When I say I “like” Bach, and you say you “like” Bon Jovi, are we really using the same verb? That is, when I listen to Bach and you listen to Bon Jovi, is essentially the same thing happening to each of us? At one level, all we mean is that each of us take… Continue Reading
Discussion of culture is an essential ingredient in any intelligent philosophy of Christian music. Especially in today’s globalized, multicultural environment, understanding what culture is and how it relates to worship and music is critical. The Standard Evangelical View J. Nathan Corbitt, in his The Sound of the Harvest: Music’s Mission in Church and Culture,1 presents an… Continue Reading
This essay was originally published on April 27, 2012. A couple of events have coincided during the last day or so to bring a question to my attention. That question is essentially, What music should I provide for my small children to listen to? I would like to answer that question by providing general suggestions concerning music… Continue Reading
I was recently made aware of an article on the Christianity Today web site about songwriter Melanie Penn. The following passage from the article is of particular note: “All the songs [on her album] are ‘Christian’ in some way,” Penn said. “I’ve never written a song with Jesus’s name in it. But all of my… Continue Reading
Here’s one of the most important concepts about music in worship I think needs to be communicated to pastors and parishioners alike: Music in the context of corporate worship is not primarily about giving people an authentic expression through their preferred musical style. Music in worship is (as is liturgy and preaching) formative. It shapes right spiritual… Continue Reading
I grew up in Michigan. I now live in Texas. Texas is hot. Really hot. And it stays hot for a long, long time. However, as I was working on some yard projects Monday, I noticed that after four years of living in Texas, I’ve grown accustomed to the heat. I found myself observing that… Continue Reading
Over the past several months I have written a series of short articles in which I dealt with the major categories of a biblical philosophy of worship and music in a brief way. My desire was to introduce the basics of these issues to those who hadn’t carefully considered them. I have the posts linked below,… Continue Reading
I received some good feeback from my post last week briefly explaining musical meaning. Several were on Twitter: “@ScottAniol: Meaning in music is a tricky thing. http://t.co/0jyftIC025” This is the best article I’ve read on this topic! — Daniel Wilson (@NinjaDan4287) May 29, 2014 Excellent article “@ScottAniol: Received some good feedback on this simple article… Continue Reading
Here is audio of the interview I did last evening: Find Additional Religion Podcasts with HisWordHisWay on BlogTalkRadio How Does Music Affect the Worship of God 05/29 by HisWordHisWay | Religion Podcasts. online essay writing services Continue Reading
Meaning in music is a tricky thing. Most people think it’s tricky because music is so abstract and lacks specificity such that describing its meaning with words is nearly impossible. On the contrary, meaning in music is tricky for exactly the opposite reason. As Felix Mendelssohn once noted, “What music expresses its not too indefinite to… Continue Reading
Finding the meaning in shouting preachers. I assume the best writers, speakers, musicians and artists try to find that golden balance where form and content merge, letting the audience forget the creator but be glued to the creation. In the end, one shining piece of work should stand on its own, appearing unique to itself,… Continue Reading
Calvin Stapert makes the following observation about the difference between Jewish worship music and pagan worship music: Jewish psalmody was word-oriented, a characteristic that set it apart from the music of the sacrificial rites of the Israelites’ pagan neighbors. Pagan sacrificial music typically featured the frenzy-inducing sound of the loud double-reed instruments and the rhythms… Continue Reading
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
This is an interesting test case of the relationship between conventional and universal meaning in music. Continue Reading
One of the most difficult matters when engaging in a philosophy of music is the terms we employ. For example, the following terms often lack precision in discussion and thus cause confusion: relative subjective objective universal The first two terms are often equated with each other, as are the final two terms. In other words,… Continue Reading
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 Shai’s rebuttal to my… Continue Reading
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 Shai’s fourth question to… Continue Reading
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 Shai’s third question to… Continue Reading
Jeremy Walker at Reformation21 asks three very important questions relevant to the rap debate: In what ways can a Christian appreciate, enjoy and embrace either a form or genre of music in and of itself, or a particular instance of that form? To what extent is a certain form or genre an appropriate vehicle for… Continue Reading
Since Shai Linne is a busy church planter/assistant pastor, and I am a busy seminary professor in the last week of the semester, we’re finding that it’s taking a bit longer than we’d hoped to put together our discussion about Christian rap. Stay tuned. In the meantime, I’d like to answer a few questions that… Continue Reading