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In studies of the important contemporary Christian music (CCM) subculture within American evangelicalism, scholars have developed an increasingly robust body of sociological analysis; this article bridges from that scholarship to offer a cultural history of how a decentralized group of ex-hippies coalesced to establish a multimillion-dollar industry. Centring the concept of sublation as used by David Morgan, the article adopts a multimethod approach to study how More Power to Ya by Petra—one of the most popular albums from one of the industry's most influential bands—exemplified the strategy Christian rock artists employed to move from a place of marginalization within evangelical Christianity to one of acceptance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multilingual and multicultural worship can take on many models and expressions. Initially, Chinese immigration to the UK in the 1950s and 1960s led to an increased population of churches. Many Chinese church services were conducted in Cantonese, catering to the needs of first-generation immigrants, mainly from Hong Kong. Yet, the children of these older generations grew up with a bicultural hybridized identity expressed first in small English-speaking youth groups that led to English-speaking worship services within Chinese churches. Contributing to the field of worship studies through music repertoire studies over four weeks in June and July 2017 at Birmingham Chinese Evangelical Church, we raised the following questions: (1) what do the chosen worship songs represent with regards to the liturgical theology and cultural expressions of this community and (2) how is self-perception and perception of the divine expressed in the lyrical themes of these songs? Our study revealed that singing English songs from the West dominated the corporate liturgical identity of these services. Yet, through a British-born Chinese evangelical cultural reading, some lyrical themes were particularly resonant within Chinese culture, such as honor, shame, reverence, and bowing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For over a century, Hong Kong Christians have sung Chinese hymns in an "out-of-tone" manner. Lyrics in traditional hymnals were translated or written to be sung in Mandarin, the national language, but most locals speak Cantonese, another Sinitic and tonal language. Singing goes "out-of-tone" when Mandarin hymns are sung in Cantonese, which often causes meaning distortions. Why did Hong Kong Christians accept this practice? How did they move from singing "out-of-tone" to creating contextualized Cantonese contemporary worship songs? What does this process reveal about the evolution of Chinese Christianity? From a Hong Kong-centered perspective, this article reconstructs the city's hymnological development. I consider the creation of national Mandarin hymnals during Republican China as producing a nationalistic Mainland-centric and Mandarin-centric Chinese Christianity. Being on the periphery, Hong Kong Christians did not have the resources to develop their own hymns and thus continued to worship "out-of-tone". With the decline of the old Chinese Christian center of Shanghai, the growth of Cantonese culture and Hongkonger identity, and the influence of Western pop and Christian music, local Christians began to create Cantonese contemporary worship songs. This hymnological contextualization reflects and contributes to not only the decolonization but, more importantly, the decentralization of Chinese Christianity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document is an editorial introduction to the Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion. It discusses the complexity of large systems, such as countries, religions, and universities, which can both offer benefits and inflict harm. The issue focuses on religious institutions and explores how they have caused pain and suffering through abuse, while also providing spaces for empowerment and healing. The document highlights two articles in the issue: one on the language used in contemporary Christian worship music and its impact on abuse survivors, and another on how US Muslim women interpret gender equality and abortion within their religious communities. The issue also includes special features that examine the potential harm and healing within religious communities. [Extracted from the article]

J. M. Coetzee's late work exhibits a productive dialogue between fiction and other arts as part of his interest in the possibilities of thinking in mediums other than ordinary language. Focusing particularly on the Jesus novels, this article examines the critical role of music and how Coetzee uses musical forms as literary strategies that open up alternative possibilities of communication and thinking. Revisiting the famous "What is a Classic?" essay and the biographical moment that leads Coetzee to the music of J. S. Bach, I look at how Coetzee writes musically by considering questions of content, form, and technique, and then turn to the representation of music in relation to mathematics. I propose that the interest in music in the Jesus novels is part of his conscious engagement with ordinary language and his inherent desire to transcend it that characterizes the late work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay examines the decolonization of the Puerto Rican Christian-Presbyterian liturgy, focusing on the historical relationship between Puerto Rico and the United States and its impact on Christian worship. It explores the early history of Presbyterianism in Puerto Rico, including the merging of local movements with Presbyterian ideas. The essay highlights signs of liturgical resistance, such as the incorporation of Puerto Rican rhythms and instruments in hymnody. While acknowledging the colonial nature of the Presbyterian liturgical legacy, the article calls for a decolonization of Christian worship in Puerto Rico, promoting the inclusion of indigenous and African religious wisdom and advocating for shared power and representation in future liturgies. [Extracted from the article]

