Jonathan L. Friedmann’s Music in the Hebrew Bible: Understanding References in the Torah, Nevi'im and Ketuvim

Jonathan L. Friedmann’s Music in the Hebrew Bible: Understanding References in the Torah, Nevi'im and Ketuvim 

This is a grab bag work, with some helpful introductory work that serves as a prelude to a hundred-ish essays that cluster around the Torah, the Prophets and the Writings in Jewish scripture by cantor Friedmann.  The great strength of this book is he writes in a way that is clear and lively and he doesn’t presuppose his readers are either deeply steeped in the minutiae of music theory or in Jewish liturgical life and practice.  It sure helps if you have both of those and I was considering seminary and grad school in music and have a bit of an interest in ecumenical dialogue, so for me Friedmann’s book was easy, breezy and fun but for anyone who is a non-specialist the best part about his writing is that you can understand his points even if  you aren’t someone who was considering both seminary and grad school in music.  He gives us who are nerdy on theology and music alike plenty to chew on but it can be read by people who are not well-versed in either topic but want to learn what is in the Hebrew Bible about music. 

North American Anglican revisits the back and forth between Carl Trueman and American Reformer, some overtly negative thoughts about Renn's "negative world" heuristic

Now I’ll understand if you don’t want to slog through all these links from about a year ago but here they are in case you feel ambitious and motivated. I’ve tried to make sure to list them in chronological order. 

 

I’m coming back to things American Reformer for the first time in a few months after mulling over that they were able to get pranked with a James Lindsay hoax.  Lindsay’s contention was the editors and staff at American Reformer were such idiots on what did and didn’t count as substantive Marxist thought they witlessly published a reworked excerpt from A Communist Manifesto. I have little sympathy for Lindsay and regard him as more of a crank than a thinker but that he was able to pull a fast one on American Reformer is hard not to notice in light of a piece that just went up at The North American Anglican recently. But let me finally get to that linkathon:

 

https://firstthings.com/the-three-worlds-of-evangelicalism/

https://zondervanacademic.com/products/life-in-the-negative-world

https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2024/05/how-pop-nietzscheanism-masquerades-as-christianity

https://americanreformer.org/2024/05/nietzscheans-in-negative-world/

https://adfontesjournal.com/web-exclusives/honorable-conduct-in-the-negative-world/

https://americanreformer.org/2024/06/good-deceit/

https://americanreformer.org/2024/06/the-ends-justify-the-memes/

 

And now … the following recent piece at North American Anglican.  AI’m quoting passages from Part 1 of 2:

 

https://northamanglican.com/a-second-look-at-lying-and-the-ethics-of-the-new-christian-right/

A Second Look at Lying and the Ethics of the New Christian Right

James Clark May 7, 2025

Reach the Golden Mean?

That's too hard. I'll settle for

the Bronze Median