Is Music a Closed
System?--Part 4
If music is totally
benign, knowledgably mute, sealed in a “bubble”, and therefore helpless to
communicate any meaning, the writer of this first letter to the Corinthian
Christians would not have used the Greek word ginosko (1097) which means “to perceive” or “to understand”. As I said earlier in this discussion, music
alone (music without text) is not capable of communicating exactly like a
spoken known language, but it does have the power and ability to communicate
meaning—thus the term meta-language is applied here to music being able to “say
something” or communicate meaning.
The hypothesis that
music contains understandable meaning has existed since the time of the ancient
Greek music philosophers. I contend that
this belief is as old as the writings of the Old Testament. The OT writings gave credence to the belief
that music represents, says, reflects, and conveys powerful meaning to those
who experience it in or outside of public worship. The NT also gives music a place of
importance, value, and in the lives of all who experience it. Therefore, the student of music philosophy
who is seeking a Bible basis for his or her music philosophy should be skeptical
of modern-day writings that reduce or deny music’s power.
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