Mar 25, 2008
Does the author’s intention matter when it comes to worship music?
Should we interpret worship songs according to the Bible passages the songs are based on or according to what the songwriters meant?
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I would say authorial intent is not binding in our songs like it is with the Scriptures. Authorial intent is so important in the Scriptures because they stand over us as our authority. We stand over the songs we sing as judges of what does or does not reflect biblical truth. The value of the song lyrics is in and of themselves, as tools of joy and memorization of biblical truth.
I’m just glad when author’s intent of songs conforms to the Author’s/author’s intent of Scripture!
Me too, Lance. But I wonder—when it comes to worship music—if we know or care what the writer intended.
Here’s an example:
I’ve seen Calvinists and Open theists singing their hearts out with Matt Redman’s “Blessed Be Your Name.” These two groups are saying different things to God as they sing “You give and take away.”
My question is, does either group care at all what Matt Redman meant.
My guess is No. They’re probably both interpreting the song according to the book of Job not according to Redman’s intention.
Is this OK? If so, it seems like people who generally think the author’s intention is important are flouting their own rules.
But perhaps there are reasons to make exceptions.
I think Bible can trump author’s intent in some cases. For example, the Trinity hymnal changes a line in “To God Be the Glory” from “And opened the lifegate that all may go in” to “And opened the lifegate that we may go in.” That’s unnecessary, I think. Even if what the author meant by “all may go in” is “God has given sufficient grace to all people to accept or reject Christ and leaves it to their own free will,” and we disagree, we still think it’s true that “all may go in” in the sense that God has graciously made salvation available to all– anyone who wants can go in. So if we really hashed things out we might disagree, but none of us should have a problem with singing the line.
Wow, JMH. Never thought about that. Good point.
Abraham: I’m with you on the song with a reference to Job (whose worship-style would certainly not carry today!).
We’ve sung this song numerous times in our Sunday services. Once I took the opportunity to read Job 1 before we sang it, to provide the context.
I’ve never contemplated Redman’s intent. Is it different?
It really is a “dangerous” song when we understand the context from which it was taken, and I am still floored to read in that passage, “Then Job arose . . . and worshiped.”
Dude.
I think Brent Hobbs seems to have it right. Especially because he has pointed out the authority issue.
But why?
I am trying to come up with a biblical precedent. So far I am coming up empty except for the “meat sacrificed to idols” thing. Obviously, intent only mattered there as far as the testimony went to others.
Still thinking…
I could see the outcome of this conversation really making my job harder. :-)
I’m sure this has been brought up, but I have been “puzzled” by some of the song choices that pop up at DG conferences. I think we sang Israel Houghton’s “You Are Good” at the last couple of Pastor’s conferences I’ve been to. Granted this is as biblically sound as any song in CCM …but they sing it at Lakewood too. God’s goodness takes on a totally different meaning there…I think.
On the other hand, I am encouraged and validated by songs that Bethlehem uses for worship. I used to often refer to “the list” when I could find it online. That must have gotten lost in the redesign :-(
2 Thoughts:
1) Does the answer to the question of authorial intent differ according to type of material? So, as I’m reading this string, I’m thinking, “What about blog posts and comments?” Why are songs different?
2) As a hymn-writer, I’m screaming, “Yes! Authorial-intent matters!” I do not want John Shelby Spong singing my hymn, “He is Risen,” with his own unorthodox twist on it. That would be a misuse of my words. And, Jesus says to me “Do unto others as you’d have them do unto you.”
Lance, I’m not saying that Redman’s intent is different than yours or mine or an open theist’s. My point is that I don’t know what his intent was—and that most people who sing the song couldn’t care less what the songwriter meant.
This intrigues me, since in most other genres, people care quite a bit about what the author was trying to say.
I think the fact that this is a good question points out the responsibility of the songwriter when he is basing his music on scripture.
It is possible for the notes and style and emotion suggested in the melody to suggest a wrong interpretation of the passage.
I have had to be careful with the Fighter verse songs in with this regard.
