What Is Theology In Music?

Editor’s Note: If you want to get straight to the answer, you can jump to the bottom of the page. But, where’s the fun in that?

If you have landed on this page, you likely arrived here by search engine. That means you searched for something like “theology and music”. Or “music and theology”. Or “God in music”. Or something similar. That means, like me, you have a curiosity about how God relates to music. Or maybe you’re looking for some sort of official Christian doctrine of music. Or maybe something else music-related.

What This Site Is Not

In order to narrow down what the focus of this site is, I think we should start with what it is not. Let’s try to set some expectations and boundaries from the beginning.

First, the main focus of this site will not be on overtly Christian music. By “overtly Christian” I mean artists who label themselves as Christian. I’m also not going to focus on dissecting hymns or modern worship music for its theological accuracy – although some of that will likely come up.

This is also not a music review site. Of course, we will discuss specific songs, albums, and artists. But, I don’t intend to give a Christian’s review of the latest Taylor Swift or Stryper album (yes, Stryper is still cranking out great music).

This is not a music news site, either. I won’t report personnel changes, label changes, or the latest streaming platforms.

What This Site Is

The idea for this site started when I asked myself this question: “What can music tell us about God”? That’s where the name of the site comes from. A very simplistic definition of theology would be that it is “the study of God”. So, can we learn anything about God and His attributes from music?

And, I don’t mean just the lyrics. That’s obvious. But, there’s more to a song than just lyrics. Lyrics without backing music are just poetry. If you watch Stevie Ray Vaughan play “Lenny” – an instrumental with no lyrics – from Live At the El Macambo, there is something moving going on there.

There’s more to music than just the sounds – especially if you feel led to put your music out there for others to hear.

So, can we learn anything about God from the nature of music? Can we learn anything about God from our desire to create and/or perform music? Or is humanity’s use of music just part of a biological/social evolutionary process? Did we just take what other animals do to the next level because our brains are more evolved?

People’s motivations for creating music interest me. Why do people create music? If all we are are our physical bodies that result from natural evolutionary processes, then everything we do used to – or currently does – serve an evolutionary process that stuck around because it got us something. Is music purely the result of utilitarian practices like attracting a mate or signaling others in our species of possible threats? Or is something more going on when we pick up a guitar and strum a few chords?

Creating music is just part of the equation. The other part is the people who engage with the music being created, The listeners. The fans. Why do people engage with music as much as they do? Why am I dedicating so much of my time to writing about my love of music? Why do I take so much time buying and organizing my music collection (yes, I still buy physical media)? What purpose does that serve?

A person’s worldview should inform them on how they ought to act in the various arenas of life. Since I’m a Christian, I’m curious to know how Christians should engage with music. Should I only listen to music that glorifies God? Are there songs – genres even – that are off-limits to me? Even the question of streaming versus downloading versus buying records and CDs – does my theology have anything to say about how I should listen to my music?

At the beginning of this post, I said I wouldn’t be dissecting the lyrics of Christian songs and hymns very much. But, make no mistake about it, I will be getting into lyrics. Primarily from secular artists, though. And, my intention isn’t to get on my pulpit and condemn their hedonistic lifestyle. It’s to engage with the questions they are asking and the issues they raise.

I recently came to see the creative arts – such as painting, writing, and music – a person’s use of his or her creative faculties to work out things they are dealing with. Artists frequently ask life’s big questions about pain, suffering, injustice, God’s hiddenness, and why they were put here in the first place. These questions are philosophical. As a Christian apologist and lover of philosophy, I see an opportunity to engage with these questions. A lot of these songs come from a place of hurt and pain. And, I think that Christianity has the answers people are seeking.

What Is Theology In Music?

In short, this site is one music fan’s search for God in music. I think the nature of the music we create is so far removed from what we see in the animal kingdom that it couldn’t have come from some evolutionary process. And, if it didn’t come from there, it came from something that transcends humanity. As a Christian, I would argue that this is God, the Creator.

If a transcendent thing created us – and we create music – what can we learn about that creator through this thing called music that we love so much? Maybe nothing. Maybe a lot. I’m excited to find out.

If you’re here, you’re at least a fan of music. That’s all I am. Someone whose connection with this medium is so intense that I think it transcends any naturalistic explanation. And I’m drawn to explore why.