Worship That God Has Not Prescribed
One of the key passages in Scripture that illustrates deviant worship is found in Exodus 32:1-10: When the people saw that Moses delayed to come… Read More »Worship That God Has Not Prescribed
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.
Learning to Worship is Like Learning a Foreign Language
My four-year-old son has been learning French recently. Well, sort of. We’ve checked out some children’s French DVDs from our local library, and each day… Read More »Learning to Worship is Like Learning a Foreign Language
The Relationship between Cultural Conservatism and Theological Conservatism
What I have described in this series is nothing more than historic conservative Christianity—Christianity that aims at conserving God’s truth both doctrinally and aesthetically. It is popular… Read More »The Relationship between Cultural Conservatism and Theological Conservatism
Transmitting Imagination to our Children
I have suggested in this series that in order to preserve the truth in our worship, we must be concerned about how we are shaping… Read More »Transmitting Imagination to our Children
The Judeo-Christian Worship Tradition
I argued in the last essay that if we intend to preserve the truth handed down to us, we must never reject tradition outright. Instead, if… Read More »The Judeo-Christian Worship Tradition
Reforming Influences in 19th Century American Church Music
There were many composers, writers, and organizations during the nineteenth century that objected to the current condition of American church music and encouraged reform. Yet none had… Read More »Reforming Influences in 19th Century American Church Music
Culture and Tradition
I argued in the last post that all cultural forms are built upon something that came before, and we call this “tradition.” The implication of… Read More »Culture and Tradition
Truth and Tradition
I have argued thus far that successful preservation of the truth necessitates that what is preserved is the doctrinal affirmations and the proper imagination of such… Read More »Truth and Tradition
"Indigenous" vs "European" Music in 19th Century America
I have suggested that the 19th century in America was a time in which three forms of culture began to emerge distinct from one another:… Read More »"Indigenous" vs "European" Music in 19th Century America
Truth and Worship Forms
I have argued to this point that preserving the truth must include not only the preservation of right doctrine, but also the preservation of right imagination.… Read More »Truth and Worship Forms
Cultivated, Commercial, and Communal Music
Church music in nineteenth century America can be summarized very simply with one word: reform. In many ways, the influential writers and composers of the nineteenth century… Read More »Cultivated, Commercial, and Communal Music
The Sola Scriptura trump card
Some recent internet discussions, some sprung from Ken Brown’s very fair review of my book, have once again led to all sorts of folks slapping… Read More »The Sola Scriptura trump card
Review of Worship in Song in Detroit Baptist Seminary Journal
I just noticed a helpful review of my book, Worship in Song, in the most recent edition of the Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary journal, written… Read More »Review of Worship in Song in Detroit Baptist Seminary Journal
Truth and the Moral Imagination
If, as I argued in the last post, truth is more than factual correspondence—if it has an aesthetic aspect to it—then both the apprehension and the… Read More »Truth and the Moral Imagination
Three Cultural Streams in 19th-Century American Church Music
The development of American church music during the nineteenth century has important implications for the philosophy and practice of church music in the twentieth century… Read More »Three Cultural Streams in 19th-Century American Church Music
Preserving the Truth in our Worship
My argument in this series will be that conservative worship is essential to the preservation of truth for this reason: we will have preserved truth successfully… Read More »Preserving the Truth in our Worship
The importance of distinguishing between folk and pop culture
Recognition of a difference between folk and pop music may perhaps seem inconsequential, but for a composer like Ralph Vaughan Williams the distinction was at… Read More »The importance of distinguishing between folk and pop culture
A Distinctly Christian Culture
So is there a distinctly Christian culture? Is there a distinctly Christian music? Yes, there is—it is culture and music that expresses Christian values. In… Read More »A Distinctly Christian Culture
Does contextualization heighten the likelihood of a positive response to the gospel?
Conversations about missions and music often revolve around an insistence that in order to reach unbelievers in a target culture, we need to contextualize the message… Read More »Does contextualization heighten the likelihood of a positive response to the gospel?
The superiority of folk culture to pop culture
The motivations behind Vaughan Williams’s use of folk idioms in his music also clearly demonstrates the distinction between folk and pop music in his thinking.… Read More »The superiority of folk culture to pop culture