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    Published: 2024-09-04
    Vol. 45 No. 2 (2024)

    From the Psalms of David to Christian Rock. Youth Musical Subculture as a Tool for Evangelization

    Artur Chejnowski
    Seminare. Learned Investigations
    Section: Articles
    https://doi.org/10.21852/sem.1814

    Abstract

    The purpose of this article is to present in a historical perspective of the use of rock music as a tool for evangelization. In order for above-mentioned perspective to be complete and based on a solid foundation, this study first of all takes into account the biblical background of the use of music. The Second Vatican Council ushered in a new relationship between the Church community and the world of culture and art. The Church community, in response to the call to the work of the “new evangelization,” undertook unprecedented forms of apostolate, which often aroused controversy. One example here is evangelization through rock music. For some, the aesthetics of this form of music being far removed from the recommendations provided in the documents of the Catholic Church or its cultural and worldview message, unequivocally disqualifies it as a tool for evangelization. For others, on the other hand, rock music has an important evangelizing function, as the genre responds to the expectations of youth culture. Rock music, with its evangelical message, becomes a bridge allowing the Church community to get through with the Good News to the young generation who increasingly tend to live outside the Church’s structures. Consequently, the term “Christian rock” is used in the classification of the genre to indicate its distinctive values and message. The phenomenon of “Christian rock” implies two important aspects. Firstly, the radical transformation of musical forms that religious music is undergoing in order to respond to the needs of the times and, secondly, the fact that the message of the Gospel has realistically entered the world of popular music and has begun to use it to achieve its own goals. The historical framing of the problem inspires further research, e.g. in sociological and cultural dimensions.

    Keywords:

    music, music in the Bible, church, evangelization, youth, subculture, rock music

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    Chejnowski, A. (2024). From the Psalms of David to Christian Rock. Youth Musical Subculture as a Tool for Evangelization. Seminare. Learned Investigations, 45(2). https://doi.org/10.21852/sem.1814

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