A General Theological Symbolic Structure of Textless Music in Christian Worship

When textless music is performed as a stand-alone act in Christian worship, it can function as a Christian symbol through which meaning can be generated at experiential, reflective, and transformative levels. This article proposes a four-dimensional theological symbolic structure for conceptualizing and heightening the effectiveness of textless music as a Christian symbol in worship. A piece of textless music can take on Christian symbolic capacity in worship by virtue of its specific musical properties and structures interpreted through the lens of human subjectivity formed within a Christian context (incorporating Christian worship), a locus of divine communication. Relevant aspects of the theology of Paul Tillich, Karl Rahner, and Louis-Marie Chauvet, particularly pertaining to symbols, are applied, fitted together, extended, and supplemented to construct and explicate this structure. Deriving from the structure, elements of praxis regarding the selection, contextualization, performance, and reception of pieces are presented for ongoing reflection and development.