read through all the posts. You can find the other posts in this discussion on this page or on the right hand side of this post. This is my rebuttal to Shai’s… Continue Reading

Beauty

March 12th, 2014 | 0 Comments

This entry is part 4 of 10 in the series Back to Basics You can read more posts from the series by using the Contents in the right sidebar.

Beauty has been classically defined as that which pleases when apprehended (Thomas Aquinas). Both terms in that definition are worth considering. First, “apprehended.” Beauty can describe things, persons, or ideas–anything that can be apprehended by the mind, and this apprehension may or may not involve the physical senses. Seeing, smelling, hearing, or tasting call all… Continue Reading

Article 8: On Works of the Imagination

March 11th, 2014 | 0 Comments

This entry is part 10 of 17 in the series A Conservative Christian Declaration You can read more posts from the series by using the Contents in the right sidebar.

This is a series to further explain the articles of “A Conservative Christian Declaration.” . We affirm that ordinate affections are often expressed and evoked through works of imagination, which function through simile and metaphor. Among these are music, poetry, literature, and other arts. The Word of God itself is a work of imagination. At least… Continue Reading

Evangelical Worship and the Decline of Denominationalism

March 10th, 2014 | 0 Comments

I participated on Friday in the Southwest regional meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society. The theme of the meeting this year was the decline of denominationalism, and here is the paper I read: This paper examines the role of worship philosophy and practice in both dividing and unifying Protestant denominations. I am using the term… Continue Reading

Lent and the Regulative Principle of Worship

March 7th, 2014 | 0 Comments

It appears that it is now cool for Evangelicals to observe Lent. Children of the Reformation have traditionally rejected Lent. In fact, eating sausages on Lent was Swiss Reformer Ulrich Zwingli’s “95 Theses moment,” signally his break from the Church of Rome, and other Reformers and Protestants after them have almost uniformly repudiated the observance.… Continue Reading

Christians and Culture

March 5th, 2014 | 0 Comments

This entry is part 3 of 10 in the series Back to Basics You can read more posts from the series by using the Contents in the right sidebar.

Christians have always wrestled with how they should respond to the cultures around them. On the one hand, we recognize the goodness of God’s creation and his common grace upon all people. On the other hand, we recognize that people are sinful and that the world is hostile to God and to Christians. So what… Continue Reading