In tracing theological approaches to music in the era between Luther and Bach, the author reveals the variety and tension in German Lutheran theology. Both dogmatism and devotionalism helped shape Lutheran spirituality. The introduction of Italian Baroque style into church music, however, evoked controversies which pitted Pietism against Orthodoxy and preachers against musicians. Joyce Irwin received her PhD in Religious Studies from Yale University, has taught at the University of Georgia and at Colgate University and has served as organist and choir director in various churches. She currently resides in Hamilton, New York. In addition to numerous journal articles, she has published in Womanhood in Radical Protestantism, 1525-1675 and Sacred Sound: Music in Religious Thought and Practice.