Developing a Christian Philosophy of Music, by Dick Grout

Abstract

In 2023, Professor Dick Grout made public his locally published textbook, Developing a Christian Philosophy of Music. Grout originally wrote this to be a resource for classes that he and others were teaching in Upstate NY, and eventually published it in order to make it accessible to more people nationwide. In this book, he covers a wide range of topics involved with Christian music, from Copyright Law, to the debate regarding using older songs vs new songs, even down to the question, “what makes Christian music ‘Christian?’” Is it the lyrics, the composer, the performer, or something else? This book provides a new look at and fresh insight into topics that might be familiar to those in the realms of worship, music, culture, and their intersection.