The problem with authorial intent is that we can never quite get at it completely. Of course, we can often get very, very, very close; but I can never get inside another person’s head to know just what he was thinking. Now I know this can lead to absurdity if taken too far, but here’s my point: with songs intended for worship (and even with books written for the edification of the body) we have the unique situation of needing to evaluate both the author’s intent and the biblical content, such that even if we cannot get at a complete understanding of what the author meant (meaning we cannot get inside his head or know his life circumstances etc.), we can probably get a fuller knowledge of what the content means by evaluating it according to Scripture. In other words, I think I agree with JMH in saying that since we can know the Scriptures better than we can know the thoughts of another man, Bible can trump authorial intent in situations like this. I think a writer who truly desired the true and spiritual worship of God to rise from whatever he has written would be fine with someone who might disagree with him on certain points of theology but could sing his song or read his book with Biblical understanding nonetheless.
Yes Andrew, esp to your last point, and I think we do have to have levels of agreement & disagreement in mind. So Eric’s right, I wouldn’t want Spong using my stuff either. But if I’m a Calvinist & write a song about God’s sovereignty, I’m OK with an Arminian believer singing it, even though we have different ideas about exactly how God’s sovereignty pans out.
Jake
I’m not sure this is really a “should” question. I would think either can be done, and both probably are done.
I think author intention matters the most when we are enjoying art for what it is, but when we introduce a more specific agenda or practical use for it, then we care less about author intention. Abraham, you say that in most other genres it matters, but what about if someone uses a passage in a sermon? Often they use it to make the point they are trying to make, regardless of whether it’s being yanked out of context and twisted around to do so.
Or we could just sing about the glorious Lord Jesus, and let the Holy Spirit speak in ways that, quite possibly, the author never dreamed.
Or is this just too simple?
It seems to me that as soon as an author uses scripture in a song, the authority of that passage trumps whatever he intended to do with it. Which means that the author could have intended something incorrect, a misinterpretation, but accidentally written something wonderful OR he could have intended something wonderful and been a hack with his use of Scripture. I think the use of scripture stands alone because the author has brought in a higher authority than his own intentions as soon as he uses God’s word, and God had an intention for how those word should be interpreted.
Brandon, I don’t think that’s too simple at all. That’s what I’d be inclined to say. I just know that a lot of people are diehards for revering the author’s intention. I want to know from these folks whether they make an exception for worship music.
Jason, I think when it comes to the Bible—especially when preaching—the author’s intention is paramount, because God is the author. What the human author was thinking is also important since God was working through him.
I think we’d both agree that a passage pulled out of its context to fit an agenda is being misused.
All preaching should both use the Bible and have an agenda, but we should strive like crazy for our agenda to align with the meaning in the text we are preaching.
In regards to selecting songs for corporate worship, I usually try to think of the various ways people in the congregation might take the words. If something seems overly problematic I either do not use it, or provide a context for it. For example I won’t use “above all” because the major lyrical payoff in that song seems like such an error. “Took the fall and thought of me, above all” thought of me I can live with, but above all, that is tough to swallow.
As to what the author meant… good luck with that. Hopefully the words are clear enough to get the their meaning. The hermeneutics of authorial intent is discussed well in ‘Validity in Interpretation” by Hirsch, for one.
“Good luck with that” indeed! That’s how I feel, too, which is partly why I’m not really that curious what a songwriter meant if the lyrics seem biblical to me.
But wouldn’t Hirsch say that we do need to try to get at what the author is intending? (I’ve only read part of his book.)
Aber,
Hirsch would say yes, we can know what an author intended. Indeed, its the foundational principal. If we can’t, especially in re scripture, then people will take any and every meaning possible out of the text and… oh, yeah, that is what happens, nevermind.
As to songwriting and interpreting lyrics, it seems to me an attitude of nebulous interpretation of meaning is entirely acceptable and even encouraged by some popular songwriters (not just in Christian songs). I think metaphor and imagery in song, rather than illuminating a specific “truth” or “idea”, is often intentionally vague. Why this is, I’m not sure. Byt to emulate that for worship music seems not greatest way to go. Clarity for corporate singing seems to be a basic goal.
