Resounding Truth - Christian Wisdom in the World of Music

From the iPod to the car radio, from movie soundtracks to Muzak at the shopping mall, from singing in the shower to the concert arena, music is an unavoidable part of our lives. Not only is music ubiquitous, it is powerful: creating moods, evoking memories and images, uniting people, and providing an outlet of expression for even the most tone deaf among us. Besides its prominent position in culture, music has obviously had a key role in the worship of God's people.
This well-rounded study examines the connections between music and theology by engaging Scripture, musical history, and contemporary culture and exploring how God's truth sounds and how it might "re-sound" in the realm of music. Resounding Truth will help readers develop discernment and wisdom, both for thinking about music in the church and Christian life and for engaging with one of culture's most influential touchstones.
"A profound, rigorous, and original work. Very few new books in theology or religious studies show this level of freshness and imagination. I hope it will be a landmark essay in this crucial field of reflection on theology and the creative arts."
--Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury
"Jeremy Begbie is musician/theologian par excellence. Whatever music you enjoy and wherever you are on the journey of faith and understanding, he will delight, surprise, challenge, and inspire you. A wonderful book by a wonderful writer, thinker, and musician."
--N. T. Wright, Bishop of Durham
"Jeremy Begbie has published a number of fine books in which he, as both a Christian theologian and a practicing musician, reflects on music; but this is his finest. It is theologically acute, deeply informed by both the history of music and the history of reflections on music, and throughout displays Begbie's wide-ranging engagement with music of many kinds from both the past and the present. A rich contribution!"
--Nicholas Wolterstorff, Yale University and University of Virginia
"Jeremy Begbie's thinking emerges out of a fusion of the best musical thinking about theology and the best theological thinking about music. The resulting text is charged with energy and insight--and not just for musicians and theologians. This vital work is poised to energize and strengthen the entire Christian community."
--John D. Witvliet, Calvin Institute of Christian Worship
"This book resounds with the thoughtful, dynamic, and always engaging voice of Jeremy Begbie. Marked by a breathtaking range, driven by a creative vision, and packed with judicious insights, it will no doubt shape conversations about theology and the arts for years to come."
--Roger Lundin, Wheaton College

Jeremy S. Begbie (PhD, University of Aberdeen) is Thomas A. Langford Research Professor of Theology at Duke Divinity School in Durham, North Carolina. He previously served as honorary professor of theology at the University of St. Andrews; associate principal of Ridley Hall, Cambridge; and affiliated lecturer in the Faculty of Divinity at the University of Cambridge. A noted pianist, he has lectured widely in the UK, the US, and South Africa. He is the author of Voicing Creation's Praise: Towards a Theology of the Arts and Theology, Music, and Time and the editor of Beholding the Glory: Incarnation through the Arts and Sounding the Depths: Theology through the Arts.