Te Deum: the Church and Music — A Notice
Believe it or not, I am working on "Lessons on Liturgy from Baptists." I began with them almost 50 years ago [My! Doesn't time fly when you're having fun!"], and only after I'd spent 15 years with the Episcopals did I realize how much the Baptists had taught me about how liturgy "works." But, while I'm distilling all that into something succinct, I'll offer a book notice here.
Te Deum: The Church and Music by Paul Westermeyer is an excellent resource for getting your head around the following:
1. History of singing, use of intruments (and their prohibition from time to time), and the development of a variety of musical styles, forms, and devices, from the Old Testament through modern times.
2. The way that theology has affected, even determined, all of the above.
3. Fascinating and encouraging information on the way that music impacts one's spirituality, from memorization of Scripture and doctrine, to the experience and/or the accomplishment of worship.
While Westermeyer does not explicitly analyze the spiritual/theological development of Christianity in America over the past 200 years, he provides concepts which, when applied to this subject matter, shed some very helpful light for analyzing not only what has happened to Protestantism in America over the past two centuries, but also helps to sort out and understand current trends among American Protestants, whether liberal, evangelical, or fundamentalist.
Amazon lists some used copies (it's a text for a course Westermeyer teaches). I got my copy via the search engine for books at addall.com. Check out the reviews at Amazon's page for this book.
Enjoy.
Te Deum: The Church and Music by Paul Westermeyer is an excellent resource for getting your head around the following:
1. History of singing, use of intruments (and their prohibition from time to time), and the development of a variety of musical styles, forms, and devices, from the Old Testament through modern times.
2. The way that theology has affected, even determined, all of the above.
3. Fascinating and encouraging information on the way that music impacts one's spirituality, from memorization of Scripture and doctrine, to the experience and/or the accomplishment of worship.
While Westermeyer does not explicitly analyze the spiritual/theological development of Christianity in America over the past 200 years, he provides concepts which, when applied to this subject matter, shed some very helpful light for analyzing not only what has happened to Protestantism in America over the past two centuries, but also helps to sort out and understand current trends among American Protestants, whether liberal, evangelical, or fundamentalist.
Amazon lists some used copies (it's a text for a course Westermeyer teaches). I got my copy via the search engine for books at addall.com. Check out the reviews at Amazon's page for this book.
Enjoy.
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