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Worship in Song A Biblical Approach to Music and Worship by Scott Aniol
This book by an author educated in both musicology and theology explains the doctrine of Sola Scriptura and how it applies to all areas of life, including our musical choices.
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First published January 1, 2009
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May 30, 2016
I'm sure most of us would agree that music is often one of the most sensitive, divisive issues in the church. Certainly, music has inspired a lot of discussion over the years. So do we really need another book added to that discussion? I say yes. Rather than running straight down the "Here's why CCM music is bad and conservative, 'traditional' music is good" road, Scott Aniol lays out a set of biblically-rooted principles and draws conclusions from there. The result is much more thought-provoking. And for those who are willing to set aside their presuppositions and personal preferences about music and just listen to what Aniol has to say, this book has the potential to change their thinking. It has certainly impacted my thinking in a number of areas.
Before I get to the good, I do need to mention some of the issues I had with Aniol's content and/or approach:
--While Aniol did take time to define many of his key terms, he didn't clearly define everything and wasn't always consistent in how he used certain words. For example, he criticized sentimental music several times but never laid out a clear definition of sentimentalism/sentimentality. In books like these, I think it's especially important that readers always understand what the author means by his terms. Therefore, the responsibility is on the author to explain just what he means. I'm a word-lover, but even I wasn't always sure what Aniol meant by the term sentimental. Thus, I wish he had provided a definition. Likewise, Aniol wasn't always precise in how he used words like heart, mind, emotions, and affections. At one point, he treated the heart and mind like two completely distinct, separate things. But a few pages later, he described the mind as a component of the heart. Similarly, he described emotions as a component of the affections, but other times, used emotion and affection somewhat interchangeably. Overall, I don't think any of his word choices undercut the arguments he was trying to make; nevertheless, they did sometimes cause a bit of confusion.
--I think the book would have benefited immensely from more specific examples and illustrations, rather than broad statements. For instance, Aniol devoted an entire chapter to talking about the use of "God-oriented" music in congregational worship, yet he didn't give any specific examples of hymns that either meet or fail to meet this criterion. While he did give some helpful principles on God-oriented music, I would have liked to see those principles demonstrated through some specific examples.
--I don't particularly care for the passions/affections distinction, as it is used in this book. We need to be very careful when trying to categorize passions and affections because not all emotions fit clearly and absolutely into one group or the other. For instance, Aniol lists anger as one of the passions, but I reject the idea that anger is always a surface-level, immediate, physically-driven emotion. Is God being driven by His passions when He gets angry at sin? No way. His anger is His appropriate response to the truth about sin. On the flip side, I don't think Jonah's anger at God over Nineveh was just surface-level either. In his case, he also recognized truth (about God's character) but responded improperly with anger.
--I wouldn't put as much stock in the importance of poetic form as Aniol does. He argues that some poetic meters are more appropriate for serious subjects, while others reinforce light and/or silly subjects. While that's true to an extent, I think he makes this a more black and white issue than it really is. When you set a poem to music, the musical composition may drastically change the feel of the poetic meter. For example, the true meter of "Come Thou Fount" is trochaic tetrameter ("COME thou FOUNT of EV'ry BLESSing, / TUNE my HEART to SING thy GRACE"). But the music it's set to places particular emphasis only on the syllables FOUNT, BLESS, HEART, and GRACE. Because music has the potential to change the feel of a text, I don't think poetic form is as important to consider as Aniol thinks it is.
Now onto what's so good and thought-provoking about this book:
--Aniol effectively demonstrates the role music has in worship. And guess what? Worship is not about us. Yet we are so good at making worship about us. And we especially like to think that music is about us, to the point that we don't consider or don't care what God thinks about the music we offer to Him in worship. The fact is--and Aniol lays it out clearly--God cares about what we offer Him and how we offer it to Him. Therefore, it is imperative that the music we use in our worship services be worthy of our God. Choosing music because it pleases the congregation or the unsaved visitors is a fundamental misunderstanding of what and Who worship is all about.
--Aniol draws our attention to the importance of sanctifying the emotions, not just the mind and will. I think people in my circle of fundamentalist Christianity tend to avoid discussing or dealing with the emotions because of how we've seen them over-emphasized and misused in other circles. But Aniol does a great job showing that emotions matter and that music is a powerful way to shape them.
