Augustine Sings Hillsong: An Affective Theology of Contemporary Praise & Worship

Abstract

A huge chasm exists between those who criticize Contemporary Praise & Worship (CPW) for its affective intensity and emphasis on facilitating experiential encounters with God, and those who gravitate towards CPW over other forms of Christian worship precisely because of these characteristics. Liturgical and theological scholarship has largely sided with the critics, and this project joins the rising chorus of scholarly voices working to legitimize CPW in academic discourse. My goal in this dissertation is twofold: first, by bringing the theological insights of Saint Augustine into conversation with critiques of CPW, this dissertation aims to provide an account of how the affective power inherent in CPW’s musical practices can function as a Spirit-enabled means of forming worshipers in the love of God not in spite of but precisely because of their attentiveness to emotion; second, it aims to show how this account can address some of the common pitfalls in CPW, helping to correct the theological distortions that sometimes accompany this way of worship and provide critics cause for concern.At the heart of this account is Augustine’s conviction that the Christian life is marked by an ultimate love for God, that all emotions can and should be baptized in the love of God, and that singing is what a lover does (cantare amantis est). Despite his own nervousness about music’s affective power, Augustine ultimately affirms the goodness of both music and the emotions as vehicles of God’s grace by which the soul is drawn towards its Creator through rightly ordered love. This dissertation argues that CPW with all its musical affectivity, when rightly understood and practiced, participates powerfully in the movement of worshipers towards a greater love of God.