Torch, Summer 1981

H c one iblica ( by Dr. David L lats >n artin Luther wrote, "I am strongly persuaded that after theology there is no art that can be placed on a level with music; for besides theology, music is the only art capable of affording peace and joy in the heart ... the devil flees before the sound of music almost as much as before the Word of God." While the strongest impact on church music should be Biblical theology, a careful consideration of the present state of church music might rather lead us to i(lerati<>n agree with Dr. Oswald J. Smith's observation that "the world is becoming so churchy and the church is becoming so worldly, you scarcely can tell the difference between the two." E. Margaret Clarkson also notes: "So little difference now exists between the music of the church and the world that it is not uncommon to find public dance floors throbbing to the measures of current gospel songs (and) conversely, much of our present-day gospel music, while sung to