Bible Noise—Sonic Explorations in Biblical Engagement Through the Use of Voice

This paper examines the practice of ‘Bible Noise’, a group which I led at a Church of England evangelical church that explored creative ways of reading aloud the Bible through sound art practice. Biblical engagement is central to evangelicals and I wanted to expand biblical engagement by using sonic...

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Main Author: Sunil Philp Chandy
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-03-01
Series:Religions
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/16/3/361
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author Sunil Philp Chandy
author_facet Sunil Philp Chandy
author_sort Sunil Philp Chandy
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description This paper examines the practice of ‘Bible Noise’, a group which I led at a Church of England evangelical church that explored creative ways of reading aloud the Bible through sound art practice. Biblical engagement is central to evangelicals and I wanted to expand biblical engagement by using sonic performances through the use of our voices, thereby facilitating a more bodily encounter with scripture. ‘Noise’ in the group name alludes to the disruption that sound can generate and also alludes to the ‘noise’ of multivocality, since the Bible has many voices in it from authors, narrative characters, editors, compilers, translators, interpreters and so on. The ‘noise’ is also a disruption of the visual primacy of our current culture. Bible Noise explores ways in which different voices can be brought in to enrich our aural engagement with scripture by exploring five different ‘pieces’ or readings of scripture. In doing so it establishes a communal idea of scripture where the different voices within scripture can be heard, paying attention to their particularities. Listening to these voices and our own embodied enactment of them can enrich and deepen our perception and engagement of scripture by appreciating the chorus of voices that is the Bible, the collection of texts that forms a core of British evangelical practice and belief.
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spelling doaj-art-47903deeafdd4bbdb8dc5af174f9ddd32025-08-20T02:43:02ZengMDPI AGReligions2077-14442025-03-0116336110.3390/rel16030361Bible Noise—Sonic Explorations in Biblical Engagement Through the Use of VoiceSunil Philp Chandy0Music and Worship Department, London School of Theology, Northwood HA6 2UW, UKThis paper examines the practice of ‘Bible Noise’, a group which I led at a Church of England evangelical church that explored creative ways of reading aloud the Bible through sound art practice. Biblical engagement is central to evangelicals and I wanted to expand biblical engagement by using sonic performances through the use of our voices, thereby facilitating a more bodily encounter with scripture. ‘Noise’ in the group name alludes to the disruption that sound can generate and also alludes to the ‘noise’ of multivocality, since the Bible has many voices in it from authors, narrative characters, editors, compilers, translators, interpreters and so on. The ‘noise’ is also a disruption of the visual primacy of our current culture. Bible Noise explores ways in which different voices can be brought in to enrich our aural engagement with scripture by exploring five different ‘pieces’ or readings of scripture. In doing so it establishes a communal idea of scripture where the different voices within scripture can be heard, paying attention to their particularities. Listening to these voices and our own embodied enactment of them can enrich and deepen our perception and engagement of scripture by appreciating the chorus of voices that is the Bible, the collection of texts that forms a core of British evangelical practice and belief.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/16/3/361bibleengagementsonicsoundvoiceembodiment
spellingShingle Sunil Philp Chandy
Bible Noise—Sonic Explorations in Biblical Engagement Through the Use of Voice
Religions
bible
engagement
sonic
sound
voice
embodiment
title Bible Noise—Sonic Explorations in Biblical Engagement Through the Use of Voice
title_full Bible Noise—Sonic Explorations in Biblical Engagement Through the Use of Voice
title_fullStr Bible Noise—Sonic Explorations in Biblical Engagement Through the Use of Voice
title_full_unstemmed Bible Noise—Sonic Explorations in Biblical Engagement Through the Use of Voice
title_short Bible Noise—Sonic Explorations in Biblical Engagement Through the Use of Voice
title_sort bible noise sonic explorations in biblical engagement through the use of voice
topic bible
engagement
sonic
sound
voice
embodiment
url https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/16/3/361
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