Ethics and Christian Musicking

Ethics and Christian Musicking
Author: Nathan Myrick
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 408
Release: 2021-03-22
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1000360121

The relationship between musical activity and ethical significance occupies long traditions of thought and reflection both within Christianity and beyond. From concerns regarding music and the passions in early Christian writings through to moral panics regarding rock music in the 20th century, Christians have often gravitated to the view that music can become morally weighted, building a range of normative practices and prescriptions upon particular modes of ethical judgment. But how should we think about ethics and Christian musical activity in the contemporary world? As studies of Christian musicking have moved to incorporate the experiences, agencies, and relationships of congregations, ethical questions have become implicit in new ways in a range of recent research - how do communities negotiate questions of value in music? How are processes of encounter with a variety of different others negotiated through musical activity? What responsibilities arise within musical communities? This volume seeks to expand this conversation. Divided into four sections, the book covers the relationship of Christian musicking to the body; responsibilities and values; identity and encounter; and notions of the self. The result is a wide-ranging perspective on music as an ethical practice, particularly as it relates to contemporary religious and spiritual communities. This collection is an important milestone at the intersection of ethnomusicology, musicology, religious studies and theology. It will be a vital reference for scholars and practitioners reflecting on the values and practices of worshipping communities in the contemporary world.

Music for Others

Music for Others
Author: Nathan Myrick
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 155
Release: 2021-03-12
Genre: Music
ISBN: 0197550657

Musical activity is one of the most ubiquitous and highly valued forms of social interaction in North America (to say nothing of world over), being engaged from sporting events to political rallies, concerts to churches. Moreover, music's use as an affective agent for political and religious programs suggests that it has ethical significance. Indeed, many have said as much. It is surprising then that music's ethical significance remains one of the most undertheorized aspects of both moral philosophy and music scholarship. Music for Others: Care, Justice, and Relational Ethics in Christian Music fills part of this scholarly gap by focusing on the religious aspects of musical activity, particularly on the practices of Christian communities. Based on ethnomusicological fieldwork at three Protestant churches and a group of seminary students studying in an immersion course at South by Southwest (SXSW), and synthesizing theories of discourse, formation, and care ethics oriented towards restorative justice, it first argues that relationships are ontological for both human beings and musical activity. It further argues that musical meaning and emotion converge in human bodies such that music participates in personal and communal identity construction in affective ways-yet these constructions are not always just. Thus, considering these aspects of music's ways of being in the world, Music for Others finally argues that music is ethical when it preserves people in and restores people to just relationships with each other, and thereby with God.

Music and Ethics

Music and Ethics
Author: Marcel Cobussen
Publisher: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.
Total Pages: 293
Release: 2012
Genre: Music
ISBN: 1409434966

It seems self-evident that music plays more than just an aesthetic role in contemporary society. It is thus surprising that the subject of ethics is often neglected in discussions about music. Music and Ethics examines different ways in which music can contribute to theoretical discussions about ethics as well as concrete moral behaviour. Rather than offer a general musico-ethical theory, the book explores ethics as a practical concept, and demonstrates through concrete examples that the relation between music and ethics has never been absent.

Resounding Body

Resounding Body
Author: Andy Thomas
Publisher: Sacristy Press
Total Pages: 114
Release: 2020-09-01
Genre: Music
ISBN: 1789591120

This valuable book encourages music leaders to step-up and persevere in low-resource contexts, and challenges all those who lead music in worship to focus not just on producing musical results but on building Christlike communities.

Resonant Witness

Resonant Witness
Author: Jeremy S. Begbie
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
Total Pages: 506
Release: 2011-01-10
Genre: Music
ISBN: 0802862772

Resonant Witness gathers together a wide, harmonious chorus of voices from across the musical and theological spectrum to show that music and theology can each learn much from the other and that the majesty and power of both are profoundly amplified when they do. With essays touching on J. S. Bach, Hildegard of Bingen, Martin Luther, Karl Barth, Olivier Messiaen, jazz improvisation, South African freedom songs, and more, this volume encourages musicians and theologians to pursue a more fruitful and sustained engagement with one another. What can theology do for music? Resonant Witness helps answer this question with an essential resource in the burgeoning interdisciplinary field of music and theology. Covering an impressively wide range of musical topics, from cosmos to culture and theology to worship, Jeremy Begbie and Steven Guthrie explore and map new territory with incisive contributions from the very best musicians, theologians, and philosophers. Bennett Zon Durham University This volume represents a burst of cross-disciplinary energy and insight that can be celebrated by musicians and theologians, music-lovers and God-lovers alike. John D. Witvliet (from afterword)

Professional Christian

Professional Christian
Author: Sarah Bereza
Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press
Total Pages: 200
Release: 2022-03-22
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9780664266714

As church leaders, we live our lives within the spotlight of professional ministry. To best love and serve God and our neighbors, we aim to be the fullest, truest versions of ourselves. However, we often struggle to do so with integrity. What if our preaching or singing feels like a performance? Are we supposed to hide our imperfections and let people see only the shiniest parts of our lives? If you have ever felt like you're working under a microscope or that youve been put on a pedestal you dont want or deserve, know that you are not alone. Professional Christian gathers the wisdom from fifty church leaders in a variety of roles (including Sandhya Jha, Jacqueline J. Lewis, Bruce Reyes-Chow, Nikki Toyama-Szeto, and Will Willimon) on topics such as authenticity, privacy, boundaries, doubt, self-care, and the challenges of being held to a higher standard. The stories, advice, and wisdom from these leaders help to show us that thriving in ministry should not have to come at the expense of our identity and relationships. Written by a church musician with over twenty years of experience in ministry, Professional Christian helps church leaders learn to flourish as an integrated person of faith living out their call to vocational ministry.

