Music

“Music is a science that wants us to laugh, and sing, and dance.”

—Guillaume de Machaut, “Prologue”


Faithful Learning in Music


Everyone likes music, in one form or another. If you’ve picked up this booklet, perhaps you enjoy making music yourself. We all know that music is an art; however, as the poem above points out, it is absolutely a science as well—a scholarly discipline to be studied and explored. But is it a science worth Christians’ time and effort? Or has music been corrupted by the fall, leaving our attentions more suited elsewhere?


Timothy Steele introduces music as the worthy discipline that it is, taking us through a tour of the order, meaning, and function of music. Learn how you can use this gift of God (and the gift of your talents with it) to serve your neighbors, glorify God, and live all the more faithfully!


The Faithful Learning series invites Christian students to dive deeper into a modern academic discipline. The authors, scholars in their fields, believe that academic disciplines are good gifts from God that, when understood rightly, will give students the potential to cultivate a deeper love for God and neighbor.


Timothy H. Steele (MM, Temple University; PhD, University of Chicago) is associate professor of music and chair of the music department at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he has taught since 2007.