The reason we care so much about the author’s intent in secular songs is because the lyrics are based on personal experiences. Those songs have to rely on the interpretation of the author since they don’t really draw truth from anywhere else. The same concept holds true for most contemporary Christian songs that are not based on specific scripture texts.
I think, when a worship song is scripturally based, the intent of the author really doesn’t matter. The intent of the Author supercedes that of the song writer.
Abraham,
This is a really interesting question that has got me thinking. As a songwriter, I would hope that the intent of my songs is generally very clear, and that this question doesn’t need to be asked in the first place.
In Sovereign Grace Music, one of the things we always stress is clear, sound doctrine. Not that it always happens that way, but that’s the goal. So my hope as a songwriter would be that this question would never even come up when someone is singing my song. I’m reformed in my theology, and I want that to be very clear when I write a song. I don’t want someone to rejoice that they chose God when they sing a song, I want them to glory in the sovereign grace of God.
Good question.
Interesting topic and great comments!
On the other side of the fence, I think that songwriters need to realize that when we make a song public, there is a sense in which it doesn’t fully “belong” to us anymore. Yes, we can control the copyright, but we are giving it to the world, for people to enjoy, sing along, learn from it, be encouraged by it, etc. And, since we can’t very well sit with every person who hears the song and tell them exactly what we meant, we need to realize that they will bring their own experiences and thought processes to the table. And this is one reason some writers, such as Dylan, don’t even like to tell people what their songs “mean.”
As some have pointed out, the difference with worship writers is that if we bathe our songs in God’s Word, then we’re shaping the songs in objective truth rather than just our subjective experiences. If our songs conform with the truth of scripture, and then the listener chooses to interpret it in another way, they are obviously in error — not because they have dared misinterpret our scribblings, but because we have been faithful to represent the God of the Bible.
Abraham,
First, let me say I think your site is outstanding. One of the few blogs I really look forward to reading. Partly due to the length, but also to your insights. On Resurrection Sunday, I read your post about your daughter to my family at lunchtime. Very moving.
Thanks for bringing this topic up. Some excellent comments. Seems like people are generally going to interpret songs however they want, regardless of the original Scriptural context. So it falls on those who write and choose songs to use lyrics that are as biblically clear as possible so that the potential for misunderstanding is minimized.
One obvious area is the purpose of the cross. I don’t want to leave it up to an individual’s personal interpretation. If people don’t understand from the songs I write or sing WHY Jesus died, it’s time for a new repertoire.
Surely what is of supreme importance is the intention of the singer?
In Acts 17:28, Paul quotes Aratus. Who was talking about Zeus. And in applying it to God, he butchers authorial intention: he completely disregards the context in which the author was talking about a pagan deity as he redeems it and uses it to describe the living God.
If we were likewise to take, for example, one of the greatest modern worship songs: (Everything I do) I do it for you by Bryan Adams. “There’s no love like your love; And no other could give more love; There’s nowhere unless you’re there; All the time, all the way.” Hearing that, a Christian will naturally think of Christ – how does it matter that the author didn’t?
I’d probably add two things:
1) We don’t want to be supporting dodgy ministries (i.e. health and wealth types) because by playing their songs we can make Church members think their music/literature is worth their time and we are also funding their ministries (if it isn’t public domain). Its often worth thinking “Would I mind if the congregation listened to most of the songs these people wrote?”
2) Some songs won’t offend either anyone because they don’t really say anything. For example of I Could Sing of Your Love Forever. It doesn’t really say anything, good or bad. With such songs my thought is just don’t sing them, you can get get songs which say much more of worth, which I’m sure everyone would find more helpful.
I believe that the song will reflect whatever it is the writer is trying to portray. So in the debate over what means more, the writer’s words or the inspiration behind it, it is one in the same.
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