Handel: Scripture is a symphony

I was reading today that Handel's Messiah is now banned from public performances in China (h/t Ancient Hebrew Poetry), along with other sacred music. Apparently Messiah had been performed in China before, and was very well received. Handel's music is amazing -- and I'm not just saying that because he was Lutheran. (Beethoven considered Handel the greatest composer of all time -- which is no small compliment considering Beethoven is also a serious contender for the title of greatest composer of all time.)

The reason I bring up Handel is because I think he was, like J.S. Bach, primarily a theologian, and one who understood Scripture better than most of the systematic theologians. He did understand the basics of liturgy: that Scripture is not just for analyzing, but for praying and for singing. A musician and a poet notices things that an analyst does not: that the Psalms were originally for singing and are still best appreciated when sung, that the prophecies were originally announcements and are still best understood when proclaimed, that the imagery and symbolism of Scripture is more similar to a fugue with deep, hidden themes than it is to a textbook. And then there is that section of the book of Revelation where Handel noticed that it was an endless chorus of different voices exclaiming, "Hallelujah!" (I would rate Messiah's grand finale piece as the best Bible study ever written on the book of Revelation, and every other study of Revelation as merely preparatory to enable people to appreciate and participate in that grand finale.)

Handel knew that, rightly understood, Scripture does not cause only analysis but ultimately it causes celebration. Rightly preached, the Word of God does not cause people to dedicate themselves to analyzing the Scriptures, but to go out into the world celebrating the glory of God. Handel the theologian did not write traditional Bible studies or traditional systematic theologies; he wrote symphonies -- not on the view that they were lower than analysis, but on the view that praise is the ultimate fruit of understanding what God has done.