Philpott !

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Kelly Philpott
Cosmin Ritivoiu
English 102
18 March 2015
Christian Rock n Roll Is Not Really Christian
There have been many who have questioned over the years as to what kinds of music are
fitting and proper for Adventist Christians to listen to. Various people have different notions and
opinions about music. Some take the philosophy of anything goes while other strictly stick to
hymns out of their churchs hymn book. As Adventist Christians, it is ones duty to determine
through prayer and study what kind of music would please God. The only music that Adventists
should be listening to is that which is pleasing to the One whom they profess to love, praise and
worship through their music. The beat of Christian rock n roll music itself sends messages of
sex, violence and rebellion to the listener, therefore, Adventists should not have anything to do
with that kind of music because it will shape their character according to those messages.
Before one can discuss the issue of what kinds of music are pleasing and honorable to
God, they must come to an understanding of His character. If one does not know what His
character is like, they will not be able to know what He would have them listen to as Adventist
Christians. If one wants to know what kinds of things God likes, the most obvious place to look
would be His Word, the Bible. The Bible says the following in Exodus 34:6, 7a: And the Lord
passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious,
longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving
iniquity and transgression and sin (King James Bible, Ex. 34:6,7a). From this verse, one can

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glean four main characteristics of Gods character: mercy, graciousness, patience (longsuffering)
and an abundance of goodness and truth.
Every Adventist Christian knows that God wants each of His children to reach the point
at which they walk so closely with Christ that their character reflects His perfect character.
Therefore, God gives His children counsel in the Bible regarding character and what they should
spend their time pondering. One verse in the Bible that is an example of this is Philippians 4:8. It
reads as follows: Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest,
whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever
things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these
things (King James Bible, Phil. 4:8). From this verse one can find many insights into not only
what Gods character is like, but it also gives people insights into what they should spend their
time dwelling or thinking on. There are six specific characteristics that this particular verse
mentions which will determine what things are acceptable for Adventists to engage in as far as
music goes and anything else, for that matter. The six characteristics are as follows: truthfulness,
honesty, uprightness (justice), purity, loveliness, being of a good report, virtuous and
praiseworthy (commendable).
After one has come to a general understanding of Gods character, they will be able to
distinguish what kinds of music are fitting and proper to listen to as an Adventist. However, in
the determining process, one must look at several different aspects of music. For one thing, there
are many different genres which are categories of artistic, musical, or literary composition
characterized by a particular style, form, or content of music (genre). Each genre has something
that is specifically and perhaps fundamentally different from the others. For example, there are

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many differences between the genres of rock and classical music. A few of the differences are
the types of instruments used to play each kind of music. For classical music it is very typical to
see stringed instruments and woodwinds, although there are others, while for rock music one
would find an abundance of drums and guitars. Another difference between them is the fact that
the emphasized beat in rock music lands on beats two and four while in classical music it does
not (Sharp 243).
Along with every genre of music, there are specific connotations or meanings that every
culture associates with them. The connotations associated with each genre and piece are seen and
felt the same universally. The fact that music elicits the same thoughts and feelings among all
peoples of the earth is a key factor, especially for music and movie artists. Its importance can be
clearly seen in the hollywood industry. For example, if hollywood wanted a particular part of a
movie to evoke sad feelings from the audience, they would not only show a sad scene but also
play a piece of music in a minor key (Powell). If they wanted people to feel a sense of happiness
or joy at a particular spot, they would play along with the scene, a piece of music in a major key
(Powell) in order to evoke those types of feelings in the listener. If connotations or meanings
associated with music were not understood or felt the same way all around the world, hollywood
would not be able to make nearly the same amount of money that it does today because it would
take much more time and effort to make other versions of a particular movie in order for it to be
appreciated in the same way by different national and ethnic groups of people.
Doctor Howard Hansen agrees in the following quote that there are connotations
associated with music which can be for bad or for good:

