Transformative Essay: Contemporary Christian Music In America

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Thomas Jefferson wrote those words to express the emotions of a nation that desired freedom, and to shake the foundation of the British Empire. However, this simple, but eloquent phrase has sparked one of the greatest debates in American history. Is America a Christian nation? One question has divided the nation and its politicians since the founding and forming of America. This fiery debate has sparked more controversy than any other debate in modern politics.

Music is an inseparable element of Black life and therefore Black worship. The Black Church understands worship to be a communal act of adoration towards God that may involve praise or petition via song, dance, music (use of instruments), recitation, meditation, chanting, and or prayer (Mason, 2016). According to James Cone, Black music is unity music because it unites…the hope and despair;…and it moves the people towards the direction of total liberation; and confronts the individual with the truth of black existence and affirms that black being is possible only in the communal context (p. 5). It is with this understanding that black people worship through music and without this understanding worship and music are diluted. J. Wendell Mapson articulated this idea in his book, The Ministry of Music in the Black Church, when he noted that purpose of worship is forfeited when singing music that has no relationship to everyday life, and the worshipper becomes disconnected from the way music and worship have historically served blacks (41). In this same vain, James Cone asserted that Black music is theological because it reveals how God moves people towards unity and self-determination.

  Comments: Question 17. Question : The practice of __________was adopted by congregations in which a more or less musically literate leader sang one line of the psalm, which the congregation then repeated in unison.

African American religious music is the foundation of all contemporary forms of so called “black music.” African American religious music has been a fundamental part of the black experience in this country. This common staple of the African American experience can be traced back to the cruel system of slavery. It then evolved into what we refer to today as gospel music. The goal of this paper is to answer three main questions. What are the origins of African American religious music? How did this musical expression develop into a secular form of music? What is the future of African American religious music? These questions will be answered through factual research of African American traditions, artists, and various other sources.

1. Discuss the use of music in Catholic and Protestant worship practice, from the development of polyphony, through the music of J.S. Bach. In so doing, discuss the shift in responsibility for musical development from the Catholic Church to the Lutheran Church.

But Monroe preached that they were misunderstanding the song if they fooled themselves into thinking all creation would someday love them. What it really required was for them to love all creation” (78). Monroe used the hymns of his church as a means to spread his ideas of how people ought to live their lives. This pattern is also apparent with Inman. When he meets Swimmer, a Native American, he learns of a chant that could “kill the soul of an enemy” (20). Inman cannot accept this notion because “he had been taught by sermon and hymn to hold as truth that the soul of man never dies” (20). Charles Frazier believed in the power of hymn to influence what people believed about spirituality and the soul. This parallels the historical usage of hymns in church during the Civil War as well as in today’s church as a means to pass down culture. Hymn music also had the ability to strengthen the Church and to solidify the beliefs of the parishioners. There is a large disagreement over the influence of religious music over a person’s beliefs. The evangelical song leaders believed that religious music moved people with no faith to a life dedicated to praising God, but people from outside the church described religious music as “cheap and tawdry” (Squire 242). According to the United Evangelical Front religious music was a way to articulate God’s plan and extend the influence of religion outside of the church

The oratorio and cantata of the eighteenth century were both linked, unlike opera, to religious themes. Although intended for very different uses and circumstances of performance, all three genres contained musical commalities. Not surprisingly, the three genres would

For centuries, Gospel music has influenced and promoted African-American social, moral and ethical values, playing an imperative role in modelling their past and future. Originating from the hardships of slavery and the strength of Christian worship, Gospel music has adapted to musical tastes through the development of a number of sub-genres, while retaining its moral and spiritual framework. Throughout its musical history, Gospel music has had a profound and predominant influence on its devotees and followers. During the turbulent years of the American Civil Rights Movement, Gospel music played a vital role in building the foundations of stability and

This premise is predicated on the hypothesis that music plays an independent and important role within scripture itself; that is to be an elevated carrier for liturgy and prayer, the use of which is mandated by God for corporate worship. Both corporate worship and individual faith would suffer if music were removed. As an act of worshipping obedience, and a way of more readily understanding and relating to God, we will examine

Music not only has issues in discrimination and racism but also in religion. In an article by Lake State Publications (2002), the transformation of music started during the early Christian era. It said that only Gregorian Chants were recognized in sacred ceremonies. However, secular and non-religious songs became rampant when the church had an unlikely encounter with the French Nobles called troubadours causing them to write the very first secular songs and ask the ministers to sing them to the public. Secular music continued to gain importance to the masses and vocal music became more important

The Jesus movement started in the late 1960s and early 1970s on the West Coast. The movement was primarily throughout North America and Europe. It was a major component in the hippie counterculture. Members were called Jesus People or Jesus Freaks. The Charismatic Movement and Jesus Movement both testified to supernatural experiences similar to the Book of Acts. They called the Church to restore the Gifts of the Spirit. Out of it contemporary Christian right and left were impacted. Jesus music greatly influenced contemporary music. The Jesus Movement evolved because many hippies were disillusioned with the hippie lifestyle, and it was also a reaction against the status quo in the Church.

Blended worship allows the many generations to encourage one another. In Colossians 3:16, Paul writes that believers should, “let the message about the Messiah dwell richly among you, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, and singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, with gratitude in your hearts to God. While there are varying opinions on the original meaning of the phrase “psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs,” it is clear that in the context of Paul 's writing, there was more than one type of song used in worship and that worshipers are to engage with each other through teaching and admonition. While music does not equal worship, it is an important aspect of a Christian worship

Similar to other Christian countries, Brazilian people tend to put the old traditions aside in some situations. In church music, the panorama could not be different because several Brazilian Protestant churches do not accept the old music tradition but they always welcome the new music styles of worship and congregational singing. This situation is similar to Stapert’s understanding regarding old and new traditions at church. Stapert is a Christian scholar and professor of music and in his book “A New Song for an Old World: Musical Thought in the Early Church.”, he expresses his passion for traditional and religious music values. However, he is not against the new music values but he praises the importance of the biblical message in current Christian worship. One could say that this panorama is the result of the growing of the Neo- Pentecostal Protestant denominations and the decrease of the traditional Protestant denominations. In spite of this current situation, many Baptist churches in Brazil adopts the Cantor Cristão and the HCC currently. However, some renewed Baptist churches do not use them anymore because they believe those hymnals are not necessary in a worship

In his classic work Christ and Culture, H. Richard Niebuhr asserts that the relationship between earnest followers of Jesus Christ and human culture has been an "enduring problem."1 How should believers who are "disciplining themselves for the purpose of godliness" (1 Tim. 4:7) relate to a world whose culture is dominated by "the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life" (1 John 2: 16)? Culture is God's gift and task for human beings created in His image and likeness. At creation humanity received a "cultural mandate" from the sovereign Creator to have dominion over the earth and to cultivate and keep it (Gen. 1:26, 28; 2:15). But sin's effects are total, and

The time between 1485 and 1660 marked a period of new beginnings for the people living in England; this time is known as the Renaissance. In England, the people were challenging their past beliefs; where before the Renaissance, England thrived basing their lives, government, and music off of God and his principles alone. During these one-hundred and seventy-five years, the English people started questioning their original principles about religion and established a yearning for information and proof based off of science instead of God. This desire caused many changes to form in England. The Renaissance period quickly became known as the rebirth of knowledge named by the change from God’s knowledge to the knowledge of man. The Renaissance