Tag Archives: communication

Biblical authority and musical communication

Biblical authority and musical communication

I am teaching right now in my philosophy class on meaning in music. When beginning any discussion like this, I always find that it is important to address how the authority of Scripture factors in. I begin with 1 Timothy 3:16-17: All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for… Continue Reading

Truth and the Moral Imagination

Truth and the Moral Imagination

This entry is part 2 of 8 in the series Preserving the Truth in our Worship You can read more posts from the series by using the Contents in the right sidebar.

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 presentation of truth involve more than just intellect; they involve the aesthetic part of man, in particular, his imagination. Today we use the term “imagination” to mean something more similar to… Continue Reading

Finding common ground in the missions debate

Finding common ground in the missions debate

This entry is part 5 of 14 in the series Missions and Music You can read more posts from the series by using the Contents in the right sidebar.

Here’s the reality: those of us blogging here fully realize that our positions are not popular. Not popular, I suppose, greatly underestimates the matter: for many Christians today, our positions are not even fathomable—it is impossible for them to believe that anyone could hold a position as outlandish, and even as offensive, as ours. And… Continue Reading

Is the Bible Enough?

I continue to receive e-mails concerning seemingly more and more common explanations of Sola Scriptura that in effect strip it down to nothing more than what Kevin Bauder calls Nuda Scriptura. You can read a good explanation of the doctrine by Jason Parker here, along with links to more pertinent articles. Along the same lines,… Continue Reading

Can Rap be Christian? Evaluating Hip Hop

This entry is part 2 of 2 in the series Can Rap Be Christian You can read more posts from the series by using the Contents in the right sidebar.

Today we finally arrive at a discussion of the nature of rap itself. This post will be beneficial for you, however, only if you accept the following assertions on made on Monday: Man is completely depraved and thus cannot trust his own preferences implicitly. Music is a medium of human communication and thus must be… Continue Reading

Punting to "Association Problems" may be a cop out.

Punting to "Association Problems" may be a cop out.

In my post on associations, I made it very clear that I do think we must at least wrestle through association issues, so I do think associations can be significant enough to render even a good song unusable for a time. But as I’ve considered common discussions of association problems in some circles, I have… Continue Reading

Correcting Categories, Part 2 – Emotional Metaphor

Correcting Categories, Part 2 – Emotional Metaphor

My goal in this series is to help believers apply the Bible to their musical choices in life and worship. My contention is, however, that believers today approach the issue of musical choices with certain errant foundational presuppositions that need to be corrected before they can rightly apply the Bible in this area. So my… Continue Reading

Correcting Categories, Part 1 – Biblical Authority

Correcting Categories, Part 1 – Biblical Authority

My goal in this series is to help believers apply the Bible to their musical choices in life and worship. My contention is, however, that believers today approach the issue of musical choices with certain errant foundational presuppositions that need to be corrected before they can rightly apply the Bible in this area. So my… Continue Reading