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Music is a curiously subtle art with innumerable, varying emotional connotations.
It is made up of many ingredients and, according to the proportions of these
components, it can be soothing or invigorating, ennobling or vulgarizing,
philosophical or orgiastic. It has powers for evil, as well as for good. If we are to
use it as a social or therapeutic force, the first essential is that we find out
something about it. (Hanson)
What Dr. Howard Hansen is saying here, is that the emotions that a piece of music evokes from a
person depends on the proportions of the different components of music. Therefore even though
there are variations among genres, there may be a specific feeling that is evoked that may be seen
among all pieces in a genre.
It is apparent that there are connotations or meanings associated with all types of music,
so that is not in question any more, but if one would like to know whether Christian rock is
fitting and proper for an Adventist Christian to listen to, they must first study into the
connotations associated with rock music, since that is the forerunner to Christian rock music.
Once that is clear in ones mind they will be ready to take a in-depth look into Christian rock
music and the specific messages that it sends to those who listen to it.
It is important when researching something to look into what the founders, builders and
others that have been directly involved in it say or have said about it. Since they made it or have
been immersed in it they should know the most about it, and be able to share with others the
valuable information that they are looking for. Richard Penniman, more commonly known as
Little Richard, who claims to be the architect of rock and roll (The Rock) music, states his

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belief about rock n roll in the book written about him called: The Life and times of Little
Richard: The Quasar of Rock:
My true belief about Rock n Rolland there have been a lot of phrases
attributed to me over the yearsis this: I believe this kind of music is demonic. I
have seen the rock groups and the punk-rock people in this country. And some of
their lyrics is demonic. They talk against God. A lot of the beats in music today
are taken from voodoo, from the voodoo drums. If you study music in rhythms
like I have youll see that is true (White 197)
In this quote, Little Richard is saying that there are definitely messages in rock n roll lyrics. In
Little Richards type of rock n roll, the worldly rock n roll, the message that the lyrics are
sending to the listeners is, as Little Richard puts it, demonic and talks against God. However, not
only does he say the lyrics are bad, but he also talks about the beat in rock n roll music. He
states that the beats in a lot of rock n roll music come from voodoo and the voodoo drums. This
implies that the music itself, irregardless of the lyrics, may be sending significant messages to
the listener.
Indeed some have said this about music. Timothy Leary a New Age guru and promoter
of LSD (Cloud 24) once said the following: Dont listen to the words, its the music that has its
own message. ... Ive been stoned on the music many times (qtd. in Cloud 24). If what Timothy
Leary said is truethat the music itself sends messages to those who listen to itthen it is
important that one knows what kinds of messages it is sending if they would only listen to those
things that are pleasing to God.

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Not only do people in the industry such as Little Richard say that the music has it own
message, but studies have been conducted on the subject. St. Lawrence and Joyner (1991)
decided to test whether or not sexually violent heavy metal music would increase acceptance of
gender-role stereotypes and sexually violent behavior. In order to test this they took several
groups of undergraduate males and had them listen to one of three types of music: sexually
violent heavy metal rock, Christian heavy metal rock or easy-listening classical music.
A month before and immediately after listening, the students answered a
questionnaire measuring gender-role stereotyping, adversarial sexual beliefs,
acceptance of interpersonal violence, rape myth acceptance (the idea that women
invite and/or enjoy rape), and self-reported sexual arousal. The somewhat
surprising result was that it did not matter whether participants heard sexually
violent heavy metal or Christian heavy metal. Relative to classical music,
exposure to either type of music produced more negative attitudes toward women.
In other words, the lyrics did not make a difference, but the heavy metal musical
form did.the larger issue may be that the sound of the music carries a great deal
of information independent of lyrical content (Roberts, Christenson, Gentile 163).
By the end of the study it was evident that the music itself does carry a message. What is more
than that is the fact that it did not make a difference whether it was sexually violent heavy metal
or Christian heavy metal. It seems as though Christian lyrics do not alter the message of the
music after all.
There have been many individuals who have been deeply involved in the rock n roll
industry who have come out and clearly stated what it is really about. Little Richard is one of

