Why are there such different “tastes” among people? Is the debate over music in worship simply a “preference issue”? Are matters of music, dress, recreation merely matters of “personal style”? We have tried to sort out the meanings of the word “taste”, and have seen two distinct meanings. The first is the act of judging,… Continue Reading
Even atheists used to believe in good taste. The infamous David Hume wrote in his Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals “In many orders of beauty, particularly those of the finer arts, it is requisite to employ much reasoning in order to feel the proper sentiment; and a false relish may frequently be corrected by… Continue Reading
Adiaphora (indifferent matters) are misunderstood on two grounds. First, evangelicals misunderstand the term indifferent to mean unimportant. Second, evangelicals conflate the moral neutrality of adiaphora themselves into morally neutral actions once they are used. First of all, “indifferent” things has nothing to do with feeling indifferent about a matter. Adiaphora does not mean “matters of… Continue Reading
Scripture loves unity among the saints, but does not mandate uniformity. Somewhere Tozer points out that a hundred pianos all tuned with the same tuning fork will all be in harmony with one another. So believers, when conformed to Christ and submitted to the same sound doctrine, will find their Spirit-given unity (Eph. 4:3). But… Continue Reading
De gustibus non est disputandum, said the ancient Romans. There is no disputing over taste, meaning that in matters of personal taste and preference, there can be no profitable dispute, and therefore there ought to be none. There’s much truth to that. If you’re a fan of murder mysteries, and have no time for fantasy,… Continue Reading
The Gospel Coalition recently published an excerpt from a new book by Brett McCracken in which he makes a very common argument about music in worship that may sound pious at first glance, yet has a fatal flaw. Here is the core premise of McCracken’s argument summarized in two pull quotes from the post: “We… Continue Reading
Scripture devotes two sections of the New Testament to explain how certain choices in the Christian life are not explicitly or implicitly forbidden or prescribed: explicitly by commands or prohibitions, or implicitly by a very clear application of general Scriptural principles. These two sections are Romans 14, and 1 Corinthians 8 to 10. Here we… Continue Reading
I have often argued (such as in Sound Worship) that it is the responsibility of Christians to change their tastes for beauty to match what is truly worthy of admiration. Since God is transcendent beauty, there do exist absolute standards of beauty that should govern our judgments of beauty. This does not meant that such standards are immediately apparent or that I… Continue Reading
There is a cry today for authenticity in worship. This comes in several different forms, but most commonly it relates to worship and music style compared to the prevailing culture and an individual Christian’s tastes, and it is usually used as the foundation for arguments that every generation needs their own songs and that people… Continue Reading
I read this today, and the blatant inconsistency jumped off the page. See if it does the same for you: “Thus the difference between a [belief] system driven by paganism and one driven by Christianity does not consist primarily in rightness or wrongness of many of the things that pass away [i.e. musical forms or other “cultural”… Continue Reading
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
We recently received an excellent question submitted through the “Article Suggestions” module in the right column of this site: “What areas of aesthetics are preferences that are relative to individuals (if any)?” I recently argued in a post on this site (from a chapter in Sound Worship) that it is the responsibility of Christians to… Continue Reading
Are “Christian” and “rap” mutually exclusive? Mark Dever’s answer after a 9Marks interview with Shai Linne and Curtis Allen (Voice): “Hardly.” This from one of the most conservative evangelicals alive today. It is primarily for that reason that I’d like to make a few comments about the interview. If this is what one of the most… Continue Reading
I’m excited to announce the coming publication of my new book, Sound Worship: A Guide to Making Musical Choices in a Noisy World! This book is targeted for the average Christian layman. My first book, Worship In Song, is a biblical approach to tackling issues related to music and worship, but it’s quite technical and sometimes… Continue Reading
One particularly common misconception in the realm of aesthetics is that “we all have different tastes, and that’s OK,” and Christians are certainly not immune to this errant perspective. The error here lies once again in a careless use of terminology. If by “tastes” in such a perspective one means “preferences,” then I have no… Continue Reading