At the Memphis Theological Seminary this June, there will be a two week course entitled “Gonna Change My Way of Thinking: Bob Dylan on the Bible, Sin & Virtue.” Story at this link:

The times may have changed, but the message remains.

That’s the contention of a local theologian, who will explore the connection between a pop culture prophet and the power of the Word during an intensive two-week class this summer at Memphis Theological Seminary.

Dr. Barry Bryant, along with singer-songwriter John Kilzer, will teach a course that examines the career of Bob Dylan, from biblical references in his lyrics to his vision of sin and his understanding of virtue.

“Dylan revitalized folk music and when he plugged his guitar in, the lyrics of rock were forever changed,” Bryant said. “When he converted to Christianity, he changed Contemporary Christian music and brought it into the mainstream. You can’t understand that genre without recognizing Dylan’s contributions.”

The course will include a variety of multimedia presentations, including interviews with Dylan, documentaries and performances of his songs by Kilzer. At the end of the course, interested students may opt to perform Dylan numbers that they find meaningful.

“Just like in the Psalms, everything can be found in Dylan’s music,” Kilzer said. “He’s enigmatic and a shadowy figure, but he’s also a modern-day psalmist.”

[...]

“We want to reach out to the community and show that the study of theology is not just about dead white Europeans,” Bryant said. “There’s a theology for everything and for Christians with grace-opened eyes, everything is a sacrament, everything is a prayer.

“Even a Dylan tune.”

I think, if you want to look for milestones, this is probably a very significant one in the progress towards Dylan’s music being understood in something like its rightful place in American culture. That is not to say that what Bryant and Kilzer are saying about Dylan’s songs is the last word on his work — and they’d doubtless agree with that — or even that what they are saying is necessarily true in every respect. It is just to say that that this angle warrants serious consideration, and it is clearly beginning to receive just that.

…

Well, they’re not showing any lights tonight
And there’s no moon.
There’s just a hot-blooded singer
Singing “Memphis in June,”
While they’re beatin’ the devil out of a guy
Who’s wearing a powder-blue wig.
Later he’ll be shot
For resisting arrest,
I can still hear his voice crying
In the wilderness.
What looks large from a distance,
Close up ain’t never that big.

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