Sanctifying Emotions Through Music: A Christian Perspective

3. www.nytimes.com The Editorial Board Oct. 9, 2014 “After Monday’s nondecision — which had the effect of legalizing same-sex marriage in 11 states — there is little question where the court and nation are headed. Some opponents also see the writing on the wall, even in conservative Mississippi, where Andy Gipson, a state lawmaker, said, 'I am opposed to same-sex marriage, but I believe the time has come for people of faith in Mississippi to prepare for the overturning of our constitutional ban on it.'”

5. Music and Worship • References • Technical Development A. Musicology B. Beauty C. Physiology of Music • Biblical Development A. Directive/Descriptive/Principle B. Textual Exposition • Sacred Music—Standards and Hymnody • FAQs • Summary/Conclusion

6. Standards • Content • Arrangement • Instrumentation

7. Arrangement • Melodious • Complementary of Content • Edifying (vs. Entertaining) • Emotions-sanctifying (vs. Emotions-indulging/inciting/inflaming)

8. Arrangement • Melodious • Complementary of Content • Edifying (vs. Entertaining) • Emotions-sanctifying (vs. Emotions-indulging/inciting/inflaming)

10. Clyde S. Kilby Christianity and Aesthetics pg. 23 “The Christian is well aware that his tastes may be lower than his best judgment or his conscience might dictate.” “This is a problem for the Christian, because if someone has the ability to appreciate and take pleasure only in inferior beauty, he will not be able to appreciate rightly God's superior beauty. For this reason, earthly beauty—right reflections of divine beauty—can accomplish a sanctifying work whereby a Christian's aesthetic sensibilities are improved so he might be better equipped to apprehend and delight in God...Christians must strive to make correct judgments with regard to beauty just as they should when judging truth or goodness.” pp. 122-123

11. “Remember that beauty is fundamentally an emotional apprehension. Therefore, sanctifying a Christian's ability to apprehend beauty in music is essentially sanctification of his emotions....Truly beautiful music can educate the listener's emotions and help him grow to have a full appreciation for what deserves admiration, including God Himself.” pp. 125, 133.

12. “Christians should be concerned to sanctify not only their minds and wills but also their emotions. Thus humans need music, and perhaps this is one of the reasons the Bible stresses the importance of music for believers.” p 126 Leonard Meyer Emotions and Meaning in Music p 85 “If the only means available to humans to help them explore their subjective nature were ordinary language, a major part of human reality would be forever closed off to our conscious development. The subjective part of reality—the way life feels as it is lived—cannot be fully clarified or refined in our experience solely through the use of ordinary language.”

13. “...music is able to bring our feelings to 'the level of awareness' by which we may '[know] through experiencing what ordinary language cannot express.'...[M]usic's ability to express emotion through use of symbols allows man to know experientially what is normally frustratingly elusive and to make value judgments about his feelings based on something external to himself. Thus man's emotions can be educated or, in religious terms, sanctified.” p 126 “By exposing himself regularly to the most beautiful forms of music, a Christian can actually sanctify his emotions to appreciate true beauty. This enables him to more rightly glorify God...The manner in which music may help to sanctify the emotions, and thus improve man's ability to rightly apprehend God's beauty, is by expressing only good, right, and wholesome emotions.” pp 127-128

14. “Plato held that music had a powerful impact upon the soul and could either ennoble people or debase them, depending upon whether the music correctly reflected universal harmony. 'Now don't we say that all music is representational and imitative? Yes...Then those who are looking for the best kind of singing and music must look not for the kind that is pleasant but that which is correct: and as we have said, an imitation is correct if it is made like the object imitated, both in quantity and quality.' Plato believed that since music had such a powerful potential to affect men's souls, its primary use should be for the formation of good character.” p 128

15. “In Martin Luther we find perhaps the clearest articulation of how good music can sanctify. Luther knew that words alone were deficient as emotional enrichment; he needed music to encourage true piety and religious fervor. He believed that 'notes bring text to life.' Here he interprets Platonic thought through the eyes of Scripture and forms a basis for a theological philosophy of music. Since music can enhance the emotions and ennoble the soul, it can— when united with sound theology—provide adequate means for expressing right piety for God. 'After all, the gift of language combined with the gift of song was only given to man to let him know that he should praise God with both word and music, namely, by proclaiming it through music and by providing sweet melodies with words.'...This kind of emotional enrichment drew Martin Luther to relish fine music for use in the church, because he saw music as a gift from heaven, 'and endowment of God, not a gift of men,' to be used 'in the service of him who has given and created [it]'...Luther wanted good people, rightly conformed to the teachings of Scripture in knowledge and affection, and he found in music the perfect gift from God for this task.” pp. 129-131

16. “...only well-crafted music, because it is demonstrably beautiful, can educate the emotions and ennoble character. It can do so exactly because good creations of beauty are a reflection of divine beauty and help to cleanse sinful affections and make one more able to appreciate what he should....In studying the beauty of creation and attempting to mimic its qualities in art such as music, a Christian may educate his tastes and prepare himself to be able to apprehend the beauty of God.” p. 131

17. “So what, then are those qualities that render music well crafted? What are those properties in nature that reveal God's perfections of beauty—those qualities that composers should imitate if they want to create truly beautiful music as reflections of the divine or those qualities that the Christian listener should look for? For the answer to these questions, we must return to an observation of the qualities of perfection in the character of God and the beauty of His creation....three overarching categories of properties that render both God and His creation beautiful [are]: (1) order (unity, regularity, harmony, uniformity, etc.), (2) proportion (symmetry and balance, etc.), and (3) radiance (effulgence, purity, clarity, etc.). Each of these qualities is used in Scripture to describe God. Likewise, God makes aesthetic judgments about His creation or man-made art based on the same qualities. Recognition of such qualities should be significant for a Christian since failure to recognize these properties as those that comprise the beauty of God is to fail to bring Him the glory due Him. Furthermore, to call something beautiful or take aesthetic delight in something that does not possess these qualities reflective of God's beauty is tantamount to sin. Therefore, if a Christian wants to glorify God and magnify His excellence by true beauty in music, he must reflect these properties of divine beauty—order, proportion, and radiance—in his craft. No magical formula exists to help the Christian evaluate music based on these criteria—this is the task of informed musical analysis. But all Christians must be willing to do the study necessary to understand what makes good music from an analytical standpoint and make decisions accordingly.” Scott Aniol, Worship In Song, pp 132-133