--Aniol challenges the double standard of conservative Christianity as it relates to music. While we reject the "CCM" songs, we ourselves often continue to sing shallow, sentimental, mediocre, or just-plain-bad "traditional" hymns. Let's be honest: a lot of traditional hymnals are filled with garbage in the form of poor words, poor music, or both. If we're truly serious about what we sing to God, we need to critically evaluate song texts and the music used to sing those texts. And if that means throwing out a beloved favorite hymn, then so be it. After reading this book, I'm more determined than ever to know good songs and to use good songs in my church.
--There's a lot more I could say by way of good things, but one last area I'll mention is Aniol's discussion of "special music", a term we often use to describe prepared instrumental and vocal pieces. He points out that the term itself implies that the music used in such a context is more valuable and important than the congregational singing. I absolutely, positively, 100% agree with him on this point. At my church at least, "special music" gets more amens, praise, and attention from people than any other music in the service. When the musical college students come home, everyone gets excited about the specials they can do. Why aren't we just as excited about the great hymns that we get to sing with one another each week? What a privilege that all of us, whether musically trained or not, can join together in voice as we sing to God. I'm not trying to denigrate the value of preparing solo or ensemble arrangements, but I am saying we should not place that kind of music on a higher pedestal than our congregational singing and "regular" music. In fact, after reading this book, I've decided that I'm not going to use the term "special music" anymore. It's time to break out of this mindset once and for all. I also want to do everything I can as a church musician to help the congregation sing well, because congregational singing truly is a wonderful thing.
As lengthy as this review is, I've only scratched the surface of this book. So I'll end by recommending that you read it yourself and prayerfully consider what Aniol has to say.
Before I get to the good, I do need to mention some of the issues I had with Aniol's content and/or approach:
--While Aniol did take time to define many of his key terms, he didn't clearly define everything and wasn't always consistent in how he used certain words. For example, he criticized sentimental music several times but never laid out a clear definition of sentimentalism/sentimentality. In books like these, I think it's especially important that readers always understand what the author means by his terms. Therefore, the responsibility is on the author to explain just what he means. I'm a word-lover, but even I wasn't always sure what Aniol meant by the term sentimental. Thus, I wish he had provided a definition. Likewise, Aniol wasn't always precise in how he used words like heart, mind, emotions, and affections. At one point, he treated the heart and mind like two completely distinct, separate things. But a few pages later, he described the mind as a component of the heart. Similarly, he described emotions as a component of the affections, but other times, used emotion and affection somewhat interchangeably. Overall, I don't think any of his word choices undercut the arguments he was trying to make; nevertheless, they did sometimes cause a bit of confusion.
--I think the book would have benefited immensely from more specific examples and illustrations, rather than broad statements. For instance, Aniol devoted an entire chapter to talking about the use of "God-oriented" music in congregational worship, yet he didn't give any specific examples of hymns that either meet or fail to meet this criterion. While he did give some helpful principles on God-oriented music, I would have liked to see those principles demonstrated through some specific examples.
--I don't particularly care for the passions/affections distinction, as it is used in this book. We need to be very careful when trying to categorize passions and affections because not all emotions fit clearly and absolutely into one group or the other. For instance, Aniol lists anger as one of the passions, but I reject the idea that anger is always a surface-level, immediate, physically-driven emotion. Is God being driven by His passions when He gets angry at sin? No way. His anger is His appropriate response to the truth about sin. On the flip side, I don't think Jonah's anger at God over Nineveh was just surface-level either. In his case, he also recognized truth (about God's character) but responded improperly with anger.
--I wouldn't put as much stock in the importance of poetic form as Aniol does. He argues that some poetic meters are more appropriate for serious subjects, while others reinforce light and/or silly subjects. While that's true to an extent, I think he makes this a more black and white issue than it really is. When you set a poem to music, the musical composition may drastically change the feel of the poetic meter. For example, the true meter of "Come Thou Fount" is trochaic tetrameter ("COME thou FOUNT of EV'ry BLESSing, / TUNE my HEART to SING thy GRACE"). But the music it's set to places particular emphasis only on the syllables FOUNT, BLESS, HEART, and GRACE. Because music has the potential to change the feel of a text, I don't think poetic form is as important to consider as Aniol thinks it is.
