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The Gospel and the Grateful Dead
This book examines the linkages between the music and message of the Grateful Dead and the Christian gospel. The Grateful Dead emerged from the San Francisco "hippie" scene in the late 1960s, and offered a message of community and divine encounter. While the Dead drew on the teachings of many spiritual traditions, the band's ethos echoed quite powerfully the wisdom of Christian Scripture. This reflection examines the ways in which the Grateful Dead embodied Christian teachings in areas of community, praise, and service. The Grateful Dead left an enduring legacy, whose power and longevity stem in significant part from the confluence of values between the Gospel and Grateful Dead.
100 pages, Hardcover
First published April 17, 2014
5 people want to read
About the author
Pitman B. Potter
15 books2 followersPitman B. Potter is Emeritus Professor of Law and Director of Chinese Legal Studies at the Peter A. Allard School of Law, Director of UBC’s Institute of Asian Research. He is an internationally acclaimed scholar of Law in the People’s Republic of China and Taiwan.
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December 9, 2023
The Grateful Dead “evoked the Gospel message of confidence that the Kingdom of Heaven is not a place we hope to travel to with passports of piety and visas of divine approval— but rather is a state of being, a state of mind, a state of grace that guides the way we lead our lives.”
Rev. Dr. Pitman B. Potter describes this life as one of “sharing, resistance to convention, and love for all creation.” This is the message of the Christian gospel and of the Grateful Dead.
I appreciated the insightful reflections on the dead’s ethos and lyrics. From the inclusivity that was fostered by intentional things such as the wall of sound to lyrics reflecting radical love like from the song ‘eyes of the world’.
The only part I didn’t appreciate was in the last chapter the implication that denial of human and bodily needs should somehow be seen as commendable and Christian. I see loving your body as loving Gods creation. I see it as a disgrace to forsake the body and life here on earth you are given by God.
So, I think he hyped up Jerry too much, but other than that— great ideas.
Rev. Dr. Pitman B. Potter describes this life as one of “sharing, resistance to convention, and love for all creation.” This is the message of the Christian gospel and of the Grateful Dead.
I appreciated the insightful reflections on the dead’s ethos and lyrics. From the inclusivity that was fostered by intentional things such as the wall of sound to lyrics reflecting radical love like from the song ‘eyes of the world’.
The only part I didn’t appreciate was in the last chapter the implication that denial of human and bodily needs should somehow be seen as commendable and Christian. I see loving your body as loving Gods creation. I see it as a disgrace to forsake the body and life here on earth you are given by God.
So, I think he hyped up Jerry too much, but other than that— great ideas.
Displaying 1 of 1 review