Why Is “Christian” Music So Awful?

Wolseley said:

Agreed. And speaking of mortality, now that I'm well up into my 60s, my physical condition isn't so hot any more; injuries that I got while in the service are taking their toll on me. My back gives me pain 24/7/365, and my days are usually split into equal shares of good days (when I feel pretty good) and bad days (when I feel so lousy I don't want to leave my chair, let alone the house). I know my time is limited; if I live to be as old as my father when he died, I will depart this mortal coil in less than ten years.....but, my older sister is still going strong, so who knows?



Usually when I'm driving by myself, I'm either praying the Rosary, or I have Sirius satellite radio on, and I switch back and forth between various oldies channels, from the 1940s to the 1980s. Today's music leaves everything to be desired, I'm afraid.

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I got my hair cut today and my stylist and I were talking about how good the music is there, at the salon. It’s almost all older stuff. 70’s and 80’s.

Wolseley said:

Agreed. And speaking of mortality, now that I'm well up into my 60s, my physical condition isn't so hot any more; injuries that I got while in the service are taking their toll on me. My back gives me pain 24/7/365, and my days are usually split into equal shares of good days (when I feel pretty good) and bad days (when I feel so lousy I don't want to leave my chair, let alone the house). I know my time is limited; if I live to be as old as my father when he died, I will depart this mortal coil in less than ten years.....but, my older sister is still going strong, so who knows?



Usually when I'm driving by myself, I'm either praying the Rosary, or I have Sirius satellite radio on, and I switch back and forth between various oldies channels, from the 1940s to the 1980s. Today's music leaves everything to be desired, I'm afraid.

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I first came here back in 2003 and I saw your name. Back then it had our ages next to our names. Yours said 42, and I thought that sounded mature, not old just more dignified as I was not yet 40. Now we are both over 60. Amazing how fast 23 years goes by
God has blessed me with a wonderful job but it can be demanding. In my 20s I could stay up sometimes for 40hrs because I had to work night shifts and go to school, now I occasionally have to be up 24hrs. It takes its toll. I’d like to work another 18 yrs but God may have other plans
Our body falls apart and our time grows shorter
A life that once seemed so long now may end at any time. My parents passed away at 82 for my mother and 85 for my father. Feels like the fright train from Back to the future iii 90 miles an hour off an unfinished bridge. The quote was It will be a spectacular wreck. No need to scare me about end of days. I can see them coming
There is no sane choice but to stay close to God in the sacraments. My favorite hymn at this point is wake, awake by the Woodstock Jesuit singers

Rejoice the King is near
Our praises He will hear
But we must be prepared to see
The brightness of Eternity

RileyG said:

Yes, but I won’t go into detail. It’s too painful for me.

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That’s ok.

RileyG said:

Yeah, thanks for understanding

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You’re welcome.

boughtwithaprice said:

We wrestle not against flesh and blood. Life is a spiritual battle. Aggresion against evil is good, because God has already pronounced His judgment, but aggression for aggressions sake stirs up the passions and leads us to the occasion of sin. There is no reasonable need to listen to such noise.
Jesus calls us to deny ourselves not feed our passio

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boughtwithaprice said:

We wrestle not against flesh and blood. Life is a spiritual battle. Aggresion against evil is good, because God has already pronounced His judgment, but aggression for aggressions sake stirs up the passions and leads us to the occasion of sin. There is no reasonable need to listen to such noise.
Jesus calls us to deny ourselves not feed our passions

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Give me a break. Your music is noise to me. You shouldn’t listen to such noise. There is no reasonable need to listen to such noise. Or is just your music taste the only one we should try to obtain? To be pious?

What are you talking about to deny ourselves and feed our passion lol? He is not talking about listening to music you don’t like lol.

The_Mantis said:

Give me a break. Your music is noise to me. You shouldn’t listen to such noise. There is no reasonable need to listen to such noise. Or is just your music taste the only one we should try to obtain? To be pious?

What are you talking about to deny ourselves and feed our passion lol? He is not talking about listening to music you don’t like lol.

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Musical style is your choice. Lyrics have meaning
What you listen to matters. Do they inspire sound doctrine or just tickle the ears?

boughtwithaprice said:

Musical style is your choice. Lyrics have meaning
What you listen to matters. Do they inspire sound doctrine or just tickle the ears?