Now onto what's so good and thought-provoking about this book:
--Aniol effectively demonstrates the role music has in worship. And guess what? Worship is not about us. Yet we are so good at making worship about us. And we especially like to think that music is about us, to the point that we don't consider or don't care what God thinks about the music we offer to Him in worship. The fact is--and Aniol lays it out clearly--God cares about what we offer Him and how we offer it to Him. Therefore, it is imperative that the music we use in our worship services be worthy of our God. Choosing music because it pleases the congregation or the unsaved visitors is a fundamental misunderstanding of what and Who worship is all about.
--Aniol draws our attention to the importance of sanctifying the emotions, not just the mind and will. I think people in my circle of fundamentalist Christianity tend to avoid discussing or dealing with the emotions because of how we've seen them over-emphasized and misused in other circles. But Aniol does a great job showing that emotions matter and that music is a powerful way to shape them.
--Aniol challenges the double standard of conservative Christianity as it relates to music. While we reject the "CCM" songs, we ourselves often continue to sing shallow, sentimental, mediocre, or just-plain-bad "traditional" hymns. Let's be honest: a lot of traditional hymnals are filled with garbage in the form of poor words, poor music, or both. If we're truly serious about what we sing to God, we need to critically evaluate song texts and the music used to sing those texts. And if that means throwing out a beloved favorite hymn, then so be it. After reading this book, I'm more determined than ever to know good songs and to use good songs in my church.
--There's a lot more I could say by way of good things, but one last area I'll mention is Aniol's discussion of "special music", a term we often use to describe prepared instrumental and vocal pieces. He points out that the term itself implies that the music used in such a context is more valuable and important than the congregational singing. I absolutely, positively, 100% agree with him on this point. At my church at least, "special music" gets more amens, praise, and attention from people than any other music in the service. When the musical college students come home, everyone gets excited about the specials they can do. Why aren't we just as excited about the great hymns that we get to sing with one another each week? What a privilege that all of us, whether musically trained or not, can join together in voice as we sing to God. I'm not trying to denigrate the value of preparing solo or ensemble arrangements, but I am saying we should not place that kind of music on a higher pedestal than our congregational singing and "regular" music. In fact, after reading this book, I've decided that I'm not going to use the term "special music" anymore. It's time to break out of this mindset once and for all. I also want to do everything I can as a church musician to help the congregation sing well, because congregational singing truly is a wonderful thing.
As lengthy as this review is, I've only scratched the surface of this book. So I'll end by recommending that you read it yourself and prayerfully consider what Aniol has to say.
January 20, 2025
Overall, a practical book. The first part (general theology of worship) was very underwhelming. Wanted to be historically-grounded and Reformed, yet made little use of the confessions, and not one mention of the regulative principle. The rest of the book had a narrower focus on music itself. The chapters on music theory were fascinating, and the chapters on music style/lyrics/rhythm/etc. for congregational worship were helpful. At times, Aniol leaned in a pietistic direction when it comes to personal liberties outside the bounds of worship (for instance, boldly stating that genres like rock and jazz are by nature off limits for Christians... hmm...). Again, though, this book is at least quite practical, particularly in terms of how church leaders ought to approach music for the purpose of worship.
May 7, 2022
Overall, this is a helpful book that attempts to present a philosophy of worship music based on the Bible. I think Aniol presents much wisdom in certain parts of the book. Aniol argues that worship music should carry much more theological depth than much modern worship does. He also places a strong emphasis on congregational singing. I appreciate his focus on affections and how he differentiates them from mere emotions. Also, Aniol (correctly, I believe) argues that there is such a thing as good and bad music. Music is not amoral.
I do have some fundamental concerns with some of Aniol's arguments. Aniol focuses much on the need to use "beautiful" music. Although one can put forth some objective principles to define what is beautiful, there is going to be some subjectivity in this, which Aniol acknowledges. However, Aniol states, "An important issue in determining what music pleases the Lord is whether music carries meaning that influences morality." It seems that it would be nearly impossible for people to come to agreement on this issue because of the subjectivity.
Also, one confusing statement. He says, "Some music expresses truth that may not be true for all believers." This seems contradictory. I think I get what he is saying, though. It would have helped, though, if he gave examples of such music.
