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Religious Rock 'N' Roll: A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing
Book by Swaggart, Jimmy, Lamb, Robert Paul
- GenresNonfiction
188 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1987
31 people want to read
About the author
Jimmy Swaggart
234 books41 followersJimmy Lee Swaggart was an American Pentecostal televangelist, pastor, media mogul, author and gospel music artist.
Swaggart was ordained as a pastor by the Assemblies of God. He went on to become one of the most well-known televangelists in America. During the 1980s, his crusades were a major part of his ministry—drawing large crowds and receiving significant media attention. Swaggart founded Jimmy Swaggart Ministries, which owns and operates the SonLife Broadcasting Network (SBN). He also founded the Jimmy Swaggart Bible College. Swaggart was the senior pastor of the Family Worship Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Swaggart was known for scandals involving prostitutes and revolutionary groups accused of war crimes in southern Africa. One prostitution scandal gave rise to a televised February 21, 1988, speech by Swaggart known as his "I have sinned" speech. After Swaggart was defrocked by the Assemblies of God due to sexual immorality, he moved on to become a non-denominational minister.
Swaggart wrote about 50 Christian books offered through his ministry. He sold over 15 million records worldwide as a gospel artist and he also received one Grammy Awards nomination.
Swaggart was ordained as a pastor by the Assemblies of God. He went on to become one of the most well-known televangelists in America. During the 1980s, his crusades were a major part of his ministry—drawing large crowds and receiving significant media attention. Swaggart founded Jimmy Swaggart Ministries, which owns and operates the SonLife Broadcasting Network (SBN). He also founded the Jimmy Swaggart Bible College. Swaggart was the senior pastor of the Family Worship Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Swaggart was known for scandals involving prostitutes and revolutionary groups accused of war crimes in southern Africa. One prostitution scandal gave rise to a televised February 21, 1988, speech by Swaggart known as his "I have sinned" speech. After Swaggart was defrocked by the Assemblies of God due to sexual immorality, he moved on to become a non-denominational minister.
Swaggart wrote about 50 Christian books offered through his ministry. He sold over 15 million records worldwide as a gospel artist and he also received one Grammy Awards nomination.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
November 7, 2016
I grew up Christian in the 1980s, yet looking back at that era through this book is a baffling, bizarre picture. This book (from 1987) is like quite a few others of the time, perhaps more high-profile simply because of Jimmy Swaggart's fame.
The co-authors' arguments are illogical and poorly reasoned throughout. It's hard, for example, to reconcile their affirmation that "Up front, I would like to say that I have nothing but Christian love and goodwill for every single individual involved in religious rock" (vii) with a later attack such as this: "Evidently integrity is not even the question--since few of the individuals involved in religious rock seem to have any" (94). Saying this directly to a person, privately, may not necessarily be unloving or lacking in goodwill; but it's difficult to see how writing it publicly, as Swaggart and Lamb did, is the right and Christian thing to do.
The co-authors also fail to earn my trust that they are truly authorities on the topic of music. Consider this "critique" of the Islamic soundscape of Cairo:
By no means do I think Christian rock is exempt from criticism. I remember a particularly bizarre concert in about 1990 which featured a set by Petra, followed by a presentation from Josh McDowell, in which he explained sexually transmitted diseases in graphic detail, and then another set by Petra. This was supposed to . . . so terrify a generation of young people that they would remain celibate for their entire lives? While rocking out? Really, really weird.
And I agree with Swaggart and Lamb that oftentimes, the Christian rock artists seemed very tenuously grounded in their understanding of the Christian faith; awareness of Christian traditions older than about 1970 seem utterly nonexistent, and this was a problem with the CCM industry. There were a lot of problems, and I'm embarrassed by how much energy I put into CCM fandom when I was growing up.
The struggle for Christian teens in the 1980s was that people like Swaggart left no room for anything other than evangelism. Over and over in this book, Swaggart returns to his nonnegotiable foundation, that music cannot be used for evangelism, and therefore Christians have no business using it for evangelism. This is combined with an insistence that every little thing we do in this world be a reflection of something affirmed by the Bible. This leads not only to "If there was no heavy metal in the Bible, then there shall be no heavy metal for us now!" but also even more broadly to "If the disciples were not entertaining, then no Christian has any business being entertaining!" Swaggart's view of life was such a clear, distinct opposition: there is evangelism, and there is everything else; and woe to you if you spend any time on "everything else." That was really tough for teens, who genuinely wanted to follow God's leading, but also enjoyed some of the pleasures of life on earth. It was an uncomfortable time to grow up, in some ways. I hope things are more reasonable now (though certainly every generation looks back at the past and wonders how we could ever have been so dumb).
Swaggart and Lamb's critique of Christian rock (and Catholics, and, most strangely, in one chapter Southern gospel!) is ignorant and unhelpful. May we Christians be more thoughtful and discerning in talking with one another, and in how we live our lives for everyone in the world to see!
The co-authors' arguments are illogical and poorly reasoned throughout. It's hard, for example, to reconcile their affirmation that "Up front, I would like to say that I have nothing but Christian love and goodwill for every single individual involved in religious rock" (vii) with a later attack such as this: "Evidently integrity is not even the question--since few of the individuals involved in religious rock seem to have any" (94). Saying this directly to a person, privately, may not necessarily be unloving or lacking in goodwill; but it's difficult to see how writing it publicly, as Swaggart and Lamb did, is the right and Christian thing to do.