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Dear Friend,
I believe there is, in music, much more than you have recognized here. The best analysis I have read so far, which begins to frame for us an understanding I believe to be needed of the truly mysterious place music has in our spiritual lives - lives which have natural dimensions and yet are fitted for the supernatural, a combination worthy of a creation by God Who seeks personal union with us. The difference I speak of is explainable in the spirituality we two spoke of before - that deeply described by John of the Cross, well developed now in the interplay of the 7-fold spiritual Gifts of the Holy Spirit and the Virtues, theological and moral. The Gifts are given, and are needed for, the maturation/perfection of the Virtues.
I ask you to read the full interview of Dr. Kwasniewski on Music: "The Good, the Bad, and the Holy". Our vocation is to holiness. Spiritual Gifts of the supernatural dimension can be active and affected through music, positively or negatively, as there are spirits some good, some evil.
Michie (Thank you again, Michie) re-posted on this Interview, below, gathering sadly only one comment (but many views). The Catechism acknowledges the importance of these Gifts, but sadly to me, inadequately:

III. THE GIFTS AND FRUITS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
1830 The moral life of Christians is sustained by the gifts of the Holy Spirit. These are permanent dispositions which make man docile in following the promptings of the Holy Spirit.
1831 The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. They belong in their fullness to Christ, Son of David.[Cf. Isa 11:1-2] They complete and perfect the virtues of those who receive them. They make the faithful docile in readily obeying divine inspirations.
Let your good spirit lead me on a level path.[PS 143:10]
For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God . . . If children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ.[Rom 8:14, 17]
1832 The fruits of the Spirit are perfections that the Holy Spirit forms in us as the first fruits of eternal glory. The tradition of the Church lists twelve of them: “charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control, chastity.”[Gal 5:22-23 (Vulg.)]

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Fide

Michie said:

You’re in the Catholic forum. Familiarize yourself with the rules of the forum.

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?

Michie said:

By Fr. Dwight Longenecker




A friend of mine used to quip, “When you’re talking about Christian music it’s pretty safe to substitute ‘bad’ for ‘Christian’.

Who hasn’t had to endure a Christian rock band or sit through a worship with some aging trendy strumming a guitar and inflicting folk music or light rock on everyone?

Why is it that so often Christian music is so awful? I think there are a couple of reasons. The first is that the musicians and their audience mistake a worthy message for talent. Then they get a martyr complex if they’re criticized. “You’re obviously not very spiritual if you can’t enjoy my music! The second problem is that the audience are often either totally uncritical or they haven’t the ability to criticize intelligently. Too often the audience actually like the junk that is being dished up. The third factor is that market forces are usually not in play. Market forces often have a surprisingly sharp and salutary critical effect. Market forces weed out the junk, but in the Christian market they’re doing it for love, not money, so no one is telling them to get off the stage ’cause it won’t sell.

These are all the practical problems. There is, however, a deeper problem. Christian popular music is almost always pretty bad, but the problem with most “Christian” music is that it is secular music with Christian words. In any decent art style and substance are supposed to match up. The meaning and the media are supposed to harmonize.

Most “Christian” music is taken from the secular world. Whether it is the music of Broadway musicals, Country Western, Las Vegas ballad crooners, or light rock, or heavy rock-and-roll, it’s secular, not sacred. When you then add sacred words to the secular music there is a natural disconnect. That’s why so much Christian music (even when it is well-written and well-performed) doesn’t really work. Oh sure, people might like it. They might even have nice feelings about Jesus by listening to it, but the secular music was designed to produce certain types of feelings, and why should those warm sentimental feelings or hard emotional feelings be linked with worship?

Continued below.

Why Is “Christian” Music So Awful?

Most “Christian” music is taken from the secular world. People might have nice feelings about Jesus by listening to it, but the secular music was designed to produce certain types of feelings, and why should those warm sentimental feelings or hard emotional feelings be linked with worship...

theimaginativeconservative.org

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I think there is some truth in that it can be like a form of group think but with music where the group and being immersed with the group people tend to think that their ideas and in this case music is better than it actually is.

I remember when you being in a church stage show in the choir, Can't remember if it was a public affair but a couple of friends came who were not Christians. After the event I was thinking wow how good was that, everyone must have loved it. My friends though it ok and nothing special. That sure brought me down to earth lol.

Since then I have learnt a lot about music. To me Christian music is not bounded by any worldview as to whether secular or Christian. If the words speak to me about my life, the bigger picture, and especially about something beyond this life then its stepping into a spiritual aspect where I relate God.

I think of secular artists like Dylan, Supertramp (Lord is it mine) which came from a commercial album (Breakfast in American). Which is some ways is full of Christian ideals. I think there are secular songs that are Christian but not explicitely so.

I agree that some if not much of todays Christian music is a poor copy of secular music trying to do Christian music. Thats why I say even some secular music in its artistic expression are Christian songs in some sense. There was not some much destinction back then and really mainstream was more on the Christian worldview than secular.

Artist did not have to pretend or make a concerted effort to be the same yet different. They were just as they were, a natural expression of humans and where they were at spiritually.

To me I don't care what world the music comes from, it can be folk or blues or more rocky, though I cannot get heavy metal. Each to his own. I think primarily its about spirituality which can be negative or positive and feelings can easily be confused with spirituality. Or demonic spirits can be conjured in certain kinds of music.

But music is Gods gift and I think of David soothing Saul. There is a spirit about music that should bring Gods peace, and turn your thoughts towards God in some way. Though word are definitely a clear way to destinguish the message and spirit.

Music is a strange language but I think a very powerful one that touches all aspect of human cognition including the transcedent aspects like art which can communicate so much more then the worlds themselves while also giving so much more power to the words and truth of life and beyond.