Tracing Music’s Origin—part 8

Tracing Music’s Origin—part 8

            Where do Christian musicians get the philosophical notion that all aspects of Christian living EXCEPT MUSIC must come under the Lordship of Christ?  They get this philosophy from Thomas Aquinas who had an incomplete view of the fall.  He believed that man had fallen from grace, but that he had not fallen in his intellect.  Therefore, man could develop a philosophical view of all things that relate to nature, that was independent of the Lordship of Christ.  With this faulty praxial view music, which rightly should be placed under nature instead of grace, becomes autonomous. 

So now in the twenty-first century, an increasing number of Christian musicians have come to the conclusion that there are no “musts” or “absolutes” in our religious music?  Are there any “musts” or “absolutes” in our Christian relationship to God?  Christ said in St. John 3:7 “marvel not that I say unto thee, ye must be born again.”  In Matthew 5:20, Christ stated, “For I say unto you, that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of Heaven.”  This list of absolutes could be multiplied by many, many verses, all of which sound very absolute to me.  What would lead a Christian musician to believe that, when it comes to music making, there are no absolutes?  One thing I will tell you for sure is that all philosophical thoughts concerning music and all music making comes under the absolute authority of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Church music not only matters, but it matters to God.  The how, why, when, where and to whom of Church Music Matters to God.