Theology and the Blues by Michael Sharp

Theology and the Blues by Michael Sharp

While all music genres incorporate religious imagery, the blues has its origin in the soil of the church. In its infancy, the blues was often dismissed as undermining the church’s gospel songbook. The initial resistance, however, could not suppress the organic development of a genre of music born from suffering. The great Mississippi Delta bluesman, Muddy Waters, once said, "The blues was born behind a mule." Behind a beast of burden, the working man found in the blues a way to console the everyday experiences of struggle, sin, loss, despair, love, grief, sin, death, and the fear and hope of crossing the River Jordan into eternal life. The church's gospel songbook explores doctrinal foundations set to music, but the blues dares to uncover insight into the lived experiences of spiritual journeys. Theology and the Blues showcases theological themes inherent within the organic and expressive genre of the blues.

Through the diverse disciplinary lenses of twelve authors, Theology and the Blues rethinks the long-held tropes separating blues from religion or spirituality, by expanding on research around blues and religion from authors such as James Cone, John Michael Spencer, Adam Gussow and othersSome previously devised divisions isolating blues from religion are turned on their head to show they are often more inexorably linked than sometimes meets the eye. The simplistic idea of Blues being the “Devil’s music,” far removed from Gospel music just doesn’t hold up. Blues music was simultaneously influenced by African American spirituals while also giving rise to more modern Black gospel music. In fact, blues can itself be almost a form of religion; as Albert Murray pointed out in Stomping the Blues, the act of performing blues music can be a way of exorcising the demons of the emotional state of having the blues.

-- Greg Johnson, The University of Mississippi; co-author of 100 Books Every Blues Fan Should Own

Justin McLendon is professor of theology at Grand Canyon University and department chair for the Master of Arts programs for Grand Canyon Theological Seminary.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781978714588
ISBN 10	1978714580
Title	Theology and the Blues
Author	Michael Sharp
Series	Theology Religion And Pop Culture
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Year published	2025-02-19
Number of pages	280
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.