This essay examines the influence of Contemporary Praise and Worship music on the WOW compilation albums released between 1996 and 2019. It discusses the rise of Contemporary Christian Worship (CCW) music over Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) and the shift from communal worship to individual devotion. The success of the WOW albums reflects the popularity of Christian music, particularly CCW music, which is considered essential to the "worship lifestyle." The article also explores the blurring of boundaries between CCM and CCW, the oversaturation of worship music, and the inclusion of worship artists on WOW Hits compilations. It concludes by discussing the impact of streaming platforms and the creation of virtual worship communities. [Extracted from the article]

"God Rock, Inc. The Business of Niche Music" by Andrew Mall is a book that examines the tensions surrounding Christian rock's aesthetics and ethics, as well as the business that curated them. The author uses the niche of "Christian music" to explore the roles of markets in the production, distribution, intermediation, and consumption of niche popular music in the United States. The book delves into the historical origins of the Christian Contemporary Music (CCM) market and how it became a niche, as well as the social networks and ethical formations that shaped it. Mall also addresses themes of ethics, resistance, and crossover within the CCM market. The book provides insights into the mechanisms of the industry, the impact of digital media, and the theological concerns surrounding commerce and ministry in the CCM market. While the book primarily focuses on rock-centric Christian music, it offers a compelling invitation for scholars to explore the communities and standards that defined the CCM niche. [Extracted from the article]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses articles in the issue on topics including Christian music in the Filipino diaspora, research on music podcasts, and book reviews featuring works on sound studies and queer aesthetics in hip hop.

Building on Fraser's account of religious persuasion through indirection, this essay explores how instrumental music can communicate faith, as demonstrated in a groundbreaking album by guitarist Phil Keaggy. I argue that while music functions as pure persuasion in its unfolding form, it can also facilitate ordinary persuasion on matters of faith by evoking particular impressions of religious pathos, ethos, and/or mythos, which may be reinforced in liner notes. When Keaggy, a pioneer of Jesus music, made an album of original instrumentals, a spiritually-themed story was added to ensure acceptance by that audience. This story conveys faith indirectly, while the music itself somewhat evokes the ethos and pathos of the gospel. After the story was dropped in the reissued album, key qualities of Keaggy's music and ethos helped sustain his art's potential to convey spiritual meaning. For communication scholars, discerning such potential requires close reading and/or audience studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The CCLI charts may not reflect it, yet one thing many Christian churches discovered as the pandemic raged across the world (and violence at home and abroad) was the need for songs of sacred lament. Unfortunately, many churchgoers, especially those who identify as practitioners of contemporary Christian worship, have cultivated a gap between the biblical give and take of praise and lament revealed most poignantly in the book of Psalms. This chasm between praise and lament is a problem, as a liturgical discourse about disastrous events is weakened. Churches sing congregational songs of praise in the church, the chorus of 'what ought to be'. Meanwhile, outside the church, artists in genres as diverse as folk and rap sing the chorus of what frankly 'is'. For the church to be transformative, it must be grounded in what is (lament) and aiming toward what ought to be (praise). This is the value of the cycle of praise and lament in the church's liturgy. This article explores the impact of CCM (contemporary Christian music) and praise and worship culture as it laments the loss of lament in Christian worship. The essay articulates the missing sense of 'Truth' in contemporary congregational music, as defined by Don Saliers' Worship Come to Its Senses. The article closes by amplifying emerging Christian songwriters reintroducing lament to contemporary worship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study of churches of Assemblies of God (AG) in Hong Kong, China. It mentions that early trajectory of Pentecostalism in Hong Kong, China is traceable to Alfred G. Garr and Lillian Garr, who experienced the Azusa Street revival and were among the first to arrive in Hong Kong, China in 1907. It states that AG emphasizes not only the fundamentalists' basic beliefs but also healing by the atonement and tongues as initial evidence of Spirit baptism.

