7/29/2019 A Christian Philosophy of the Musical Arts

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THE BELHAVEN UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF MUSICA Brief Christian Philosophy of the Musical Arts

- Dr. Christopher Shelt -

God has expressed H imself in what He has made, in what He has spoken, and in what He has do ne. Creation, though now fallen, is

a divine work of art, an astounding display of Gods infinite creative power, intelligence, and perfect integrity, authentically

manifesting His glory in the material world. The created order manifests intelligent design and creative expression of such

prop ortions that there can be no reasonable doubt of the existence of an infini te Creator . The world of sound, descr ibed b y the laws

of acoustics, evidences a divine acoustical engineer. Nature's concert of birdcalls and thunder, crashing waves and whale songs,

echoed back to heaven the expressive brilliance of God before Adam and Eve ever left a footprint in Eden. God, a God o flanguage, has spoken to human b eings directly and has revealed H imself in the diverse language of inspired Scripture. God is also

perfo rmer, director, composer , orchest rator , p laywright, l igh ting specialist , and set designer, artist ically governing every asp ect of

the production we call life. Gods ultimate artistic expression of Himself is in the Incarnation of His Son, Jesus C hrist, God

Himself manifested in the flesh, the exact human representation of Gods b eing, the agent of bo th creation and redemption.

Human beings are unique in the created order. The profound ly diverse and powerful cultural and aesthetic output of human beings,

of which music is but a subset, transcends by quantum prop ortions that of any other any other creature. The Scriptures reveal that

human beings, male and female, are made in the image of God the Creator. Only the reality of imago dei can adequately explain

the remarkable creative glory of human artistry. Human b eings have the high calling of benevolent dominion over the earth on

Gods b ehalf, to be culture makers that reflect in a finite way the character, creativity, and ingenuity of the infinite Creator.

The Arts are an essential aspect of the ever-expanding fabric of human culture. Creativity and artistry are not to be the purview of

the sprinkled and isolated few but an integral part of human culture everywhere it exists. Indeed, the Scriptures cultural mandatecalls for the multiplication of G ods image not only through p rocreation but also through God-centered education through the

institutions of the family and the covenant community. If we are to multiply the image of the Creator God, we cannot relegate the

creative arts to an optional educational category. Arts education is essential to multiplying an authentic image of the Creator.

Music is a universal phenomenon, but it is not a universal language. The peop le groups of the earth often create brilliantly diverse

musical cultures that are not immediately nor easily comprehensible to the p eople of o ther cultures. For this reason, integrity with

image-bear ing is the only transcultural aesthetic standard that can be biblically justified. This does not lead to artistic relativism;

integrity with Gods image is an infinitely high standard. However, recognizing the reality of Go ds intended cultural diversity

demands of us great discernment, thoughtfulness, and relational humility when critiquing the panoram a of cultural expressions that

exist. People should not glibly look askance at new or culturally remote aesthetic expressions. Proper musical analysis requires

deep know ledge of the intrinsic cultural forms and meanings within the music being assessed, a well-founded understanding o f a

Christian worldview, and a redemptive appro ach that is willing to listen as well as to speak, to affirm as well as to critique.

Humankinds fall into sin has resulted in culture-making that is a twisted caricature of the integrity of God. Human cultural

manifestations, including musical ones, fall short of honoring God to some degree, sometimes to an awful degree. True life and

artistry is theocentric, rightly having God s glory (reputation) as its highest priority. Cultural decline begins when life and its art

become fundamenta lly man-centered rather than G od-centered . When music makers, even Christian ones, primarily focus on

promoting themselves or marketing themselves, often with making money or notor iety as the pr imary goal, the ho ly act o f crea tivi ty,

which we share in relationship with the almighty God, is degraded in purp ose and in quality because it is removed from its proper

relational context. When we d ishonor God in our creativity, we also devalue the dignity of our neighbor who is made in His image.

The world of the Arts, embedd ed in the wider culture, needs a redemption that preserves divinely intended cultural diversity, but

which thoughtfully critiques and challenges cultural manifestations d istorted by u nbiblical man-centered assumptions.

People are called to worship Go d with their whole beings according to the truth of God s self-disclosure in the Creation and in the

Scriptures. A comprehensive array of musical forces are commanded to be excellently employed to the praise of God. Singing, the

most innate of worship expressions, which weds objective truth to subjective musical expression, is most repeatedly commanded.The Church is also called to be the salt of the earth and the light of the wo rld, an active agent of cultural change, but it is often

guilty of becoming like the surrounding culture or simply ignoring it. The role of the Church is not limited to evangelism and

Sunday worship. The goal of G ods redemption is to save sinners from the just wrath of God, but it is also to restore the entire

cosmos including human culture to His original intent. The Church is called to be an agent of societal transformation in every

manifestation of culture, including every manifestation of M usic. The local church should be a model of excellent musical culture

making, a place where genuine musical artistry is developed and celebrated from childhood. The church by its theological essence

is culturally diverse; therefore, the Church should be the place in human society where excellent diverse musical expressions exist

side by side, not the place where musical barriers are erected and musical outsiders are shunned simply because they are different.

The peop le of God, when they are gathered in worship, as well as when they are scattered about within the wider culture, should be

the greatest force on earth for the po sitive renewal of all kinds of genuine musical culture so that Musics magnificent expressive

power is unleashed to the glo ry of Go d.