STRYPER: MOVED BY THE $PIRIT?

Some people think that Christian heavy-metal band Stryper has a stronger spiritual connection to P. T. Barnum than to God.

Others don’t question the group’s motives or sincerity, and enthusiastically endorse its melodic metal laced with phrases like “Christ is the way!” and “Jesus in your heart.” These people have helped push the quartet’s latest LP, “To Hell With the Devil,” into the Top 40.

Both camps would have found support for their viewpoint at Stryper’s sold-out show Saturday at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. The Stryper supporters would cite the fiery way the local foursome tore through such crunching rockers as “More Than a Man” and “The Way,” which sounded like sanitized Iron Maiden barnburners. They would emphasize Oz Fox’s deft, squealing guitar leads, the lush vocal harmonies and perhaps other aspects of the show.

But they probably wouldn’t say much about lead vocalist Michael Sweet’s frequent between-song raps; those--along with the band’s lyrical content and overall concept--are key footnotes to the thesis that Stryper is a wickedly clever, increasingly successful sham.

Sweet reached a truly warped nadir when introducing “Calling On You”: He informed the crowd that “we’re not begging or anything” but the video of the song was in light rotation on MTV and frequent requests from them could move it into heavier rotation--a development that would “glorify God.”

At that moment, the faction that considers these guys shameless scamsters seemed to have the more persuasive argument.