A Parable About Pop Music in Church
Christian 1: So I hear you have a problem with lollipops? Christian 2: Lollipops? No, I think they’re just fine. Christian 1: But you apparently… Read More »A Parable About Pop Music in Church
pop culture
Article 11: On Popular Culture
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,… Read More »Article 11: On Popular Culture
What The Popular Arts Are Not
Kaplan begins by defining what he means by the popular arts. In his definition, popular arts does not refer to: 1) Pop art, the dadaistic… Read More »What The Popular Arts Are Not
Cheap Thrills – Pop Art and Transcendence
In the land of TolerateAll, the outlaw is the realist critic. Civil order is maintained by quelling all disagreements over beauty with a few simple,… Read More »Cheap Thrills – Pop Art and Transcendence
From Palestrina to Pino
I think you should watch these. Set aside a few hours, and enjoy. . If you hunt, you might find most or parts of the… Read More »From Palestrina to Pino
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
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 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
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
Defining pop culture
Unfortunately, according to Cecil Sharp and Vaughan Williams, folk music as an art is largely dead, and this provides the first evidence of a distinction… Read More »Defining pop culture
Distinguishing high culture from folk culture
A primary goal of Vaughan Williams was, of course, to compose art music. His many hours finding and indexing folk tunes resulted in the use… Read More »Distinguishing high culture from folk culture
Vaughan William’s interest in English folk songs
An interest in English folk songs emerged in England toward the end of the nineteenth century. By 1898 the Folk Song Society was founded, and… Read More »Vaughan William’s interest in English folk songs
Distinguishing High, Folk, and Pop Culture
A common error exists frequently in contemporary discussions of the use of folk idioms as a compositional element in art music. Many authors today equate… Read More »Distinguishing High, Folk, and Pop Culture
Two Roads Diverged
The dethroning of the Church by Reason and the creation of pop culture left the Church in an awkward position. Its cultural influence was non-existent.… Read More »Two Roads Diverged
The Enlightenment and Christian Hymnody
This far in our journey we have witnessed an almost unbroken stream of Judeo-Christian tradition. From King David to Lutheran composer Johann Crüger (1598-1662) we… Read More »The Enlightenment and Christian Hymnody
Why Johnny Can't Sing Hymns
I don’t have time to do a full-fledged review of this new book by T. David Gordon (author of Why Johnny Can’t Preach), but I… Read More »Why Johnny Can't Sing Hymns
A Brazilian tribesman talks about culture, worship, and the gospel
I mentioned in my report on our Brazil trip that I had the opportunity to sit down with a man who grew up in a… Read More »A Brazilian tribesman talks about culture, worship, and the gospel
How Can We Conserve Biblical Worship? Part 4
Conservative Christians will be committed to worship forms that have been nurtured within the community of faith. Such discernment is difficult, however, because all of… Read More »How Can We Conserve Biblical Worship? Part 4
How Can We Conserve Biblical Worship? Part 3
Conservative Christians will be committed to worship forms that foster ordinate affection toward God. Commitment to the Regulative Principles of Worship solves the question of… Read More »How Can We Conserve Biblical Worship? Part 3
Where Is Christ in Christmas?
Christmas—a very mention of the word produces delight and expectation in the hearts of people everywhere. Or does it? For some Christians, Christmas is a… Read More »Where Is Christ in Christmas?