Question 153, from Ian, United Kingdom

In his new song ‘Bodies’ Robbie Williams sings about Jesus and that “Jesus didn’t die for you.” What should Christians make of the song?

The interplay between Christianity and music is always interesting, with Jesus himself being increasingly mentioned by popular recording artists, in addition to Christian imagery and language like ‘Hallelujah’. In many ways, ‘Bodies’ does appear to be just another song using Christian images in its lyrics, but what Robbie Williams is saying about Jesus is worth analysing as Christians could use his statements as an interesting starting point in discussions about faith.
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Question 106 – from LM, USA

Where in the bible is Lucifer referred to the angel of Music?

There is no Biblical reference to Lucifer as the ‘angel of music’. Other articles on freelance theology have covered the development of various beliefs about the devil, although the origin of this particular idea seems to be obscure.

Certainly the popular idea that Lucifer was a prominent angel in the heavenly court, who then rebelled and was cast out of Heaven, has been embellished over the centuries. It is certainly possible that one of these additions to the basic story is that Lucifer was the director of music. This could be because of the many Biblical references to angels singing worship to God. In Job chapter 38, verse 7 the ‘morning stars’ or are identified with ‘sons of God (often translated as ‘angels’).

‘Lucifer’ is actually the Latin for ‘lightbringer’ and was a word used for Venus, the Morning Star, which often shone out shortly before dawn. When Isaiah ironically used the Hebrew term ‘daystar’ to describe the ambitious King of Babylon in Isaiah chapter 14, this was then translated as ‘Lucifer’ in the Latin translation of the Bible (the Vulgate). There has been a long history of associating Isaiah’s ‘Lucifer’, who is ‘cast down from heaven’, with Satan’s ‘fall from Heaven’ that Jesus claimed to have seen in Luke chapter 10, verse 18. If the singing angels in Job are all ‘morning stars’ it follows that Satan/Lucifer is the morning star, i.e. the leader.

The stories that have grown around the troubling character of Satan in Christian theology are varied and complex. While there are many who would still adhere to a belief in a literal personal being called Satan, this mythological belief system has been heavily criticised for lacking a Biblical basis. It’s popularity owes more to the pre-modern superstitious world that Christianity grew up in and eventually outgrew.

It is interesting though that Satan’s involvement with music is also ingrained in popular culture. The devil is said to ‘have all the best tunes’, although this comment can actually be traced to the founder of the Salvation Army, William Booth, who firmly believed in appropriating the ‘devil’s tunes’ and setting Christian evangelistic hymns to them. Of course, it would be facetious to add that anyone who really believes that the devil has the best tunes only needs to listen to some ‘death metal’ to be disabused of that notion fairly quickly!

Thanks for your question, LM.

Question from TR, USA

I listen to a lot of metal and hardcore music. I’m in a metal band with a couple of my friends. They aren’t the most religious people in the world, but they’re decent people. They don’t drink, smoke, or do drugs. I’m an all around music guy. I’ve been playing piano for 10 years now, I love classical music, and I love jazz etc. I’ve been singing at church since I was 8. But I would like to ask, is it ok for me to play metal? Is there anything saying that listening to metal with a bad message is a sin or whatever? Since my lead singer in the band isn’t very religious he doesn’t care as much about writing lyrics that may be a little edgy. But since I am not writing that, does that make me a bad person? I love playing metal, and I enjoy playing shows and I do not want to quit the band that I’ve developed a personal relationship with. Does God care since I am basically a very good person on the inside? There’s a quote by St. Paul saying something along the lines of “Whether you drink or whether you eat, whatever you do, do it for God’s glory.” I’m not necessarily doing that with metal, but I’m not going to let my singer say “God is bad Satan 666” or whatever the stereotypical thing is. So what I am asking is if you would give me something close to a general Christian standpoint on metal music etc. Please help me out, as you see I am very concerned.

There are of course many Christians with very firm opinions that metal (or any rock or pop music) is Satanic in influence and will place the listener’s soul in mortal danger. However, it should be pointed out that many of the scare stories perpetuated in contemporary Christian culture, including ‘backmasked’ Satanist messages hidden on records, or that rock and roll borrows rhythms from pagan or animist religions, are little more than urban legends. Often it appears that personal preference for particular types of music leads to certain sounds being labelled as ‘Satanic’.

However, there are genuine reasons for Christians to be concerned about some of the imagery and language used in modern music, not just metal. Sexual immorality, violence and nihilism are present in most types of music. Listening to these sentiments seems to go against the instruction of the apostle Paul to the Philippians that: “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about these things.” (Philippians chapter 4, verse

However, it is still possible to admire the instrumentalist’s skill, lyrical deftness, or the overall musical ability of musicians who would not define themselves as Christian. Music itself is a neutral thing; the only way it is morally ‘bad’ is if it is used to convey negative emotions. In that way ‘music’ becomes the means by which sin is promoted and transmitted, but only because it has been ‘charged’ that way by the musician. In itself it is not inherently evil.

In this situation, however, being part of a group that is promoting a particular world-view does make a Christian accountable. One of the main thrusts of Christianity is that it insists that human beings are responsible for their actions. So by being a member of an ‘edgy’ metal band there is in some sense a shared responsibility for that ‘edginess’ regardless of how involved a member is in the songwriting process. It is perfectly possible that any unease felt by a Christian in that situation was the prompting of the Holy Spirit, activating their conscience about their involvement.

However, Christians are called to live as ‘salt and light’ in the world (see Matthew chapter 5, verses 13-16), with the idea that like salt they are spread throughout the world to bring flavour, cleansing or healing. (Salt in New Testament times was frequently used for medicinal and cleansing purposes, as well as for preserving and flavouring food.) There is no doubt that being friends with non-Christian metallers may be challenging for Christians, but it does provide an opportunity for reaching a hard-to-reach sub-culture with the good news of Jesus Christ. Living out faith in such a circle of friends may cause tension, but it may also provide the perfect arena for a Christian to glorify God through a positive use of musical giftings.

Thanks for your question TR.