Music and Spirituality: Theological Approaches, Empirical Methods, and Christian Worship - cover image

Copyright

George Corbett; Sarah Moerman. Copyright of individual chapters are maintained by the chapter author(s).

Published On

2024-06-28

ISBN

Paperback978-1-80511-302-7
Hardback978-1-80511-303-4
PDF978-1-80511-304-1
HTML978-1-80511-307-2
EPUB978-1-80511-305-8

Language

  • English

Print Length

478 pages (xiv+464)

Dimensions

Paperback156 x 34 x 234 mm(6.14" x 1.34" x 9.21")
Hardback156 x 37 x 234 mm(6.14" x 1.46" x 9.21")

Weight

Paperback900g (31.75oz)
Hardback1084g (38.24oz)

Media

Illustrations18
Tables2

Funding

OCLC Number

1443868876

THEMA

  • AVLK
  • AVLA
  • AVA
  • QRVJ1

BIC

  • AVA
  • AVGD
  • HRCR

BISAC

  • MUS048000
  • MUS048010
  • REL055000

Keywords

  • Spiritual
  • Western culture
  • Christianity
  • Musicology
  • Ethnomusicology
  • Neuroscience

Music and Spirituality

Theological Approaches, Empirical Methods, and Christian Worship

The composer Sir James MacMillan has often referred to music as ‘the most spiritual of the arts’, and for many people, regardless of religious affiliation, this rings true. In listening to music, we are drawn to dimensions of human experience beyond the material. This collection brings together leading scholars from various disciplines – including Christian theology, musicology, and psychology and neuroscience – to interrogate the intimate relationship between music and spirituality.

Organised in three parts – theological approaches, empirical methods, and Christian worship – the volume covers a vibrant array of topics. From examining how the Covid-19 pandemic has reshaped the profile of contemporary worship to investigating the spiritual effects of bodily positioning in liturgical spaces, from exploring spiritual experience through heart and breathing activity, electrodermal activity, and saliva samples to comparing the spiritual experiences of British Methodists with Welsh sporting fans, these essays attend to the lived reality of people’s perceived spiritual experiences through music.

This collection will be an invaluable resource for scholars in the growing field of Christian theology and music, and will serve as a cornerstone for future research at the intersection of theology, music, and psychology and neuroscience. It will also appeal to anyone curious about why music consistently, across cultures, occupies a unique space bridging the material and spiritual dimensions of human life.

Contents

Introduction

(pp. 1–12)
  • George Corbett
  • Sarah Moerman
  • James MacMillan
  • Michael O’Connor
  • Dilara Turan
  • Jeffers Engelhardt
  • Richard E. McGregor

Contributors

George Corbett

(editor)
Professor of Theology, School of Divinity at University of St Andrews

George Corbett is Professor of Theology at the University of St Andrews. His publications include Dante and Epicurus (2013), Dante’s Christian Ethics (2020), and, as editor, Annunciations: Sacred Music for the Twenty-First Century (2019).

Sarah Moerman

(editor)
Research Fellow in Theology and Music at University of St Andrews

Sarah Moerman is a Research Fellow in Theology and Music at the University of St Andrews. She also holds a research fellowship in social cognition from the University of Birmingham which provides psychology cross-training for theologians. Her research focuses on the various intersections between music, theology, and psychology.