Question of the Day — Music
3March 8, 2010 by TheDeeZone
I have been going through old post and doing some tweaking for SEO (search-engine optimization). Going through my music posts all 102 of them I started thinking about hymns and modern worship music. Personally, I enjoy both. One thought hit me as I was reading the lyrics for Charles Wesley’s And Can It Be was the theological depth of his work. Yes, I know Wesley was a theologian. So, my question is are there any modern worship composers that revival Wesley? Michael Card, Andrew Peterson and Rich Mullins certainly have depth but their work not do necessarily contain great theological statements. Michael W. Smith and David Crowder are certainly great musicians and innovators but not necessarily theologians. Any?
I would say that the team of Stuart Townend and Keith Getty have written some things that have quite a bit of depth to them. “In Christ Alone”, “How Deep the Father’s Love For Us,” “Before the Throne of God Above,” “Speak, O Lord” all have quite a bit of substance. I hope we will think of others, but I think they have written some great songs. They get my first vote for contemporary songwriter-theologians.
I would also like to mention that I think one of the strengths of contemporary worship music is that the writers have in fact leaned heavily on scripture for lyrical content, and probably even more so than in the late 19th and early to mid 20th century gospel songs that we grew up on.
Don’t get me wrong; I also love them both. There were some gems in that era, and there was some real dreck, just as there is now. Some are timeless, and some have deservedly faded. But I do think the praise and worship genre in the last 20-30 years has really done well with putting scripture to music, and it’s hard to go wrong with that. Just as in earlier eras, time will help sift out the chaff.
Stuart Townend: “In Christ Alone,” “How Deep the Father’s Love,” “O Church, Arise” among others.
I’m familiar with the songs but not the composer.