The Bible and Music

In class on April 4, we discussed allusions in music to the Bible. An allusion is something that hints at something else, assuming you have prior knowledge on the topic being alluded to. For this specific reason, finding allusions in music to the Bible is going to be a challenge for me, as I have no prior knowledge on the Bible whatsoever. We also discussed how much connection would be needed to be considered an allusion. We decided that there would need to be a substantial connection, more than just the mention of a line or phrase from the Bible, making this task even more of a challenge for me. An example we looked at was the In the Garden hymn. We debated if the garden was Eden or Gethsemane. A specific song I really liked over the past couple years as a teenager is the song “Oceans (Where Feet May Fail)” by Hillsong United. Despite the fact that I am Atheist, this song is so beautiful and I would highly recommend it to anyone if they care to listen. It is very religious and spiritual, yet it does not allude to the Bible. I was hoping to use this, but seeing the lyrics again reminded me I would not be able to. Just thought I would throw it out there as a recommendation to anyone who is interested in a great song!