I think Aniol's discussion of biblical teaching about music's effect on human emotions was a bit misguided. He uses the Shema (Dt. 6:4-6) and equates "loving God" with human emotions. Later, about the Shema, he says, "Did not Christ say that the greatest commandment was expression of affection to God? But even here emotion is intricately connected to truth and goodness, for if we love God, we will keep His commandments." While emotions are involved in this, biblical terminology for love is not primarily emotional.
He later says, "Any casual reader of Scripture will recognize the clear connection between music and sacred emotional expression." He lists several verses without comment, but they do not seem to me to support his point. He also says, "Paul says we should teach and admonish each other with music. . . . I believe the primary part of man that is being taught by music is his emotions." He gives a few potential supporting passages for this, but this seems like a stretch to me and isn't well-defended enough.
My final concern is that it seems that Aniol is more-or-less arguing against the excesses of the CCM movement, but I don't think he applies his principles consistently enough toward those who use conservative/traditional music. Aniol admirably stresses the importance of congregational involvement in singing. In doing so, he criticizes modern worship bands that dominate the worship services at which the congregants become spectators. When he discusses conservative churches who use choirs and "special" music, though, he tells congregants to "strive to worship along with the group or soloist by understanding truth and responding with them. . . . try to join with the musicians in your heart." This comes close to presenting a double standard. It's wrong not to sing while the worship band/leader are leading the singing, but it's ok to sit silently while the choir sings, as long as you "try to join with the magicians in your heart." It seems the most logical solution to facilitate effective congregational participation in worship is to NOT have situations where the congregation is expected to sit and observe, listen, and "strive to worship" with the performers on stage. Instead, make prepared music and on-stage performances extremely rare so that the congregation understands how critical their participation in worship is. In Aniol's example of an order of service, he lists 8 total songs. Four of them involve congregational singing. The other 4 involve the congregation watching people on the stage perform prepared music (a vocal solo, a choir song, a brass quintet, and a presumably instrumental song during the giving time). Having 50% of the worship songs designated for the congregational does not seem to indicate that congregational involvement is crucial.
In light of these criticisms, I do acknowledge that this book was written over 10 years ago. Aniol has since written other books, with which I agree much more. Aniol's recent Biblical Foundations of Corporate Worship is excellent.
I do have some fundamental concerns with some of Aniol's arguments. Aniol focuses much on the need to use "beautiful" music. Although one can put forth some objective principles to define what is beautiful, there is going to be some subjectivity in this, which Aniol acknowledges. However, Aniol states, "An important issue in determining what music pleases the Lord is whether music carries meaning that influences morality." It seems that it would be nearly impossible for people to come to agreement on this issue because of the subjectivity.
Also, one confusing statement. He says, "Some music expresses truth that may not be true for all believers." This seems contradictory. I think I get what he is saying, though. It would have helped, though, if he gave examples of such music.
I think Aniol's discussion of biblical teaching about music's effect on human emotions was a bit misguided. He uses the Shema (Dt. 6:4-6) and equates "loving God" with human emotions. Later, about the Shema, he says, "Did not Christ say that the greatest commandment was expression of affection to God? But even here emotion is intricately connected to truth and goodness, for if we love God, we will keep His commandments." While emotions are involved in this, biblical terminology for love is not primarily emotional.
He later says, "Any casual reader of Scripture will recognize the clear connection between music and sacred emotional expression." He lists several verses without comment, but they do not seem to me to support his point. He also says, "Paul says we should teach and admonish each other with music. . . . I believe the primary part of man that is being taught by music is his emotions." He gives a few potential supporting passages for this, but this seems like a stretch to me and isn't well-defended enough.
My final concern is that it seems that Aniol is more-or-less arguing against the excesses of the CCM movement, but I don't think he applies his principles consistently enough toward those who use conservative/traditional music. Aniol admirably stresses the importance of congregational involvement in singing. In doing so, he criticizes modern worship bands that dominate the worship services at which the congregants become spectators. When he discusses conservative churches who use choirs and "special" music, though, he tells congregants to "strive to worship along with the group or soloist by understanding truth and responding with them. . . . try to join with the musicians in your heart." This comes close to presenting a double standard. It's wrong not to sing while the worship band/leader are leading the singing, but it's ok to sit silently while the choir sings, as long as you "try to join with the magicians in your heart." It seems the most logical solution to facilitate effective congregational participation in worship is to NOT have situations where the congregation is expected to sit and observe, listen, and "strive to worship" with the performers on stage. Instead, make prepared music and on-stage performances extremely rare so that the congregation understands how critical their participation in worship is. In Aniol's example of an order of service, he lists 8 total songs. Four of them involve congregational singing. The other 4 involve the congregation watching people on the stage perform prepared music (a vocal solo, a choir song, a brass quintet, and a presumably instrumental song during the giving time). Having 50% of the worship songs designated for the congregational does not seem to indicate that congregational involvement is crucial.
