The Gospel and the Grateful Dead

The Gospel and the Grateful Dead examines the linkages between the music and message of The Grateful Dead and the Christian gospel. It analyzes the ways in which the Dead embodied Christian teachings in their commitment to community, their musicality and lyricism, and their manifestation of grace. The blues and folk band The Grateful Dead emerged from the San Francisco “hippie” scene in the late 1960s, and offered a message of community and divine encounter. While they drew on the teachings of many spiritual traditions, the band’s ethos echoed quite powerfully the wisdom of Christian Scripture. This reflection examines the ways in which the Grateful Dead embodied Christian teachings in areas of community, praise, and service.

The Grateful Dead embodied more than music. They stood for a system of values receptive to divine wisdom and extolled relationships with earthly communities in ways that were unique in both their content and their power and longevity. Their improvisational music emphasized community access and divine inspiration. Their song lyrics conveyed messages about solidarity with the world and reconciliation with the Divine. And the life and work of Jerry Garcia exemplified the call of self-sacrifice for communities and friends, which in Garcia’s case extended to sacrifice unto death. Recognizing that they drew on the teachings of many other spiritual traditions, this reflection examines the ways in which the Grateful Dead embodied Christian teachings in their commitment to community, their musicality and lyricism, and their example of grace.