Theodore W. Burgh – författare

Music is an essential component of all cultures. It conveys instruction, expresses emotion, and is used for teaching and recreational purposes. Without a doubt, music functioned in these capacities in ancient Israel. Although scholars rarely discuss the role of music in Israel's history and culture, recent studies have demonstrated that understanding Israel's music greatly contributes to our knowledge of the culture of ancient Israel/Palestine. "Listening to Artifacts" examines the use of music and musical instruments in the ancient Israel and Palestine. By taking a close look at some of the enigmatic and under-researched subjects of ancient music, Burgh discusses ways in which the study of music can help us understand daily life in ancient Israel better. Presently, the available collection of musical artifacts from Israel/Palestine dates from 10,000 BCE-4th century CE and numbers over 300 items. While focusing on Iron Age Israel/Palestine (1200-586 BCE), "Listening to Artifacts" uses many of these artifacts, which come from various regions, and draws on examples from surrounding Near Eastern cultures.Burgh uses plaque figurines, figurines in the round, and instrumental remains as well as line drawings of musical activity found on ceramic vessels and walls of buildings to examine music in the ancient Near East. Burgh takes the available musical data and explores how, where, and why music played a part in the lives of those living in ancient Israel/Palestine. His book clearly demonstrates that for the people of this region and time music was an organic, evolving mode of communication that often reflected how they understood life and navigated the world around them. "Listening to Artifacts" suggests that we listen closely and unassumingly to the artifacts and texts in order to hear what they may tell us about past lifeways.

Black music is a powerful art form. Artists’ creations often go where words cannot. The music is special—sacred. However, it’s still frequently shoehorned into the ambiguous categories of secular and sacred. Is God Funky or What?: Black Biblical Culture and Contemporary Popular Music complicates the traditional categories of sacred and secular by exposing religious rhetoric and contexts of contemporary popular black music and by revealing the religious-based biblical references and spirituality that form the true cultural context from which these genres emerge. The personal beliefs of black music artists often include, if not revolve around, the heavens. How come we are bombarded by the "thank Gods" in televised award shows, liner notes, or interviews for songs by musicians that some millennials might call "ratchet?" Is God Funky or What? shares anecdotes probing connections between specific forms of popular black music and religion. The qualifications of sacred and secular typically depend on context, lyrics, location, and audience (age, race, religion). Through a woven narrative of lyrics, godly acknowledgments, recorded and original interviews, biographies, and recordings from various genres of black music, this book explores how artists have intertwined views of God, perspectives regarding a higher power, spirituality, and religion in creating their music. Their creations make up an organic corpus called the Artistic Black Canon (ABC). Using the ABC, this book shares and explores its remarkable interpretations and ideas about life, music, spirituality, and religion. Is God Funky or What? also shares how we can better make use of this music in the classroom, as well as better understand how essential it is to the lives of many.