2018 The Place of Music in the Church and in Society
The Place of Music in the Church and in Society
(ETHOS Institute™ Engagement Series)
Music is an unavoidable part of our humanity. Like religion, music too is a universal phenomenon because human beings were created with aesthetic aspect. In the Bible, the Lord is not only the God of truth but also of beauty. Through music, we can extend our appreciation of the beauty of God’s creation. Yet, on the other side after creation came the fall with all the ugly consequences of sin. Christian aesthetic realism, therefore, should deal not only with the beautiful but also with the ugly.
Many people think that the choice of music in the church and in society is a matter of individual taste and preference. This booklet shows that every music reflects a certain concept of beauty (or ugliness) both in its form and content.
The place of music in the church strongly relates to the church’s theology of worship. The biblical principles of beauty should permeate the aesthetics of sacred music. With regard to society, we can observe its needs and fallenness through its musical products while at the same time offering alternatives from the Christian perspective.
Click HERE to read a sample chapter from this book.
Rev Dr Billy Kristanto is the Academic Dean at International Reformed Evangelical Seminary Jakarta. Graduated from Heidelberg University (Ph.D in musicology, Th.D in systematic theology), he is an ordained pastor of Reformed Evangelical Church of Indonesia.