Legend of the protest of the 1960s, Bob Dylan is one of those artists whose spirituality has always marked his work. In 1979, on the occasion of the release of the album Slow Train Coming, the American songwriter disconcerts more than one fan by announcing his conversion to Christianity. The record opens with a first track with explicit lyrics: “You will have to serve someone, it could be the devil or it could be the Lord.”
This unexpected revelation from this grandson of Jewish immigrants took place in November 1978 in a hotel room in Tucson, Arizona. That evening, alone in front of the television, exhausted from the concert he had just given, he came across a Christian program hosted by a televangelist. And it was there that he said he had a vision of Christ.
“Jesus appeared to me as the King of kings and Lord of lords.” he would later tell a journalist. “There was a presence in the room that could only be Jesus. Jesus put his hand on me. It was something physical. I felt it. I felt it all over me. I felt my whole body trembling. The glory of the Lord knocked me down and raised me up.
A “Christian trilogy”
The artist was shaken enough that he decided shortly after to be baptized. Bob Dylan then joined the “Born again” evangelical Church, also frequented by the then American president, Jimmy Carter. Animated by his new faith, the folk legend will recount himself picking up hitchhikers at the time to tell them about Jesus Christ.
In his entourage, this conversion will in any case not only make people happy. His friend John Lennon notably moved away from him. Others will continue to defend him. “For me, Dylan has not changed at all,” said Hugues Aufray, his friend, on RTL at the time. “He always has a look that is deeply bruised by a lot of things that are happening. (…) I believe that this is precisely where we recognize the real, the great artists.”
Two albums will follow: Saved (1980) et Shot of Love (1981) to form, what will be nicknamed, Bob Dylan’s “Christian trilogy”. In 1983, upon the release of his album Infidels, lThe singer will be more discreet about his spiritual life. The artist would have even moved away from Christianity today, but fans still believe they find proof of yes it was…
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