The co-authors also fail to earn my trust that they are truly authorities on the topic of music. Consider this "critique" of the Islamic soundscape of Cairo:
If you look at the nations of this world which don't worship the Lord today, or which worship in a distorted or erroneous manner, you will find that their music has a strange and eerie sound disturbing to the western ear.What a startling reminder of American life pre-multiculturalism. It makes me sad.
Not long ago while visiting Cairo, Egypt, I went out to walk and pray just before dark. During the walk I could hear the eerie wail of the Moslems as they worshiped and prayed. The music had no melody. It was simply a recurring pattern like a chant suggesting despair and darkness. Of course, there is no joy or victory in a false way of worship. (24-25)
By no means do I think Christian rock is exempt from criticism. I remember a particularly bizarre concert in about 1990 which featured a set by Petra, followed by a presentation from Josh McDowell, in which he explained sexually transmitted diseases in graphic detail, and then another set by Petra. This was supposed to . . . so terrify a generation of young people that they would remain celibate for their entire lives? While rocking out? Really, really weird.
And I agree with Swaggart and Lamb that oftentimes, the Christian rock artists seemed very tenuously grounded in their understanding of the Christian faith; awareness of Christian traditions older than about 1970 seem utterly nonexistent, and this was a problem with the CCM industry. There were a lot of problems, and I'm embarrassed by how much energy I put into CCM fandom when I was growing up.
The struggle for Christian teens in the 1980s was that people like Swaggart left no room for anything other than evangelism. Over and over in this book, Swaggart returns to his nonnegotiable foundation, that music cannot be used for evangelism, and therefore Christians have no business using it for evangelism. This is combined with an insistence that every little thing we do in this world be a reflection of something affirmed by the Bible. This leads not only to "If there was no heavy metal in the Bible, then there shall be no heavy metal for us now!" but also even more broadly to "If the disciples were not entertaining, then no Christian has any business being entertaining!" Swaggart's view of life was such a clear, distinct opposition: there is evangelism, and there is everything else; and woe to you if you spend any time on "everything else." That was really tough for teens, who genuinely wanted to follow God's leading, but also enjoyed some of the pleasures of life on earth. It was an uncomfortable time to grow up, in some ways. I hope things are more reasonable now (though certainly every generation looks back at the past and wonders how we could ever have been so dumb).
Swaggart and Lamb's critique of Christian rock (and Catholics, and, most strangely, in one chapter Southern gospel!) is ignorant and unhelpful. May we Christians be more thoughtful and discerning in talking with one another, and in how we live our lives for everyone in the world to see!
August 25, 2013
Yet another fundy-paranoid book from a preacher on the old end a generational divide.
"Without question, what has happened in the last thirty years has been nothing more than the youth of this world being possessed by demons -- through rock music." (p31)
"Without question, what has happened in the last thirty years has been nothing more than the youth of this world being possessed by demons -- through rock music." (p31)
November 27, 2014
I marked it 1 star - did not like it - for it's hysterical content and bad theology.
But I would also mark it a 3 stars - liked it - just for the goofy ironic fun of reading a dumb book...
But I would also mark it a 3 stars - liked it - just for the goofy ironic fun of reading a dumb book...
March 11, 2013
I say, I'm only about half way through so far, but bravo my good sir! Its high time, albeit almost 30 years ago, that someone called to task the heathenistic likes of Stryper, Amy Grant, and Michael W. Smith. Good show, old boy!
I shall check back in once completed.
The first half of my review was, characteristic of my generation, snark without actual content. Apologies.
What this book honestly has to offer is a fascinating view into the mindset of my parents and those like them at the church that raised me and assistance in illustrating the Culture of Fear without exploration, that is, censorship versus screening, that influenced my upbringing. Brother Jimmy does not ever honestly attempt to understand anything put before him. He simply tries to cram them into his own preconceived molds of How Things Should Be and does not adjust for cultural paradigm shifts or changing of "The Times," even with a Christian bent.
This book is not a proper examination of a new cultural shift or an attempt at reaching out to Today's Kids by meeting them "halfway" (or really anywhere other than the HERE of Brother Jimmy's world,) and, at least to me, comes across as a 200ish page justification of why the Strange and New will always seem wrong (and apparently sinful) by the Old Guard.
Great source of Talking Points with my family, but not worth much else beyond that other than a reference for How Things Once Were in our fundamentalist protestant community.
I shall check back in once completed.
The first half of my review was, characteristic of my generation, snark without actual content. Apologies.
What this book honestly has to offer is a fascinating view into the mindset of my parents and those like them at the church that raised me and assistance in illustrating the Culture of Fear without exploration, that is, censorship versus screening, that influenced my upbringing. Brother Jimmy does not ever honestly attempt to understand anything put before him. He simply tries to cram them into his own preconceived molds of How Things Should Be and does not adjust for cultural paradigm shifts or changing of "The Times," even with a Christian bent.
This book is not a proper examination of a new cultural shift or an attempt at reaching out to Today's Kids by meeting them "halfway" (or really anywhere other than the HERE of Brother Jimmy's world,) and, at least to me, comes across as a 200ish page justification of why the Strange and New will always seem wrong (and apparently sinful) by the Old Guard.
Great source of Talking Points with my family, but not worth much else beyond that other than a reference for How Things Once Were in our fundamentalist protestant community.
February 23, 2013
Insightful ... necessary and needed for today's 21st Century Christian! We'd better awake to what we and our kids are feeding into their spirit!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews