Philosophical Outcomes—part 1

Philosophical Outcomes—part 1

Christian musicians often question the necessity of developing a series of systematic beliefs concerning the nature and value of the whole of music.  Furthermore, they often seem to believe that those values set forth by major public colleges and universities are adequate for Christian musicians.  After all, aren’t the elements of music the same for Christians and non-Christians?  The philosophy of a musician who does not bring his entire musical endeavor under the Lordship of Christ should not be completely trusted. Christians must remember that you can also trust an unregenerate musician to be worldly in his or her philosophical basis.

  Matthew 12:34b reminds us that “…out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh”.  Although Christians and non-believers will agree on some issues concerning music philosophy, they will not agree on many of the major issues that will affect how a musician ultimately musics. .  Remember, direction determines destiny!   The committed Christian will not only think different things about musicing but will also think differently about music and musicing.  The reason is that the Christian musician believes that “…he [Christ] is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. (Colossians 1:18)   Any music philosopher who is unwilling to put Christ and what the Bible teaches about music first in his or her life will not come to the same philosophical conclusions concerning music and musicing as the committed Christian.