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6. The Spirit of Film Music
- Baylor University Press
- Chapter
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153 The SpiriT oF Film muSic 6 If film music does indeed possess the capacity to mediate a firstorder encounter with some manner of t/Transcendence, then we have come to the place where we must reflect theologically on whether God truly does reveal Godself through anything and everything. That is, in light of the ways that this particular cultural product is functioning in the contemporary world, we must thoughtfully consider what it actually means that the heavens above us “declare” the glory of God (Ps 19) and the rocks beneath our feet cry out in praise to God (Luke 19:37-40). Much like the biblical authors, our lived experiences prod us to make sense of the fact that human creatures are somehow capable of clearly seeing and understanding their Creator through creation (Rom 1:19-20), innately intuiting the source of life through human conscience (Rom 2:14-15), and even discerning the presence and activity of the divine Spirit in and through human creativity (Exod 31:3-4)— through art, aesthetic experiences, and presumably “secular” forms of culture such as filmgoing. Significantly, each of these biblical claims has to do in some way with what theologians have traditionally termed “general revelation.” By framing our discussion of film music’s theological import in terms of this particular concept, we are not only faced with questions regarding the general spirituality that permeates 154 Scoring TranScendence our experiences of everyday life, but we are also pressed to consider how broadly we are willing to conceive of God’s activity in the world. That is, we are principally concerned with how God might be present, active, and moving in and through those experiences of life that occur outside the confines of the Christian community and without reference to the “special” revelations found in the biblical witness and the life of Jesus Christ. Due in part to the indefinite, nondescript, and even ephemeral nature of that which is disclosed—mere hints and intimations of the divine—general revelation has been relatively underrepresented within the Christian theological tradition. Yet, in order to engage in a mutually enriching dialogue with film and filmgoers, a more robust understanding of God’s general revelation is needed, for, as our analyses of the music in both Moulin Rouge! and Paul Thomas Anderson’s films suggested , contemporary persons are increasingly willing to identify their concrete moviegoing experiences as “spiritual” and even “revelatory.” Our ability to speak intelligibly about the Christian faith in the contemporary world therefore depends upon what we make theologically of these diffuse and illdefined experiences of revelation. Consequently, the aim of this chapter is to locate the spiritually charged experience of filmgoing within a larger theological framework, considering it in terms of the general revelatory presence of the Spirit of God in the world. I am by no means the first to suggest that general revelation might serve as a helpful framework for understanding the relationship between film and theology.1 However, given the unique characteristics of musical-aesthetic experiences in general and film music in particular, I want to speak of general revelation primarily in terms of the indwelling presence of God in the created order. In other words, I am proposing that, in order to arrive at a fuller understanding of film music’s revelatory potential, we would do well to broaden our understanding of [3.236.18.23] Project MUSE (2024-03-19 06:56 GMT) The SpiriT oF Film muSic 155 revelation, picturing it in terms of God’s inspiriting presence rather than simply the disclosure of knowledge about God. generAl revelATion A very Brief history From a historical perspective, the theological discourse concerning “general revelation” presents us with a number of related yet qualitatively distinct terms for conceiving of God’s active involvement in the world outside of the covenant community (i.e., the people of Israel or the Christian church). Theologians have traditionally drawn a rather sharp distinction between a “revealed” knowledge of God and a “natural” knowledge of God. The former is typically considered “special” revelation in that God communicates directly with humanity through the particular means of Hebrew and Christian Scripture and liturgy. The latter is a “general” revelation made available to all humanity; it arises innately through human conscience and through our rational observance of the created order. Following Thomas Aquinas (and, by extension, Aristotle ), those in the Roman Catholic tradition have often spoken of this natural knowledge of God in terms of a “natural theology...