Anthropology, Theology, and the Simplicity of Benedict XVI's Chant

Zon, Bennett

Abstract

FOR A LATE-VICTORIAN THEOLOGIAN like John Harrington Edwards music is by its very nature sacred. Writing in God and Music (1903) he claims that “music … speaks of God, from God, for God, and to God.” Other Victorians considered music to be neither sacred nor secular. For them music existed only to serve the basic human need of expression. Evolutionist Herbert Spencer epitomizes this materialist view when he suggests that the function of music lies entirely within the human mind, to help develop its “language of the emotions.” Chant was often caught in this ideological crossfire. For anthropological thinkers like Spencer chant was primitive and utilitarian; for theologians like Harrington it was developed and spiritual. For both of them, however, chant was also “simple.” For theologians chant encapsulated divine simplicity; for anthropologists, human simplicity.

Citation

Zon, B. (2016). Anthropology, Theology, and the Simplicity of Benedict XVI's Chant. Logos: A Journal of Catholic Thought and Culture, 19(1), 15-40. https://doi.org/10.1353/log.2016.0004

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 26, 2016
• Online Publication Date: Dec 1, 2016
• Publication Date: Dec 1, 2016
• Deposit Date: Apr 26, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 26, 2016
• Journal: Logos: A Journal of Catholic Thought and Culture
• Print ISSN: 1091-6687
• Electronic ISSN: 1533-791X
• Publisher: Philosophy Documentation Center
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 19
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 15-40
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/log.2016.0004
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1383511