At Christianity Today, Roger Freet finds challenging spiritual insights in the music of Tool, a prog-rock band not known for their positive attitude toward Christianity. The Tool lyrics Freet’s chosen to highlight in the article are direct, brutal, and demand answers. Perhaps it’s a shame that I’m not accustomed to music, Christian or otherwise, that talks so earnestly about spiritual matters. Speaking of Tool frontman Maynard James Keenan’s lyrics, Freet concludes:
The Holy Spirit is the giver of all gifts. If someone elects to use those gifts in the service of God, good. But those gifts are not rendered dormant or defunct by virtue of our intent. An artist who explicitly rejects God, as many have done, nevertheless remains a “sub-creator,” as Tolkien said, a creator in the Creator’s image. We should be suspicious of our tendency to insist that God only shows up in the right places. Sometimes, pagan sources can most accurately reflect back to Christians the power and lasting impact of genuine witness. You never know when and where God might reveal himself.
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October 11, 2007 at 22:06
I’m intimately familiar with the song Freet is quoting, and when I first listened to 10,000 Days (the album containing it) this song jumped out at me and challenged me immediately.
“An artist who explicitly rejects God, as many have done, nevertheless remains a “sub-creator,” as Tolkien said, a creator in the Creator’s image. We should be suspicious of our tendency to insist that God only shows up in the right places.”
I wholeheartedly agree with this.
Also, Tool are about as spiritually messed up as they come, but Maynard has had a HUGE amount of Christian input from his mother in the past, some of which bleeds through in his music at times. He’s most certainly not sympathetic to the church (for many reasons), but he’s definitely sympathetic to the God of the bible.
They are often misunderstood, mostly due to the song ‘Judith’, to hate Christianity. I’ve heard Maynard’s personal take on this song, and he actually refers to Genesis 1 in its direct Hebrew context to bring the church into line in the way they treated his mother before her death. He doesn’t seem to hate TRUE Christianity at all, in fact he openly stands in awe at the strength of faith he saw in his Christian mother. He emphasises that God is Light according to Gen 1, and that such a being of light and life and love would never condone the Judgment that his avid Christian mother endured at the hands of her Church (she had a rare condition, and was told she ‘didn’t have enough faith’ when her prayers failed to heal her). On this I agree, upon hearing the story in full.
He went so far as to say ‘fxxx your God’ in the song, not referring to the God or Jesus of the bible at all, but the skewed figure that these judgmental people must serve.
Worth reading up on it, I actually think he has a prophetic gift that God would love to utilize. He’s a very, very profound writer.
October 12, 2007 at 11:12
“He’s most certainly not sympathetic to the church (for many reasons), but he’s definitely sympathetic to the God of the bible..”
Matt, can you show me some evidences of this statement? Keenan has openly made a joke about becoming a Christian, and his latest project is “Puscifer”...
That Keenan is disillusioned with Christianity because of the way his godly mother was treated is a fact. That he could just as well choose to uplift Christ because of his mother’s faithful godly witness to him during her time of suffering is also a fact. He witnessed both false and true Christianity firsthand and his choice, for the time being, has been to delve ever deeper into the things of Satan. Let’s be honest about this choice he has made and pray for him. Sub-creator or not, he is lost and needs the Lord.