“And If You Must, Use Words”: Indirect Religion Communication in Keaggy’s The Master and the Musician

Abstract

Building on Fraser’s account of religious persuasion through indirection, this essay explores how instrumental music can communicate faith, as demonstrated in a groundbreaking album by guitarist Phil Keaggy. I argue that while music functions as pure persuasion in its unfolding form, it can also facilitate ordinary persuasion on matters of faith by evoking particular impressions of religious pathos, ethos, and/or mythos, which may be reinforced in liner notes. When Keaggy, a pioneer of Jesus music, made an album of original instrumentals, a spiritually-themed story was added to ensure acceptance by that audience. This story conveys faith indirectly, while the music itself somewhat evokes the ethos and pathos of the gospel. After the story was dropped in the reissued album, key qualities of Keaggy’s music and ethos helped sustain his art’s potential to convey spiritual meaning. For communication scholars, discerning such potential requires closereading and/or audience studies.