Knowledge and Good Common Sense

Knowledge and Good Common Sense  

           Philippians 1:9 states, “And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ; Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.”  St. Paul payed that God would help the Christians at Philippi to gain more knowledge (epignosis 1922) and also that their judgment (aisthesis 144) would be improved.   The word aisthesis means perception or discernment. It is interesting to note that in the AV the Cambridge scholars placed the word “sense” in the center reference column.  So, one may safely conclude that discernment or common sense is necessary for one to be able to “approve things that are excellent”. 

            So, having good common sense and a knowledge of music is absolutely essential in the development process of a Christian music aesthetic in order that a musician “may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ”.  Weymouth’s New Testament translates Philippians 1:9, “And it is my prayer that your love may be more and more accompanied by clear knowledge and keen perception, for testing things that differ.”  Certainly a 21^st century Christian musician needs clear knowledge and keen perception in order to test one’s Christian music aesthetic.  The word diaphero (1308)  (which has been translated excellent, that differ, and different by the various Bible translators) means to differ from, to be more excellent, or to be of more value.  

Thought for the Day  

Having knowledge about music and what the Bible says doesn’t necessarily mean much unless it is applied with good common sense.