|
Why Johnny Can't Sing Hymns: How Pop Culture Rewrote the Hymnal |  | Author: T. David Gordon
Publisher: P & R Publishing
Category: Book
List Price: $12.99
Buy New: $8.53
as of 9/5/2010 11:36 CDT details
You Save: $4.46 (34%)
New (11) Used (5) from $8.47
Seller: ---superbookdeals
Rating:  9 reviews
Media: Paperback
Pages: 192
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 8.4 x 5.3 x 0.5
ISBN: 1596381957
EAN: 9781596381957
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
| |
| Similar Items:
| |
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Dr. Gordon looks at changes in worship from the fresh viewpoint of a Media Ecology perspective. Changes in music have changed the way we think, and the way we worship - or are even able to worship. The musical culture we are immersed in has altered our ability to understand other genres of music - so much so that we find them strangely unhelpful. This means that worship has become a conflict area, rather than a source of unity. Dr. Gordon not only shows the problems, he also provides solutions - it's important, because how we sing affects how we live.
|
| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 9
 True to its Title June 28, 2010
Beulah P. Williamson (Dexter, Mi.)
29 out of 30 found this review helpful
This book follows through on the promise of its title. It actually explains why Johnny can't sings hymns, not why he should.
The author, who teaches media ecology at Grove City College, states that media ecology is a sub branch of cultural anthropology, and it is from this perspective that he attempts to answer his title question. Why, for so many people, do traditional hymns seem so foreign, strange, inaccessible?
He only states the obvious when he says that as "background music," contemporary music is everywhere. We hear it on TV, radio,in commercials,. We shop to it, dine to it in resturants,bake to it, and brush our teeth to it. We are so saturated with contemporary sounding music that any earlier music is foreign sounding.
"There are many people in our culture whose musical listening has been almost entirely banal; 98% of the music they have heard has been pop. To their ears, this is just what music sounds like; they haven't heard enough significant music to distinguish significant music from insignificent music."
Things were different for his father's generation. No one had TV, and those who had radio did not play it all day long. They did not buy groceries or shop for clothing to music. They experiencd music in four different idioms: sacred, folk, classical, and pop. (For them, pop music was Tommy Dorsey, Glen Miller, etc.) Each was accessible, each sounded familiar, and none sounded unfamiliar.
He explains not only why Johnny now has a preference for church music that is often theologically and musically inferior, but he posits how it came abut.- (the determination of the 60's generation - and Johnny is their offspring - to shake off everything to do with the "dead past.") So having shaken off the past we are left with a pop culture that is neither beautiful nor ugly. It is simply banal, trivial, inconsequential.
The author's chief concern is church worship and the jettisoning of centuries of Christian hymnody. For the first time in Christian history we hve churches totally cut off from the worship experience of past believers. - from the "communion of the saints", from parents and grandparents, from "the spirits of just men made perfect" of Hebrews 12. No Apostles Creed. No Gloria Patri, No Doxology - No "Sacred Head Now Wounded.". . . .churchs that are mono-generational.
The book opens with a dedication to "the memory of our
first child, Marian Ruth, who, before leukemia took her at fourteen weeks of age, taught her parents the ancient Christian practice of singing praise through tears.
Thou wast their Rock, their Fortress and their Might;
Thou Lord their Captain in the well-fought fight;
Thou, in the darkness drear, their one true light.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
O blest communion, fellowship divine!
We feebly struggle; they in glory shine;
All are one in Thee, for all are Thine.
Alleluia! Alleluia!"
What will Johnny sing when he faces such loss?. . .
The closing chapter of this book, "Teaching Johnny Hymnody," deals with ways to help Johnny.
Interesting June 27, 2010
BookBargainsandPreviews.com (New York)
12 out of 13 found this review helpful
This is a very well-written book on a relevant topic. Some might disagree with the author's quote "..how we sing affects how we live." but I think he is right on. As a young Christian 25 years ago, I learned much of my theology from the hymns I sang at church. While I'm not saying that music styles don't change, (it is obvious they do) I agree with the author that we need to make sure the songs we sing in church represent the way we live our lives as followers of Christ. I think this is definitely worth the read!
Clear Teaching August 6, 2010
Dorsey (Dade City, FL United States)
This book is well written and gives a clear understanding as to what God desires in the music of our worship services.
I definitely learned much.
Excellent read! August 25, 2010
wyomom
This is one of the best books on worship I've read in a long time.
a little taster July 16, 2010
Batreader (Bethlehem, PA USA)
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R286ZH9AK9XNBI This is a little note from the publisher letting you see the trailer for this book
Showing reviews 1-5 of 9
|
|
|
|
| |
|
