Religion In Modern Music Analysis

Superior Essays
Paper 2
Religion in Modern Music
Religion plays a distinct role in modern music. The song created in two thousand twelve, “Whom Shall I Fear (God of Angel Armies)” by Chris Tomlin is an example of religious ideas being expressed in a secular song. In this specific song and associated music video, Christian religious views of people in our culture are reflected. Through Jeffrey Mahan’s concepts of religion, media, and culture, religious ideas and concepts are demonstrated in this modern music video.
According to Jeffrey Mahan, “religion includes the various ways in which human beings and their communities relate to the sacred, including their beliefs and practices and the way they have created institutions to organize and contain the sacred”
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According to Mahan, “media culture refers to the way human societies are organized around and by the media of their day. It also points to the unique, cultural expressions that develop in response to the media available” (Mahan, p. 148). The fact that the song and associated video could be found through a media platform, makes them both related to Mahan’s media concept and the related culture. In other words, the song and the video, each individually, are media types in and of themselves; a verbal message and a clip that sends meaning to its audiences. Within these specific media platforms, in this example, the Christian religious culture can be …show more content…
A saying expressed in the music could be God speaking, “Nothing that formed against me shall stand” (Chris Tomlin). This song lyric is referencing God in that He is omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent and that nothing or nobody will conquer Him. These words relate to the Christian culture because followers of the faith are supposed to believe this notion and are one of the main reasons why they consider themselves Christian. An example that the lyrics could be contrasting to could be Satan. The idea of the devil having precedence over God is a boundary and belief that should not be crossed by Christians. By many believers following this idea also creates the language culture of the religion. Another quote that expresses a held belief in the Christian culture could be “the world is in your hand”. The saying could be suggesting that God, and only God, created the

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