Music & Ministry: A Biblical Counterpoint

by Calvin M. Johansson

Contemporary or traditional? Blended or seeker? Pop or "classical"? Chorus or hymn? Combo or organ? Questions concerning music in worship abound these days. Is there a practical way to deal with these issues?

In Music and Ministry: A Biblical Counterpoint, Calvin Johansson looks to God's Word for principles foundational to music ministry. Weaving together great scriptural truths, he establishes the need for a "directional balance" between pastoral contextualization and prophetic purity. In a time of facile musical accommodation of the gospel to culture, Dr. Johansson suggests that a heightened concern for musical style and quality is in order not for the sake of music, but for the sake of the gospel.

Genres: Music, Theology, Nonfiction, Christian

208 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1984

Reviews

[Douglas Wilson]

Overall, this book is quite good. My only criticism concerns his dismissal of certain popular forms of music -- and this includes the many places where I agreed with such a dismissal. Bland, trite, superficial are words that do describe lots of the current stuff. But why is it bland? It can't be because it was written according to a prescribed formula -- sonnets do that.

At the same time, his contrapuntal conclusion was really very good.

[Samuel]

Music & Ministry: A Biblical Counterpoint
by Calvin M. Johansson

[Anita Deacon]

Re-read this for a (very quick) refresher. Good stuff. Very broad, would have liked more specifics/for him to Show me in the music itself.

[Brian]

Decent. He didn't really provide much of the rationale behind the criteria for reverent worship, and just seemed to attack 'pop culture' as a genre. However, his concept of creation is solid and he often has balanced responses to different circumstances.

[Jerry]

This book holds a high standard for music and yet the necessity of bringing the congregation along for any musical worship to be effective.

[Winnie Thornton]

Quite good. The key is to remember Johansson's limited scope.

[Brittany Petruzzi]

Good stuff, if a bit simplistic.