Christian Sacred Music in the Americas

Christian Sacred Music in the Americas
Author: Andrew Shenton
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 373
Release: 2021-02-17
Genre: Music
ISBN: 1538148749

Christian Sacred Music in the Americas explores the richness of Christian musical traditions and reflects the distinctive critical perspectives of the Society for Christian Scholarship in Music. This volume, edited by Andrew Shenton and Joanna Smolko, is a follow-up to SCSM’s Exploring Christian Song and offers a cross-section of the most current and outstanding scholarship from an international array of writers. The essays survey a broad geographical area and demonstrate the enormous diversity of music-making and scholarship within that area. Contributors utilize interdisciplinary methodologies including media studies, cultural studies, theological studies, and different analytical and ethnographical approaches to music. While there are some studies that focus on a single country, musical figure, or region, this is the first collection to represent the vast range of sacred music in the Americas and the different approaches to studying them in context.

Music for Others

Music for Others
Author: Nathan Myrick
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 169
Release: 2021
Genre: Music
ISBN: 0197550622

"Musical activity is one of the most ubiquitous and highly valued forms of social interaction in North America-from sporting events to political rallies, concerts to churches. Its use as an affective agent for political and religious programs suggests that it has ethical significance, but it is one of the most undertheorized aspects of both theological ethics and music scholarship. Music for Others: Care, Justice, and Relational Ethics in Christian Music fills part of this scholarly gap by focusing on the religious aspects of musical activity, particularly on the practices of Christian communities. It is based on ethnomusicological fieldwork at three Protestant churches and interviews with a group of seminary students, combined with theories of discourse, formation, response, and care ethics oriented toward restorative justice. The book argues that relationships are ontological for both human beings and musical activity. It further argues that musical meaning and emotion converge in human bodies such that music participates in personal and communal identity construction in affective ways-yet these constructions are not always just. Thus, Music for Others argues that music is ethical when it preserves people in and restores people to just relationships with each other, and thereby with God"--

Divination and Knowledge in Greco-Roman Antiquity

Divination and Knowledge in Greco-Roman Antiquity
Author: Crystal Addey
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 226
Release: 2021-07-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 1315449463

Addressing the close connections between ancient divination and knowledge, this volume offers an interlinked and detailed set of case studies which examine the epistemic value and significance of divination in ancient Greek and Roman cultures. Focusing on diverse types of divination, including oracles, astrology, and the reading of omens and signs in the entrails of sacrificial animals, chance utterances and other earthly and celestial phenomena, this volume reveals that divination was conceived of as a significant path to the attainment of insight and understanding by the ancient Greeks and Romans. It also explores the connections between divination and other branches of knowledge in Greco-Roman antiquity, such as medicine and ethnographic discourse. Drawing on anthropological studies of contemporary divination and exploring a wide range of ancient philosophical, historical, technical and literary evidence, chapters focus on the interconnections and close relationship between divine and human modes of knowledge, in relation to nuanced and subtle formulations of the blending of divine, cosmic and human agency; philosophical approaches towards and uses of divination (particularly within Platonism), including links between divination and time, ethics, and cosmology; and the relationship between divination and cultural discourses focusing on gender. The volume aims to catalyse new questions and approaches relating to these under-investigated areas of ancient Greek and Roman life. which have significant implications for the ways in which we understand and assess ancient Greek and Roman conceptions of epistemic value and variant ways of knowing, ancient philosophy and intellectual culture, lived, daily experience in the ancient world, and religious and ritual traditions. Divination and Knowledge in Greco-Roman Antiquity will be of particular relevance to researchers and students in classics, ancient history, ancient philosophy, religious studies and anthropology who are working on divination, lived religion and intellectual culture, but will also appeal to general readers who are interested in the widespread practice and significance of divination in the ancient world.

The Routledge Companion to Sounding Art

The Routledge Companion to Sounding Art
Author: Marcel Cobussen
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 638
Release: 2016-07-15
Genre: Music
ISBN: 1317672763

The Routledge Companion to Sounding Art presents an overview of the issues, methods, and approaches crucial for the study of sound in artistic practice. Thirty-six essays cover a variety of interdisciplinary approaches to studying sounding art from the fields of musicology, cultural studies, sound design, auditory culture, art history, and philosophy. The companion website hosts sound examples and links to further resources. The collection is organized around six main themes: Sounding Art: The notion of sounding art, its relation to sound studies, and its evolution and possibilities. Acoustic Knowledge and Communication: How we approach, study, and analyze sound and the challenges of writing about sound. Listening and Memory: Listening from different perspectives, from the psychology of listening to embodied and technologically mediated listening. Acoustic Spaces, Identities and Communities: How humans arrange their sonic environments, how this relates to sonic identity, how music contributes to our environment, and the ethical and political implications of sound. Sonic Histories: How studying sounding art can contribute methodologically and epistemologically to historiography. Sound Technologies and Media: The impact of sonic technologies on contemporary culture, electroacoustic innovation, and how the way we make and access music has changed. With contributions from leading scholars and cutting-edge researchers, The Routledge Companion to Sounding Art is an essential resource for anyone studying the intersection of sound and art.