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those individuals who has shared his personal experience with the public. He talks about what his
rock n roll career led him into in the following statement: I had forgotten all about God
going from town to town, city to city, and from country to country, not knowing that I was
directed and commanded by another power. The power of darkness. The power that youve heard
so much about. The power that a lot of people don't believe exists. The power of the Devil.
Satan (White 205, 206). In this statement Little Richard is saying that his involvement in the
rock n roll industry caused him not only to forget God, but also to be commanded and
controlled by the devil, Satan.
Now that one knows music sends messages regardless of what the lyrics are actually
saying, it is important to find out what the messages are. Irwin Sibler, a former music journalist
and editor of the Sing Out! magazine, once said the following about rock music: The great
strength of rock n roll lies in its beat it is a music which is basically sexual, un-Puritan
and a threat to established patterns and values (qtd. in Cloud The Character). Similarly, Paul
Stanley, an american hard rock artist and frontman of the rock band Kiss once said:Rock n roll
is sex. Real rock n roll isnt based on cerebral thoughts. Its based on ones lower nature (qtd.
in Cloud The Character). John Mellencamp, an american rock n roll artist said: Sex, violence,
rebellionits all part of rock n roll. (qtd. in Cloud The Character) What Irwin Sibler, Paul
Stanley and John Mellencamp are saying here is that the rock beat appeals to immorality and
humankinds lower nature which is not something that Adventist Christians should be apart of.
However, not only does rock n roll appeal to immorality but also promotes violence and
rebellion.

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Adventists do not condemn sexual activity, however, it is something that should only
occur between a man and his wife. Adventists do not believe in premarital sex, because the Bible
condemns it, and if a piece of music is sending messages of intemperance in this area it should
not be listened to. Rock n roll music promotes a philosophy that can be seen in the words of
Jimmy Hendrix: When I die, I want people to just play my music, go wild and freak out, do
anything they want to do (Wegman) which does not promote temperance in any respect
especially in this area. The Bible condemns all types of sexual intercourse which are not between
a man and his wife. Ekkehardt Mueller, of the Biblical Research Institute, puts it this way: God
has given humanity the gift of marriage including sexual intimacy. This gift of true love needs to
be treasured, kept pure, and protected against abuse (Mueller). In other words, it is a gift from
God and people need to be guarded against using Gods gifts in an intemperate way.
Many Christians who believe that secular rock n roll is bad because it promotes
rebellion and intemperance have wondered, if it is ok for Christians to listen to it if the words are
changed to Christian lyrics. In the book entitled CCM (Christian Contemporary Music) Presents
100 greatest songs in Christian Music, It quotes part of what is known as The Christian
Rockers Creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all music was created equalthat
no instrument or style of music is in itself evilthat the diversity of musical expression which
flows forth from man is but one evidence of the boundless creativity of our heavenly
father (Taff, Farris et al 17,18). Indeed many do believe that the lyrics is all that matters when it
comes to music choices, however, the previous quotes by Sibler, Stanley and Mellencamp said
that the beat and music itself sends messages of immorality to the listener. Steven Tyler, an
American rock artist and the lead singer for the rock band Aerosmith said the following: Rock

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n roll is synonymous with sex and you cant take that away from it. It just doesnt work (qtd.
in Cloud The Character). Essentially what Tyler is saying is that the immorality that rock n roll
promotes is not able to be separated from the music because that is what the music itself is
saying to the audience. Putting Christian lyrics to something that is shouting out messages of sex,
violence and rebellion just does not work.
Little Richard, in the following statement, agrees with the fact that one cannot mix rock
n roll with Gods messages: You cant drink out of Gods cup and the Devils cup at the same
time. Rock n Roll doesn't glorify God. I was one of the pioneers of that music, one of the
builders. I know what the blocks are made of because I built them! (Baker). What Little Richard
is saying here is that the rock n roll music itself is of the Devil, therefore one cannot take Gods
words and put them to rock music because Gods philosophy and the Devils philosophy cannot
be mixed. The Bible says something similar in Matthew 6:24 where it says: No man can serve
two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one,
and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon (King James Bible, Matt. 6:24) What
the Bible is saying here is that nobody can serve God and the Devil at the same time. Therefore,
Adventists should not take part in rock n roll music because it is not of God nor does it glorify
Him.
Studies show that not only does rock n roll music send out these messages to its
listeners, but it also can have drug-like affects on those who listen to it. One study was done by
researchers at McGill University in Montreal with the purpose of finding out whether dopamine
plays a part in the enjoyment that one feels when listening to music. In this study the researchers
had individuals listen to a neutral piece of music as well as some favorite musical selections

