Teaching Music - Principled Academy

Teaching music theory and how to play an instrument are an essential but small part of teaching music. Even if we’re teaching music appreciation, we need to learn its biblical theology—as we do with any other academic discipline or subject. Biblical Classical Education gives teachers (i.e. homeschool moms and dads) and students the ability to systematically learn it. This article touches lightly on the Biblical Classical Approach to teaching music.

Restoration Era on the History of Liberty Timeline

Providential History

If you’re like me and didn’t have much in the way of a musical education, we can impart a biblical worldview of music nonetheless. Below is a small example of what it’s like to think and reason biblically about music. It’s only a portion of what a lesson plan can consist of on this subject.

General Revelation

Music is God’s idea. His creation is a musical one—melodious birds, chirping crickets, and chorus frogs waft on many a cool breeze. Since the concept of music originates with God, we can deduce that He enjoys music and is musical. It’s heard among His creation is several ways.

Not only does music teach us that God is musical, it teaches us that God is orderly. Music teaches us about its Producer. God designed music in such a way that we can identify its producer. Every creature makes specific sounds, carries notes in particular ways, and has unique rhythms and melodies. I can identify a robin by its orderly music. That orderliness reflects an orderly, sovereign Creator God. This is a foundational principle for us to pay close attention to. It has everything to do with the kind of music we choose to listen to, play, and produce.

Music is boundless and teaches us about God’s infinite love, kindness, goodness, and being. Just think about how many unique, limitless creative possibilities composing music affords. Consider how it transcends cultures in its expressions of joy, sorrow, comfort, love, and mourning—and most of all praises to God.

Revealed Law

God gave music a specific purpose. Scripture teaches us that music is intentionally designed to:

Praise Him (Psalm 68:4–6).
Admonish each other (Ephesians 5:19).
Help the Word of Christ dwell in us richly (Colossians 3:16).
Give thanksgiving (Psalm 100:1-2).
Express joy to the Lord (Psalm 71:23).
Witness to unbelievers (Romans 15:9).
To teach and reinforce theology with hymns (Ephesians 5:18-20).

The above isn’t a comprehensive list, but it gives a solid theological foundation for the purpose of music.

Music within a biblical worldview construct and purpose is enjoyable and meaningful. Its purpose encompasses communion with God and each other. It’s designed as a way to serve each other with brotherly and sisterly love and affection. However, post modern music is the opposite.

Post Modernism’s Worldview on Music

Anything to do with disordered music—however deeply disordered it may or may not be—is not reflective of our Creator God. It’s anti-culture.

Music conveys ideas and ideas have consequences. Post-modern music is disorderly, which doesn’t reflect the character and nature of our Creator God. Also, it might consist of lyrics that don’t honor God and our fellow man. As Christians, we shouldn’t desire to listen to, play, or create music that degrades others or our culture.

Musical modes cultivate various dispositions. It changes the artistic taste in music, and it influences their thinking, reasoning, and way they choose to live.

One of the Communist Manifesto goals is to confiscate property. Disordered music can deaden and confiscate the conscience—the most sacred of all property.

Another one of the Communist Manifesto goals is to degrade all forms of artistic expression. Disorderly music is shapeless and meaningless.

Sometimes unbelievers see the destruction that disorderly music creates. Socrates was one such individual.

Image Bearers and Music

Socrates wasn’t a Christian, but because he was an image-bearer of God even he realized the following:

Literature—that is story—is sometimes in the form of music and it needs to convey truth.
Disorderly music has the ability to corrupt the taste of citizens.
Deformed music is disorderly music and gradually poisons and corrupts souls.
A disorderly, indulgent, sentimental musical culture produces a character that can’t walk in liberty (this relates to internal to external and cause to effect).
Harmonious music feeds the soul.
A harmonious, courageous, and self-governing musical culture produces a character that can walk in liberty (this relates to internal to external and cause to effect).

As Christians we need to note that Socrates’s idea of truth doesn’t align with biblical truth, per se. Facts perhaps, but not absolute truth. Music needs to convey the absolute truths of God’s Word.

No Sacred-Secular Divide in Music

Sometimes Christians live with a sacred-secular divide worldview, but God doesn’t divide reality into “church things” and then “everything else.” Colossians 1:17 teaches us, “And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”(1) -ESV Therefore, all things are sacred, held together by Christ. We need to develop a biblical worldview in everything—including the sphere of music.

The biblical worldview—as seen in General Revelation and Revealed Law—matters greatly. This subject shouldn’t be taken lightly or as harmless. Disorderly, indulgent, and sentimental music affects the mind, heart, imaginations, and emotions. Conversely, harmonious music conveys biblical principles of orderliness, self-government, biblical views of truth, moral goodness, and beauty. It teaches us about God’s attributes. The musical arts are upstream from culture. They help shape minds and hearts which in turn help shape a nation’s character.

Restoring Taste in Music to a Biblical Worldview

We currently live in a highly corrupt age. Christians help restore the biblical worldview of music as they choose to consistently and faithfully play, sing, listen to, and produce harmonious music. Cultivating and nurturing a taste for beautiful music is done on a daily basis.

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