Joyce L. Irwin – författare

Whether music's appeal to the senses detracts from or contributes to devotion is an important question for all religious traditions. This interdisciplinary, cross-cultural collection is intended as a first step towards a phenomenology of religious music. Topics range from the mystical strain in Jewish liturgical music to music in the Theravada Buddhist heritage. Contributors include Lois Ibsen al Faruqi, Bruce B. Lawrence, John Ross Carter, and Donna Marie Wulff.

In tracing theological approaches to music in the era between Luther and Bach, the author reveals the variety and tension in German Lutheran theology. Both dogmatism and devotionalism helped shape Lutheran spirituality. The introduction of Italian Baroque style into church music, however, evoked controversies which pitted Pietism against Orthodoxy and preachers against musicians.