Music and Theology.
“ How is the hearing of sound itself part of the multiple senses that occur in any worship event? More especially, what is it about ordered sound as music that constitutes an intrinsic dimension of ritual participation? Music has been called the “Language of the soul made audible.” Behind this popular definition is hearing sound as an image of one of the deepest centers of human existence. The human voice is primary in this domain of the formation and expression of a religious sense of being in the world.
Saint Augustine of Hippo’ s ambivalence in his Confessions provides a good starting point. He addresses a lover’s question to God:
When I love you, what do I love? not the body’s beauty, nor time’s rhythm, nor light’s brightness… nor song’s sweet melodies, nor the fragrance of flowers, lotions, and spices, nor manna and honey, nor the feel of flesh embracing flesh – none of these are what I love when I love my God. And yet, it’s something like light, sound, smell, food, and touch that I love when I love my God – the light, voice, fragrance, embrace of my inner self, where light shines for my soul. That’s what I love when I love my God. (Book X: 6,8)”
No trackbacks yet.