Contemporary Christian Music

On the Freedom of a Christian Rapper

Jesus is King, Kanye West’s latest album, channels the theology of Martin Luther.
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29 Oct 2019

CoWo, NoGrow

Back in 1998, at a theological conference, I heard a pastor (we’ll call him Pastor V.) of my denomination (the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod) recount what had driven him out of his second call, a mission church in Lawrence, Kansas. It was the early ’90s, and Lawrence was one of the . . . . Continue Reading »

1 Aug 2018

Songs of Exile

by Alexi Sargeant

Where has all the dark Christian music gone? It doesn’t take much listening to notice how blithe and breezy popular Christian music has become. At the data journalism site FiveThirtyEight, Leah Libresco has run the numbers and found that the lyrics of recent Christian hits skew towards life, . . . . Continue Reading »

7 Jun 2016

“O Christian Art, Why Can't You Be Good?”

by Mathew Block

The Contemporary Christian Music industry has shrunk to a third of its former size. Is dissatisfaction with a Christian copy-cat culture to blame? And what is “good” Christian art anyway?
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5 Jun 2015

Apostles of Rock

by Michael Linton

Apostles of Rock: The Splintered World of Contemporary Christian Music by jay r. howard and john m. streck university press of kentucky, 304 pages, $29.95 “Redemption.” The banner headline in the May 6, 1999 Nashville Tennessean wasn’t about religion. It was about commerce. . . . . Continue Reading »

1 Feb 2000