Quote:
Originally Posted by Johny Joe Hold
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(which includes, paragraphs 12 & 13)« The debates about worship music today are no different from similar concerns raised among and within denominations throughout Church history, Hall added.
“I think the problem with Christianity is that it involves people, and people are broken. I think anytime you give people power, money and fame, it can tend to have people put their hope in power, money and fame. We can worship people, or a program, or a structure, instead of worshiping God, the One who made it all,” Hall said. »
All this is so concerning. I'm prepared to accept that rap is a form of poetry, or could be, having heard a poet recite some verse accompanied by a minimalist band some years ago. He stood on the stage. The curtain was closed. The band was behind the curtain and their contribution was muted but did support the reading well, I thought. The poems covered a few social issues of little interest to me: I was actually there to see something else. This could be an early form of "rap" I guess, at a stretch, which neither claimed to be Christian nor covered the topic(s) associated with that genre today. Yes, it's always the same topic but my point is that rap could be considered a form of poetry. And you could probably sing it.
But that is not what actually happens. And whether it's pretending to be Christian or not, the whole ethos of the ensuing nightmare is anathema to Jesus and any of His teachings. Maranatha.
It may be that different denominations throughout Church history had similar concerns. That would have to mean just the last 400-odd years, though. Prior to that
there were no denominations, other than the Eastern, Oriental and Whatnot orthodox congregations thousands of miles apart so that none of them would have known what the others were singing about for any concerns to exist. An important point the author is unaware of. Quite apart from that, no wailing, ululating, chanting, moanings or groanings addressed to any idol would ever be Christian under any circumstances. I won't ask you to imaging a monk crawling around his idol (one masquerading as the virgin Mary perhaps) grunting and carrying on whilst impaling his leg with stilettos. And certainly not to guess what sort of chant or ululation he'd break out into when the rap demon turned up. Because that's what it is. THAT is not new, even if the concept of denominations is. The fact that a legitimate poem (or hymn) could be "rapped" is immaterial, as what comes out of their mouths negates the ethos of early Christians utterly.
And that means there can be no such thing as Christian rap today. Even if embraced as a gateway to reach the broken people outside The Church, what eventuates from the genre is a falling away into the molasses of hip-hop, some very questionable dress codes and before you knew it you'd be all the way through doing catholic metal.