Western Music and Christian Metaphysics

Christianity has played such an enormous role in the development of Western music that it would be impossible to separate the music from its religious origins. But since we live in a time where music theory is thought to be a secular and neutral endeavor, we should consider this topic.

From the earliest moment of Western music, we wrote down our chants for liturgical purposes, which is how musical notation was born. But beyond the use of the musical staves, notes, and clefs, there is something more characteristic of Western music that is wholly a Christian ideal and still permeates our music today: form, function, and teleology.

When I was earning my undergraduate in ethnomusicology, which is the study of music and culture, I had the opportunity to study music from around the world. To be sure, there is a lot of beautiful music from various cultures, and there are lots of music theories to accompany each style. But what seems quite apparent to me when surveying the various styles in the world is that none of them seem to take these ideas to the same level as in Western music. I do not mean to disparage the innate beauty in various styles, but there is something strangely different about Western music when comparing it to other contemporaneous styles globally. I also do not mean to say that Western music in and of itself is stylistically better than any other alternative.

I am likely offending others in the field of ethnomusicology and musicology that are admittedly much more studied than I am. I will therefore take a moment to define what I mean by objective beauty. I am primarily speaking as a Reformed Christian, which has a certain set of presuppositions that help me determine what is good, true, and beautiful. In short, the things that God says are good, true, and beautiful, are the things that I can definitively know to be factual. I accept them a priori. When our music reflects realities that are by nature what God says is beautiful, I can declare that certain realities are objectively more beautiful than others.

Let me offer a few examples:

1. The Bible says that order is better than chaos.
2. The Bible assumes diversity and unity are not at odds, as is the case with the Trinity.
3. God creates nature to function predictably.
4. The Bible shows that God works through stories.

Each of these points is not merely incidental to Western music but is truly inseparable. You cannot read Fux’s Counterpoint, by which many of the great composers used to learn composition, without receiving full doses of the necessity of the worship of God through music theory. The fact that we study the function of chords as a necessary part of a musical education

JAKE BEAL
1689 Covenantalism | Amillennialism | General Equity Theonomist
Since 2018, Jake Beal has been working as a realtor in Spokane, WA. He also holds a master’s degree in Music Composition. His interest in theology was sparked during his studies at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, Illinois. Jake has been happily married to his wife, Heide, since 2015.