Angry/Rageful Music

[gardner]

I think it's deceptive, especially when it's under the guise of "Christian music". The things we watch and listen to go into our hearts and become us. The things we take in affect us.

Matthew 6:22 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.
23 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!

Proverbs 23:7 For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.

God speaks quite a bit about anger in the Bible.

Proverbs 22:24 Make no friendship with an angry man; and with a furious man thou shalt not go:
Lest thou learn his ways, and get a snare to thy soul.

So then why would we listen to their music? God's anger is always righteous and we can trust Him, but we humans need rules.

Ephesians 4:26 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: 27 Neither give place to the devil.

King Saul was an angry man.

1 Samuel 20:30 Then Saul's anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said unto him, Thou son of the perverse rebellious woman, do not I know that thou hast chosen the son of Jesse to thine own confusion, and unto the confusion of thy mother's nakedness?

1 Samuel 18:8 And Saul was very wroth, and the saying displeased him; and he said, They have ascribed unto David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed but thousands: and what can he have more but the kingdom?

Love is not easily angered.

1 Corinthians 13:4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, 5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; 6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; 7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

Proverbs 16:32 He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.

There of course is a time and place for righteous anger, but it's not an emotion we want to wallow in.

[Arc]

Well it all depends what one would define as Angry/Rageful music.

While I agree we should stay away from certain types of music I dont think anger is always a bad choice. Sometimes songs that are Christian, but are ones that involve screaming, loud/harsh power cords, can convey an understanding that a mellow tone and feel cannot.

Also you must be careful as to who what you label as Rageful. Certain genres, just because they are heavy, dont mean the are rageful.

[gardner]

The guitar makes awesome music, and I'm not against music meant to help a scene in a play or something. Our hearts are deceitful (Jeremiah 17:9) and we have to take care what we put in our hearts and minds.

Well it all depends what one would define as Angry/Rageful music.

Honestly I think even the youngest of us can hear the mood of a song if it's angry or what. It does take discernment. We have to discern what is light and what is darkness.

Proverbs 27:4 Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before envy?

Ephesians 4:31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:

Colossians 3:8 But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.

Ecclesiastes 7:9 Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of fools.

[PassionForHisWord]

I think its all a matter of the lyrics, personally

[Genesis]

Not so.

Music itself is soulful, even instrumental music. Music does not need lyrics to convey emotion.

Don't make the mistake of dismissing music as an influence on the soul. The music itself can often be far more powerful than the lyrics that accompany it. Music can soothe the soul, or provoke it, and it's up to us as Christians to discern what is appropriate and what is not.

It's dangerous to dismiss music as inert or neutral.

[Arc]

Sometimes things that convey understanding have an opposite effect. A good jam session is a great way to blow off some steam and make some beautiful tunes.

[Genesis]

If you really want to see music as an expressive outlet, just listen to a few pieces by Bach.

Not a single word in all of his thousands of compositions but each and every one conveys a very specific thought or emotion. The cello suites that I listen to regularly tell a story, yet not a word is spoken.

Look up a few videos of Glenn Gould and his Bach performances. This man knows how to bring out the feeling in the music, and you can see how powerful it is.

[Arc]

Classical music is sweet to the ears! Deep notes that convey stories, and thats what I love!

That is also why I listen to buckethead, as odd as he is, he is probably one of the most creative artists ive ever listened to.

But whether its Bach, Buckethead, or whomever there are parts of the song that imply a form of anger, strain, turmoil, conflict. But that doesnt mean its the devils music

[WayKnowledge]

To quote Larry Norman,

"Why Should the Devil Have All the Good Music?"

Blessings,

Marc

[Jup]

He doesn't, it's the definition of "good music" that's in question At the end of the day, are you listening to music for your own pleasure or are you engaging in worship?

I'd be more concerned about people listening to music (of any kind) for the purposes of giving themselves pleasure but disguising it as a spiritual excercise.

[WayKnowledge]

He doesn't, it's the definition of "good music" that's in question

First, I agree. He doesn't. But I'd say we have to reduce our definition even more to just what we mean by "good." Good, as in sweet? as in enjoyable? Then what about "good for you" like fish oil pills and spinach? Some "good" is hard to take in. Witness the Israelites in response to the voices of the Prophets. The words and tones of those men of God where sounding ,at least, a bit Miffed if I read them right.

At the end of the day, are you listening to music for your own pleasure or are you engaging in worship?

I'd say sometimes we listen for the "message" being conveyed. There may be a word for us about "how to" see some disappointing aspect of the world through our Father's Eyes (a nice un-rageful song, by the way ) Hearing about world plights (and personal sin) and being called to action may require something on the other side of worship, but to the same end.

I'd be more concerned about people listening to music (of any kind) for the purposes of giving themselves pleasure but disguising it as a spiritual excercise.

I admit to having a hard time listening to some of what's called Heavy Metal these days, with the low Growling and Rasp. But I don't believe it's meant for me anymore. I've outgrown it. But I was a huge fan of the Rez Band and of Daniel Amos back in the day. If God is truly speaking through these newer sounds ("to the Greeks be Greek...") I'm sure it's going out "to those who have ears to hear" it. That's simply Not Me, now.

As it is, I worship and hear my edifiers in mellower tunes these days. I glorify Him still, and catch myself singing Kerry Livgren and Bob Dylan songs (and Keith Green) which have lifted my spirit for years.

The cool thing is, I don't need to "disguise" it. "Spiritual exercise" IS my "pleasure."

Blessings,

Marc

[PassionForHisWord]

If you really want to see music as an expressive outlet, just listen to a few pieces by Bach.

I'm personally a fan of Debussy and Ravel

[gardner]

I guess this falls under the category of divisive issues, and I'm sorry for sharing my OPINION on it. God's words are pure and perfect, not mine. We all will stand before God. I'm very sorry for this topic. I have my reasons for not listening to it and I can't force anybody not to. I'm sorry to you all for causing any contentions between you. All God's words stand true about anger (about anything), but I wont' judge another mans servant (Romans 14:4). We judge the fruit (Matthew 7:20).

[WayKnowledge]

gardner,

I'm sorry. Perhaps I missed the point of what you were saying in the original post. Perhaps, also, I don't know any real examples of the music you were opining about. I presumed it was just angry "sounding" music that sounds (to me) like grinding gears. If you have something specific in mind, maybe you could PM me with a youtube link or something.

Oh, and I'd like to say for the record, this is the LEAST "contentious" thread I have yet to read about Rock Music that has appeared, here, on the Forum. Until you wrote that you somehow repented of even starting it, I believed we were all doing quite well in listening to each other, and not devolving into argument.

So, in spite of your regret, I thank you for the thought you put into this.

God Bless you,

Marc

[Jup]

+1 Marc