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His first four studio albums<ref>Bob Dylan (1962); The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan (1963); The Times They Are a-Changin' (1964); and Another Side of Bob Dylan (1964)</ref> established Dylan as a major voice within the developing protest counterculture of the early Sixties. It was ''Bringing It All Back Home'' (1965), however, that propelled him to international fame and stardom. To howls of protest from his devoted "folkie" fans, Dylan "plugged in" for the first time and the album's glorious fusion of electric guitars, driving rock rhythms and his unique lyrical style<ref>By turns surreal, poetic, visionary and political.</ref> set a benchmark to which all other artists aspired. He arguably never scaled these heights again, especially in terms of producing an album of such consistent quality and musical completeness. His next three albums<ref>Highway 61 Revisited (1965); Blonde on Blonde (1966); and John Wesley Harding (1967)</ref> are rightly highly regarded, but after these his output became of increasingly variable quality and ''Blood On The Tracks'' (1975) is his last album from his classic period to be highly regarded by rock critics.

His first four studio albums<ref>Bob Dylan (1962); The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan (1963); The Times They Are a-Changin' (1964); and Another Side of Bob Dylan (1964)</ref> established Dylan as a major voice within the developing protest counterculture of the early Sixties. It was ''Bringing It All Back Home'' (1965), however, that propelled him to international fame and stardom. To howls of protest from his devoted "folkie" fans, Dylan "plugged in" for the first time and the album's glorious fusion of electric guitars, driving rock rhythms and his unique lyrical style<ref>By turns surreal, poetic, visionary and political.</ref> set a benchmark to which all other artists aspired. He arguably never scaled these heights again, especially in terms of producing an album of such consistent quality and musical completeness. His next three albums<ref>Highway 61 Revisited (1965); Blonde on Blonde (1966); and John Wesley Harding (1967)</ref> are rightly highly regarded, but after these his output became of increasingly variable quality and ''Blood On The Tracks'' (1975) is his last album from his classic period to be highly regarded by rock critics.

In 1979, Bob Dylan surprised many by announcing he had accepted [[Jesus Christ]] as his personal savior, and releasing an album of [[Gospel music]], ''Slow Train Coming''.  "Gotta Serve Somebody" became a hit single, and Dylan embarked on a tour in which many of his older, secular fans booed him while he attracted a new generation of Christian fans.  His next two albums, ''Saved'' (1980) and ''Shot of Love'' (1981) were also Gospel albums.  There followed a two year period of no new releases while rumors floated that Dylan had returned to the Jewish faith of his upbringing.  He resurfaced with a new album in 1984, ''Infidels''.  The secular/liberal music press accused the lyrics on ''Infidels'' of being "cranky" and right-wing: "Neighborhood Bully" defended Israel's foreign policy vis-a-vis its Arab neighbors, "Man of Peace" had the refrain "Sometimes Satan comes as a man of peace", "Union Sundown" supported buying American and decried imports from the third world, and the hit single "Sweetheart Like You" included the line "a woman like you should be at home, that's where you belong".  These four albums stand as an interesting period in Bob Dylan's career of [[Christian]] lyrics.  He has continued to release new material since, of varying quality and commercial success.

 

In 1979, Bob Dylan surprised many by announcing he had accepted [[Jesus Christ]] as his personal savior.  Biblical references had never been missing from Dylan's lyrics.  ''And the first one now will later be last'' and ''like Pharaoh's tribe they'll be drownded in the tide, and like Goliath they'll be conquered''.  The album ''John Wesley Harding'' is suffused with Christian imagery, and a religious conversion is implied in several songs from ''Street Legal'', the album released in 1978.  It was not until 1979, however, that Dylan made his conversion official by releasing an album of [[Gospel music]], ''Slow Train Coming''.  "Gotta Serve Somebody" became a hit single, and Dylan embarked on a tour in which many of his older, secular fans booed him while he attracted a new generation of Christian fans.  His next two albums, ''Saved'' (1980) and ''Shot of Love'' (1981) were also Gospel albums.  There followed a two year period of no new releases while rumors floated that Dylan had returned to the Jewish faith of his upbringing.  He resurfaced with a new album in 1984, ''Infidels''.  The secular/liberal music press accused the lyrics on ''Infidels'' of being "cranky" and right-wing: "Neighborhood Bully" defended Israel's foreign policy vis-a-vis its Arab neighbors, "Man of Peace" had the refrain "Sometimes Satan comes as a man of peace", "Union Sundown" supported buying American and decried imports from the third world, and the hit single "Sweetheart Like You" included the line "a woman like you should be at home, that's where you belong".  The opening track of ''Infidels'', ''Jokerman'' is constructed almost entirely of Biblical allusions.  These four albums stand as an interesting period in Bob Dylan's career of [[Christian]] lyrics.  He has continued to release new material since, of varying quality and commercial success.

In 2004, he published the first volume of ''Chronicles'', his planned autobiography. Since 2005, he has had a weekly radio show on XM Radio and he chose "The Bible" as the theme of a recent show, playing songs by the Reverend J.M. Gates, Kitty Wells, and the Reverend Gary Davis. His most recent album, ''Modern Times'' (2006), reached #1 on the pop music charts; at age 65, he is the oldest artist to have attained that mark.   

In 2004, he published the first volume of ''Chronicles'', his planned autobiography. Since 2005, he has had a weekly radio show on XM Radio and he chose "The Bible" as the theme of a recent show, playing songs by the Reverend J.M. Gates, Kitty Wells, and the Reverend Gary Davis. His most recent album, ''Modern Times'' (2006), reached #1 on the pop music charts; at age 65, he is the oldest artist to have attained that mark.