What is a Christocentric music philosophy?

We have established that a music philosophy  is a series of systematic beliefs concerning the nature and value of the whole of music. Now we need to establish what a Christ-centered philosophy of music is.  It is a series of systematic beliefs concerning the nature and value of music in which Christ has preeminence.  Christ is at the center of this philosophy which is the antithesis of a humanistic music philosophy. Remember that, for the music philosopher who is a humanist, music begins and ends with self.  To him, any insight or  "understanding" that is derived from musicing or writing about music or listening to music, gives insight into the humanness of his life.  It supposedly gives him insight as to why on earth he exists.

 

.  If we are going to keep God at the center of our beliefs concerning the nature and value of music, then we must, as Colossians 2:8 warns, "Beware lest any man spoil (deceive) you through philosophy (philosophia 5385) and vain deceit, after the tradition of  men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ."

 

Since philosophy is the love and pursuit of wisdom, Christians must beware that  they  do not develop a belief system in music based on the rudiments (stoicheioin 4747) of this world. In this passage of Scripture  St. Paul is warning the Colossian Christians not to let the world (kosmos 2889) spoil,( seduce, corrupt, lead away-- sulagogeo 4812) them into developing philosophical thought patterns in the way the world ordered or arranged them.  In other words ,God (thesis) has ordersed things a certain way and the world, influenced and controlled  by Satan (antithesis), has confused or rearranged or reordered many things. This philosophical reordering influences how we music. 

So, don’t let the world take you captive by believing the empty delusion caused by what it believes to be the nature and value of music.  Do not let the humanistic music philosopher lead you astray philosophically by believing that the most important thing that music accomplishes in our lives is the authentication  of our humanness.  We are human--we are in the kosmos( 2889) but we are not of the aion (165).  Therefore, Christian musicians should look at the nature and value of music differently.