This is part of a series about my research on fundamentalist Christian music. Read the others here: Can Hymns Be Prayers?, Musical Form in Piano Hymn Arrangements, and Should Church Services Include Classical Music? Many fundamentalists talk about solo singing in a church service as a kind of preaching. But even though fundamentalist women are not …
The Right Kind of Music: Why May Women Sing If They May Not Preach? Read More »
This is the first post in a series about my research on fundamentalist Christian music. Read the others here: Why May Women Sing If They May Not Preach?, Musical Form in Piano Hymn Arrangements, and Should Church Services Include Classical Music? Things have been quiet on Music and the Church for a while—since May, I’ve …
This post is about my research on fundamentalist Christian music. Read more about it here! You know what good music is?The kind I like. That’s one way we use “good” to talk about music. “Good” can also mean the best in its genre, in its style. So, Beethoven’s sonatas are good music, but that sonata …
The Right Kind of Music: Good Music Is (Probably) Not What You Prefer Read More »
This post is about my research on fundamentalist Christian music. Read more about it here! Fundamentalists speaking and writing about music generally assume a shared belief with their audience that morality exists as a black and white dualism of distinct and absolute categories: good or bad, with a hard and fast line dividing them. Imagine …
The Right Kind of Music: “Drawing the Line” Between Good and Bad Music Read More »
This post is about my research on fundamentalist Christian music. Read more about it here! Can music teach us something about God? Fundamentalist Christians say it can. Specifically, that music can reveal or reflect God’s nature and in so doing, spiritually strengthen those who listen to it. Here’s the line of reasoning: First, music can …
The Right Kind of Music: Can Music Teach Us About God? Read More »
This post is about my research on fundamentalist Christian music. Read more about it here. The third premise of fundamentalist music philosophy is that Christians can strengthen their spiritual lives and witness to unbelievers by choosing good music. The first two premises—that music is moral and that you can learn to tell the difference between …
The Right Kind of Music: The Power of Choosing Good Music Read More »
This post is about my research on fundamentalist Christian music. Read more about it here! The second major premise of fundamentalist music philosophy is that listeners can learn to tell the difference between good and bad music. (The first is that music is moral.) So, not only is music moral in a good/bad kind of …
The Right Kind of Music: The Difference Between Good and Bad Music Read More »
This post is about my research on fundamentalist Christian music. Read more about it here! Is music moral? Fundamentalist Christians think so. “Music is moral” is the first premise of their philosophy of music—the argument upon which the rest of their views depend. But this argument itself relies on a syllogism: music influences listeners, and …