The author of this BLOG is thoroughly convinced that the ability to compose and/or perform music is a very special gift from God not imparted to everybody. Evolution cannot explain how and why men have any aesthetic discernment so obviously present in music composition and performance. Were this to be a consequence of evolution, all men--or most men--would have such aesthetic discernment. But such is not the case. The composer Gustav Mahler once said, "If the music composer could say in words what he says in his music, he would not bother to write the music." This Christian musician is therefore deeply perturbed by those of his Christian brethren who say only choral music containing praise words men understand is worthy of performance in a Christian religious setting, and instrumental music is to be condemned as "worldly", "secular", etc. Indeed, Psalm 150:3-5 advocates praise of God through instrumental music: "Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet: praise Him with the psaltery and the harp. Praise Him with the timbrel and dance: praise Him with stringed instruments and organs. Praise Him upon the loud cymbals: praise Him upon the high-sounding cymbals." God is not anthropomorphic: thus He needs not human words by which to discern if music performed be to His honor or no.
Approximately 40 years ago, this Christian musician helped establish a local amateur musicians' club called Music Makers. Its activity survives to the very day of this writing, being held the first Sunday afternoon of each month. This BLOG author and Christian musician therefore sees such musicale meetings as a continuation of his Sunday morning worship service of the Lord: we present to Him our best show of musical talent with which He has blessed us. I Samuel 16:7 says men look upon the outward appearance, but God looks upon the heart. Through instrumental music, God has the clearest expression of the human heart unmarred by human language, referencing Gustav Mahler's quotation. This BLOG writer and Christian musician therefore asserts that the great symphonies of Haydn, Beethoven and Mozart, for example, are just as much musical monuments to the glory of God as are traditional hymns of the Christian faith such as "Faith of Our Fathers", "What A Friend We Have In Jesus", "The Old Rugged Cross", etc.
This Christian musician considers it most unfortunate, therefore, that around 1900, the Christian churches expelled as hopelessly sinful all music not openly propagandizing through human language for the Christian faith. It is by no coincidence that this Christian musician rarely chooses to perform the music of composers born, or even those dying, after 1900. It is also no mere coincidence that the world's greatest musical compositions were written by composers dwelling in lands where the gospel of Jesus Christ has been preached and beloved most copiously by all. Countries of Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Sikhism, Confucionism and yes--even Judaism--have given to the world nothing of musical composition comparable in magnitude of either quality or quantity to the historically-Christian realm. Cynics may attribute this fact to Europe's Age of Enlightenment, in the which the traditional Christian church was rejected by men in favor of atheistic secular humanism. Rebuttal: Antonio Vivaldi was a Roman Catholic priest, Franz Joseph Haydn was also a Catholic, and Johann Sebastian Bach was his Lutheran church organist for many years. Bach composed Saint Matthew's Passion and Saint John's Passion, two musical works of equal magnitude to the more famous Messiah of George Friedrich Handel.
Today, there is unquestionably a regrettable disconnect between music and the Christian faith, i.e. Christian churches only value music to the extent that it propagandizes openly for the Christian faith, and not for any intrinsic genius of musical content or message per se. For their part, most musicians not in the employ of any Christian church openly sneer in abject contempt and disbelief in the Christian faith. They do not see music as being any special gift from God, but they cannot explain their special musical talent and capability otherwise. Both camps miss the central bottom-line point: According to the Bible, God said, "Let us create man in Our image." This means the endowment of men with creative capability unique to his genus and species: no other members of the animal kingdom exhibit this same capacity to create, even as God also creates. This blogger's musical colleagues may bury their heads like ostriches into the sand in denial of this truth, but the truth still lives, Enlightenment or no Enlightenment! From whence came the light to empower the Enlightenment? God is a god of purpose, and it was not for no purpose that God said in the beginning, "Let there be light!" -LKM
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