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Biblical Themes in All That Jazz

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 February 2024

Sharon Kay Dobbins
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Extract

      O sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things!
      His right hand and his holy arm have gotten him victory ...
      Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth;
      Break forth into joyous song and sing praises!
      Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre, with the lyre and the sound of melody!
      With trumpets and the sound of the horn Make a joyful noise before the King, the Lord!
      Let the sea roar, and all that fills it; the world and those who dwell in it!
      Let the floods clap their hands;
      let the hills sing for joy together
      before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth.
      He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity.
      Psalm 98

Whether it was the morning stars’ song at creation, Miriam’s song of the sea, Deborah’s voice of victory, Gideon’s trumpet, David’s harp, the voices of the heavenly hosts or the shout of the Lord Himself with the voice of the archangel and the trumpet of God, music has always played a vital part in ushering in the Kingdom of God.

Most often when we think of ‘religious’ music we tend to limit our vision either to these Biblical images or to traditional forms of liturgy, hymns, cantatas, oratorios, anthems or gospel song. But should we limit our vision to the status quo? Certainly not! A life of faith calls for a dynamic vision of newness of life.

Type
Research Article
Information
New Blackfriars , Volume 68 , Issue 809 , October 1987 , pp. 455 - 460
Copyright
Copyright © 1987 Provincial Council of the English Province of the Order of Preachers

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References

1 ‘Jazz for Church Services Makes Measured Progress’, New York Times, April 19, 1987, pp. 21–22Google Scholar.

2 Ulanov, Barry, A History of Jazz in America (London: Hutchinson & Co., 1958), p.5Google Scholar.

3 Ibid., p. 7.

4 Harvey, Mark S., ‘Imagining a New Worl?, The Christian Century. December 24–31, 1986, pp. 1168–69Google Scholar.

5 Hodeir, André, Jazz: Its Evolution and Essence, Eng. tr. Noakes, David (New York: Grove Press, Inc., 1979), pp. 40–41Google Scholar.

6 Cross, Frank Moore, Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1973), p. 190CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

7 Hanson, Paul D., The People Called (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1986), p. 437Google Scholar.

8 Quoted by Pleasants, Henry, Serious Music–And All That Jazz (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1969), p. 68Google Scholar.

9 Ibid., p. 70.

10 The People Called, p. 5.

11 Adams, James Luther, On Being Human Religiously (Boston: Beacon Press, 1976), p. 154Google Scholar.

12 New York Times, April 19, 1987, pp. 21–22.