Just a quick post before I take off for vacation in northern Michigan for 10 days.  In the most recent issue of Christianity Today there is an article about the history of the Christian Rock band Petra.  You can read it here.  Evidently two of their greatest albums are being re-issued.  I know next to nothing about Petra–they were not on my musical radar in the 80s.  Those of you who are fans might want to comment on their place in Christian Rock and what unique contributions they made.

I hesitate to post this because I don’t like reinforcing the notion that this blog is primarily (or event partially) focused on Christian Rock.  Without fail, each time I mention in casual conversation that I write for a blog called Rock and Theology, someone inevitably comments, “Oh, Christian Rock?!”  I can’t say I’m a huge fan of Christian Rock, although I do find it to be a fascinating phenomenon.  I offer a brief critique of Christian Rock in my book, Rock-A My Soul–I think I was even-handed.  I do give this style of music credit for its early attempts at building a bridge between the world of secular rock and (primarily) Evangelical Christianity.  There is a LOT more to be done–and I believe we attempt to explore alternative paths here at R&T.

Time for vacation to shake off the summertime blues!

 

4 Comments »

1. 

   Always found the genre of Christian rock a manifestation of modern evangelicals, whose slice of Christianity seems to personally enable more than empower. Whatever the medium, “true” art is creativity that signals or points to our Creator.

   Comment by Mark Kruse — June 27, 2012 @ 10:17 am

2. 

   I’ve been a guitarist since I was 12, and I’ve always thought this was a problem, especially when I used to play in the youth group’s ensemble in high school. Personally, I think that music for Mass should be Gregorian. But outside of the liturgy, the idea that rock should be off-limits is like the idea that non-Christian paintings shouldn’t be looked at. Art is art; and unfortunately what happens in most cases is artists and those that follow them become more interested in what the artist is “saying” than with ars gratia artis. Many who could be great artists nowadays are, in fact, bad philosophers. In music specifically, I think much of this is a consequence of the phenomenon of “lyrics.” But just as a poet doesn’t need a moral motivation to write a poem, neither does a songwriter need a moral motivation to write a song. I find I can appreciate many songs for years without having any idea what the singer is even saying; the melody and phrasing are what is significant.

   Comment by Flitcraft — June 27, 2012 @ 5:37 pm

3. 

   Their main contribution is perhaps to have been among the first Christian rock bands whose style fit within the genre of progressive rock.

   Comment by James F. McGrath — June 27, 2012 @ 9:28 pm

4. 

   Protestants will always have the problem of thinking that Christianity needs to “bridge the gap” between Christ and the World, because their message is incomplete. The world must be left behind. What’s very irksome is Catholic parishes that fall prey to this same kind of Protestant ideology and in turn come up with their own versions of Youth Groups and “Praise & Worship” sessions and collective “Bible study” groups. If their catecheses were solid from the beginning, people wouldn’t need such “enhancements” to maintain fidelity to the Church. The sacraments, really, ought to be enough for people.

   Comment by Flitcraft — June 28, 2012 @ 12:38 am

RSS feed for comments on this post.

Leave a comment

Name (required)

Mail (will not be published) (required)

Website

Spam Protection by WP-SpamFree