One need not be a historian of the Puritans and their quest for a New Jerusalem to know that America has been influenced by the Old Testament. It’s evident from so many place names, such as Hebron, Kentucky; Bethesda, Maryland; and Rehoboth, Delaware. Less appreciated is how much Old Testament stories have inspired some of the country’s most original and powerful music. The homegrown gospel music of the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, the African-American Church of God in Christ, and white “fundamentalist” congregations is often so devoid of New Testament references, it would not be out of place, except stylistically, in my synagogue.
From black gospel music, to the hymns and arrangements of nineteenth-century gospel composer Ira Sankey, to the powerful bluegrass “sacred songs” (as they’re known in bluegrass gospel circles) of the Stanley Brothers, the Old Testament has always been at home in America’s religious music.
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