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that they had been asked to bring themselves. While they were listening to the different musical
selections, the researchers monitored several different physical responses in the participants
which included heart rates, breathing rates and body temperature. The researchers also had the
participants press a button every time they felt the chills. The researchers found the following:
Now neurologists report that this human response to music [the chills]involves dopamine, the
same chemical in the brain that is associated with the intense pleasure people get from more
tangible rewards such as food or addictive drugs (Brown) It appears from this piece of research,
that music can have drug-like affects on those who listen to it because it causes a dopamine
release to occur within the human body. This study serves to show that music is a very powerful
tool. Because music is such a powerful tool one should be careful not only in the ways that they
use it, but also how much they use it.
In his book Proof Positive, Dr. Neil Nedley agrees that music is a powerful tool that can
be used for good or for bad. He quotes the following statement in the chapter called The Frontal
Lobe. This quote seems to be a paraphrase of a summary of what Aristotle wrote in the book
Politics Book 8 Sections 5 and 6:
Music directly represents the passions or states of the soulgentleness, anger,
courage, temperance, and their opposites and other qualities; hence, when one
listens to music that imitates a certain passion he becomes imbued with the same
passion; and if over a long time he habitually listens to the kind of music that
rouses ignoble [degraded or vulgar] passions his whole character will be shaped to
an ignoble form. In short, if one listens to the wrong kind of music he will become

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the wrong kind of person; but, conversely, if he listens to the right kind of music
he will tend to become the right kind of person. (qtd. in Nedley 289)
Aristotle seems to be echoing the familiar principle found in the Bible: by beholding we
become changed. Basically he is saying here that the music one listens towhether good or bad
will cause their character to be shaped into that same form. Therefore, if Adventists want their
characters to be shaped into the same image as Christs, they must not be listening to music that
is debasing to the character even if it is labeled as Christian.

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Works Cited
Baker, Paul. "Spiritual Performers." Billboard 2 Oct. 1982: n. pag. Web.
Brown, Eryn. "Music Really Is like a Drug, Researchers Say." Los Angeles Times 09 Jan. 2011:
n. pag. Print.
Cloud, David. "The Character and Philosophy of Rock Music." Way of Life RSS. Way of Life
Literature, 09 Dec. 2014. Web. 24 Apr. 2015.
Cloud, David. The God of End Time Mysticism. Port Huron: Way of Life Literature, 2012. Way of
Life Literature. Web. 21 Apr. 2015.
genre. Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, 2011.Web. 21 April 2015
Hanson, Dr.Howard. "A Musicians Point of View Toward Emotional Expression." American
Journal of Psychiatry 99.3 (n.d.): n. pag. Print.
King James Version Bible. S.l.: Thomas Nelson, n.d. Print.
Mueller, Ekkehardt. "The Gift of Sexuality." (2012): n. pag. July 2012. Web. 5 May 2015.
Nedley, Neil, and David DeRose. Proof Positive: How to Reliably Combat Disease and Achieve
Optimal Health through Nutrition and Lifestyle. Ardmore, Okla: Author, 1999. Print
Powell, John. How Music Works The Science and Psychology of Beautiful Sounds, From
Beethoven to the Beatles and Beyond. N.p.: Little, Brown and Hachette Book Group,
2010. Print.
Roberts, Donald F., Peter G. Christenson, and Douglas A. Gentile. "The effects of violent music
on children and adolescents." Media violence and children (2003): 153-170.
Sharp, Duke. Garage Band Theory. N.p.: Cowboy Heaven, 2014. Print

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Taff, Tori and Christa Farris. CCM Top 100 Greatest Songs in Christian Music. Nashville:
Integrity, 2006. Print.
"The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame + Museum." Little Richard: Inducted in 1986. N.p., n.d. Web.
24 Apr. 2015.
Wegman, Jesse. "The Story Behind 'Purple Haze'" NPR. NPR, n.d. Web. 07 May 2015.
White, Charles. The Life and times of Little Richard: The Quasar of Rock. New York: Harmony,
1984. Print.