In light of these criticisms, I do acknowledge that this book was written over 10 years ago. Aniol has since written other books, with which I agree much more. Aniol's recent Biblical Foundations of Corporate Worship is excellent.
March 20, 2012
This book has a lot of potential that is marred by a giant logical leap. While his general theology of worship is sound if limited, I had hoped for help in the area of a Biblical theology of aesthetics. In the end, I was disappointed by his very basic theological assertions then being put into practice by another "appeal to the music experts" as the practical conclusion for how to judge a song's value.
January 3, 2024
Aniol’s text provides a broad understanding of the function and purpose of music in church services. He includes a chapter on the influence of popular culture upon church music, as well as a helpful and needed discussion on the importance of beauty in worship. His dialogue on the use of affections in worship is helpful in distinguishing between the engagement of emotions in worship and the over-emphasis upon emotionalism in many church contexts today. At the end of each chapter, there are discussion questions, which make this an ideal text to use with any group that helps lead weekly worship services.
“Our goal should be that our theology drive our methodology. Personal preference or taste is not the primary criterion. Our methodology of congregational worship should come from our understanding of the Word of God” (235).
“Our goal should be that our theology drive our methodology. Personal preference or taste is not the primary criterion. Our methodology of congregational worship should come from our understanding of the Word of God” (235).
March 23, 2025
A broad overview of music in both secular and liturgical settings. The author is Calvinistic, but doesn't reflect explicitly on the regulative principle of worship in this book. The book provides some brief Scriptural discussions, but lacks robust exegesis and has minimal discussion on church history.
The focus of Aniol's book is integrating a model for music into a biblical framework, but it ends up being unbalanced due to the lack of exegesis and church history to balance his method and conclusions.
The focus of Aniol's book is integrating a model for music into a biblical framework, but it ends up being unbalanced due to the lack of exegesis and church history to balance his method and conclusions.
June 28, 2018
This book is an excellent resource. I have read Aniols book "By The Waters of Babylon" and found this very helpful in clarifying some of the questions I had after reading it. I highly recommend reading both. He does a good job of breaking worship down both personally and corporately.
January 9, 2026
Changed My Taste
Highly recommend this book for church leaders, musicians, church members basically everyone saved by The Lord Jesus Christ. Scott explain worship with so much biblical clarity that anyone can easily grasp. This book has definitely shaped my approach to music. It has caused me to consider carefully my musical choices even when I’m driving alone on the road. As a song writer, my writing has been impacted while reading chapter after chapter of this book. I have read it once and I’m sure I will read it again or at least revisit some of the topics.
Highly recommend this book for church leaders, musicians, church members basically everyone saved by The Lord Jesus Christ. Scott explain worship with so much biblical clarity that anyone can easily grasp. This book has definitely shaped my approach to music. It has caused me to consider carefully my musical choices even when I’m driving alone on the road. As a song writer, my writing has been impacted while reading chapter after chapter of this book. I have read it once and I’m sure I will read it again or at least revisit some of the topics.
March 29, 2021
A solid-systematic view of worship and how it relates to music. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone.
November 29, 2010
I'm not usually one to enthusiastically rate something, but this book deserves five stars to the very tip of each point. Music is a hotly discussed issue, especially music in the church. Some have addressed style. Some have discussed morality and music. Some have equated music choice with mere preference. But every one of those viewpoints has a weak point somewhere. Scott Aniol begins at the beginning: with God Himself. Who is God? How does He define Himself? What ramifications does that have on our musical choices, especially in our worship of God? All other attempts at defining music and its governing principles come together in God Himself because He is the creator of music. Music is a universal language. It speaks. Therefore we must ask the question, "What does it communicate?" This presentation is the clearest, most thorough, and most gracious that I have read. While it speaks most specifically to music in the church, the foundational principles and their application are much broader. I highly recommend it to every Christian, and especially to everyone involved in church music.
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August 21, 20120358
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