Steve Pettit and the Skillman family

Tyler, I’m not sure why you kept saying “Baptist midwestern fundamentalism” in the context of this thread about BJ. BJ’s origins are not Baptist (although one could argue it is that today) and they are certainly aren’t midwestern.

John, the syllogism is implicit.

Bluegrass music is associated with making moonshine

Making moonshine breaks the law and is hence unwise/win

Hence it is unwise/sin to listen to bluegrass music.

It’s the same exact syllogism, and suffers the same fallacy. Just because someone doesn’t make the syllogism explicit doesn’t mean that the syllogism isn’t there.

Plus, in Scripture, wisdom is contrasted with folly, and the Hebrew words denote and connote a moral dimension. Never mind that when someone says “it’s a wisdom issue”, what they’re really saying is that they feel that there is sin issue involved. You’re not doing your best for Christ if you use bluegrass music, or whatever the topic is. They may be softpedaling it for various reasons, but at its core, its still implicitly claiming a sin issue.

[Ron Bean]

When need a group to write and publish a music Talmud establishing what constitutes acceptable music and end this constant expression of individual interpretations! SMILE! (Excuse me now while I go watch “O Brother Where Art Thou”.)

Rabbi Garlock says, “Syncopation is bad.” Rabbi Aniol says, “The morality of syncopation depends on its context.” Rabbi man-in-the-pew says, “What’s wrong with Mexican Independence Day?”

I very clearly wrote that if someone uses “guilt by association” to argue that such-and-such music is a sin, then it’s a fallacy. But not everyone who avoids things because of guilt by association or slippery slope believe that others are sinning by not avoiding those things.

When a team wins that was expected to lose, people will frequently say, “So-and-so sportscaster was a prophet!” They’re not using the word with the same robustness and depth of meaning as the Bible. Likewise, many people in 2018 will say, “I don’t believe that it’s wise for me to do such-and-such” without using the word with the same robustness and depth of meaning as the Bible.

Relax and be happy.

Oh, OK. Thanks.

No problem. I’m here for you.

This whole “controversy” reminds me of a funny anecdote that happened to me back in 1977. I attended an ACE school in the depths of the Midwest in a small rural town where it was assumed that Southern Gospel Blue Grass style music would be gracing the heavenly temple some day. I sang in a boys quartet that won the state championship and was eligible to compete at nationals which was held at BJU that year. My 3 compadres and I dressed up in our best red/white/blue polyester three-piece suits for our big moment before the austere panel of elite judges which were completely composed of music faculty members. Our song of choice was an a cappella number entitled “A Beautiful Life” by the world-famous “Chuck Wagon Gang”. Our quartet of country boys strutted onto the platform and let it rip. (You can google the lyrics if you’d like…let’s say that they weren’t particularly deep, but the harmony was awesome — or so we thought.) Just a few bars into our rendition, we became aware of the looks of our panel of judges which ranged from “horrified” to…”Oh my goodness, someone just opened a portal into the fifth circle of hell!!!!”. Let’s just say, in spite of our impressive vocal stylings, our conclusion was met with an awkward silence and a croaked, “Thank you for coming by” and that was that. It was only years later that I became aware of the depth of our ignorance and perceived insult to the refined taste of our hosts and it has made me smile often over the passing years.
And as always, there’s nothing like a “music post” to churn up the comments on a threat on S/I! LOL.

All we need now is Bert to draw some kind of parallel to recreational drinking and its implications for recreational marijuana use, and this thread will be on fire …

Cultural issues are not fundamentals of the faith. Music styles are not fundamentals of the faith. Core doctrines about the nature of Scripture and the person and work of Christ are fundamentals of the faith. Historic Fundamentalists will defend the fundamentals at all costs. Wise Fundamentalists will leave cultural issues to the individual’s own conscience.

What SI needs is a really passionate discussion about the kenosis from Philippians 2 … Oh, wait - that won’t generate any discussion at all, will it?

[G. N. Barkman]

Cultural issues are not fundamentals of the faith. Music styles are not fundamentals of the faith. Core doctrines about the nature of Scripture and the person and work of Christ are fundamentals of the faith. Historic Fundamentalists will defend the fundamentals at all costs. Wise Fundamentalists will leave cultural issues to the individual’s own conscience.

the effects of the fall are not directly connected with the fundamentals of the faith? Can a believer implement any element of culture he wants without any thought to the fallen nature of man?

I thought you were a Calvinist. Not so much?

“If you will tell me the kind of music you like to listen to, and the kind of music you like to perform, I will tell you what kind of person you are!”

Beginning in the 70’s a generation of us had this FACT drilled into us when addressing the subject of music. Looking back, I can understand why some have such strong feelings about the issue. The obvious and embraced conclusion was that “bad” people listened to “bad” music and “good” people listened to “good” music.

Maybe you’d get more interest in the kenosis of Philippians 2 if there was some of the official drink of secular bluegrass there, too? j/k (denied!, btw)

Seriously, while I agree with Don that we do indeed need to consider the effects of human sin vis-a-vis all of life, including music, I am yet at a loss as to how we can seriously argue that one kind of string/brass/woodwind/electronic instrument is allowed, and another is not, and argue that from Scripture. Folks, they’re pieces of wood and hide and gut put together, and they’re played with a bow or the fingers. Great saints and grievous sinners have played them all, and put them in God-honoring and quite sinful arrangements. Lyrics, poetry, musical setting; do these convey the Word of God to the People of God?