We face today the most alarming situation in the field of music that has ever existed in our world. That which the Creator intended to be a source of spiritual strength and a constant stimulant to better living in preparation for the future land of joy and song, is too often taken over by another power, with devastating results.
There was a time when it was possible to choose and control our listening, but much of that freedom is denied us today as the flood of debasing music pours in through doors and windows, pervades stores, parks, and automobiles, and has become the popular medium of advertising. Radio and television are so saturated with it that one cannot listen to even a news broadcast without its downward pull being forced upon one. Can it be that this constant bombardment is softening the resistance of God's people to this evil?
The blueprint of Christian education has not been changed. We are not left helpless in this overwhelming flood of evil. The lifting, inspiring, soul-stirring, spiritual power of the music of God's plan is more wonderful than ever. Such music "has wonderful power. It has power to subdue rude and uncultivated natures; power to quicken thought and to awaken sympathy, to promote harmony of action, and to banish the gloom and foreboding that destroy courage and weaken effort. It is one of the most effective means of impressing the heart with spiritual truth."
Compare these impressive accomplishments with the equally powerful debasing results of exposure to Satan's counterfeit in music. We must study and pray that our senses may be attuned to the heavenly influences and that the insidious downward pull of this flood of evil about us shall not engulf us. Ignorance will not be accepted as a legitimate excuse for failure to sense the difference.
The answer to the problem, at least in party is found in the modern schools of the prophets. Their predecessors were established by divine instruction under the theocracy "to serve as a barrier against the wide-spreading corruption, to provide for the mental and spiritual welfare of the youth, and to promote the prosperity of the nation by furnishing it with men qualified to act in the fear of God as leaders and counselors." 2 (Italics supplied.) The course of study provided for this "pious, intelligent, and studious" student body was geared to the needs of the field, offered few electives, and included sacred music as one of the four major subjects. "And the Spirit of God was manifested in prophecy and sacred song."
And so it is today that the same divine hand has guided in the establishment of "schools of the prophets" to meet this acute need. The growing music department of the Seminary offers courses carefully planned to provide the specialized training needed for our denominational work. Its offerings are being increased as the needs become evident and the enrollment increases.
Courses are now available in Church Music, Hymnology, Conducting, Women's and Men's Choirs, Voice Culture, and Musicianship. High-fidelity recorders are provided and a fine library of music literature is being assembled, to encourage further interest in the appreciation of good music. Other courses will be offered in music theory, including Musical Acoustics. This is a field with which the modern minister needs to be familiar.
The hour is late. The remaining allotment of time to carry out our assignments for God is very limited. We must make every moment and every opportunity count for eternity. The Spirit of God must be manifested in our music.
Amidst the deepening shadows of earth's last great crisis, God's light will shine brightest, and the song of hope and trust will be heard in clearest and loftiest strains.5
REFERENCES
1 Ibid., p. 47.
2 Ibid., p. 166.
[Professor Greer has just recently connected with the Music Department of Pacific Union College.]