Paul's gospel presentation to Areopagus in Acts 17:16-34 is used as a paradigm for contextualizing the gospel in Africa. Contextual analysis is used to review the text in its given context to relate it to the contemporary situation. Contextualization captures in method and perspective the challenge of relating the Gospel to culture. The article discusses Paul and Hellenistic pluralism. Religious people have objects of worship that constitute "religion," which relates with deity. This paper is a reading of Acts 17 through the lenses of African religious context. It examines how Paul's description of the Athenians as "very religious" had led to educate them on, "unknown God." The process of "contextualizing the gospel" traces back to the New Testament. Paul's Areopagus' speech is one of the most instructive case studies in New Testament contextualization. It surveys several aspects of Paul's missionary communication, portraying how the formula of the speech is directed to convince an intelligent and philosophically minded Greek listeners. It depicts how Paul did not assume a combative posture, but with admirable delicacy, challenged and rectified the major positions of the Stoics and Epicureans, while being sensitive towards the Athenians. Simultaneously, Paul declines to compromise the non-negotiable gospel tenet, especially Christ's resurrection, which challenges the Athenian worldviews. The treatise reflects on how this paradigmatic story can inform the task of incarnating the gospel in pluralistic settings like Africa today and a guide to minister to them in their own background. Consequently, contextualization of the gospel is recommended to African cultures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article addresses the issue of the importance of contemporary architecture—especially Christian architecture—for the aesthetic and spiritual development of an individual. It also highlights the educational aspect that may arise in the framework of the contact of a human with the works of religious architecture. Among many things, the article points out the values of truth and beauty in the space of the sacrum. The major importance in the process of human development involves personal, individual and group experiences of meetings in various areas of religious architecture that operate with the language of signs and symbols, modern artistic forms, single-space harmony, and atmosphere—an invisible order of things. In recent years, a number of studies have been carried out that attempted to define what makes the place of sacrum sufficiently meaningful, mysterious, and still necessary in order to establish a spiritual relationship with the community of believers and with God, which is relevant in one's transition to adulthood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Passion of Christ is not only an important theme in Christian theological and devotional literature, iconography, and music, but it is likewise the focus of considerable attention in contemplative, mystical literature. This contribution focuses on a specific interpretation of the suffering of Christ, which is to be found in an important but now somewhat forgotten mystical text, namely the Evangelical Pearl. This text is to be situated within the broad mystical network and initiatives of the Cologne Carthusians in the early sixteenth century. The Pearl has a remarkable interpretation of Christ's passion, namely that—simultaneously—his body was in terrible pain, his soul was deeply sorrowful and his spirit was joyful. These reflections culminate in a radical theology of deification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Keywords: Inyimbo song tradition; migrant mineworkers; liturgical innovation; resistance; United Church of Zambia EN Inyimbo song tradition migrant mineworkers liturgical innovation resistance United Church of Zambia 73 80 8 04/29/22 20220101 NES 220101 The official Bemba hymnbook of the United Church of Zambia (UCZ) I Inyimbo sha Bwina Klistu i ( I Inyimbo i ) is a compilation of 234 hymns and prayers translated into the Bemba language that was first produced in 1964.[1] In this essay, I account for I Inyimbo i as an outcome of the agency of migrant mine workers whose life-changing experiences during their migration and settlement on the Copperbelt in the 1920s inspired the birth of a singing tradition that remains today. Twenty hymn books were the sources of translated hymns in I Inyimbo i .[29] The sixty-eight hymns on the Christian life outnumber all other categories. The Migrants Workers and the Union Church of the Copperbelt The migrant Christians from the rural Zambia (then Northern Rhodesia) and neighboring Malawi (then Nyasaland) were mainly first- and second-generation mission converts who brought translated hymns from their respective rural mission churches.[5] Most of these hymns were translations of popular western missionary hymns. [Extracted from the article]

Historically, Christian rap emerged in the context of Evangelical Christianity in the US. Since its birth in the 1970s, it has been often represented as a tool for evangelization and outreach in the modern urban environment. Although there are stories of purported success of these attempts, most US Christian rappers have since turned to Christians as their primary audiences. There are two main attitudes towards the world and its culture among Christian rappers that are manifest in their approach to the style of their songs. Nevertheless, the general attitude towards the world and culture in Christian rap is that of distancing from these aspects, and Christian rappers want to transform or educate the faithless society, Thereby denying the world its capacity to acquire genuine meaning and truth without Christian assistance. There is a discussion on terminology for engaging Christian rap from an academic perspective. Although some Christian rap scholars prefer to use a definition such as “Christians and hip-hop” to include all the possible interactions of Christians, rappers, and hip-hop culture, throughout the article the studied phenomenon is called “Christian rap” to distance the study of the actual rap lyrics and theology they contain from the analysis of hip-hop beats, breakdance, graffiti and/or other elements of hip-hop culture. This problem with definition mirrors the discussion common to the study of Contemporary Christian music genres, where there is debate on the question of criteria that can be employed to define “Christian music”. Latvian Christian rap represents an array of attitudes towards the world. There are examples of “worship rap” or separational approach to Contemporary Christian music and examples of integrational approach. These two approaches represent different attitudes towards the world, although fundamentally all Latvian Christian rappers that are mentioned in the article distance themselves from the world and wish to enlighten it or reach the faithless with their appropriation of popular contemporary music. Latvian Christian rap is a marginal phenomenon because it struggles with acceptance in Christian circles as much as among non-Christians that are to be its main and desired audience. Rap and hip-hop are perceived to be connected to protest, violence, drugs and other things that are foreign to the image of Christianity in Latvia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Cultura y Religión is the property of Miguel Angel Mansilla Aguero and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Cuadernos de Historia Contemporanea is the property of Universidad Complutense de Madrid and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)