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 PrintableVersion Christian hymns (words and music)Climbing the charts with meCHRISTIAN HYMNS The 1977 Christian Hymns offered many besides Reformed Baptists an unrivalled collection of 18th century hymns, some fine Victoriana and not much else. It helped to persuade a generation that whatever else hymnwriters were, they were essentially dead. CH devotees were rarely great mixers, and sometimes persuaded themselves that anything sung beyond their walls was charismatic candyfloss or liberal fungus. This new edition does much to make amends. Watts and Wesley slip (in total) from 170 to 144, while Montgomery keeps his 26, Doddridge loses four from his 23, Newton one from his 20; still a strong foundation for a book of 942 items. Bonar retains a generous 20, while Lyte's share actually grows from eight to ten. The gains are in a wealth of late-20th century writing from such evangelicals as Margaret Clarkson, Timothy Dudley-Smith and James Seddon, with further sprinklings from the Jubilate and Praise! constituencies in which I share. So here is a truly Reformed volume; obedient to Psalm 98, our Protestant forebears did not live in the past. We still begin with the Old Hundredth: William Kethe and Louis Bourgeois would be pleased with much of the rest. But we no longer end with Doxologies, which are displaced by 'Hymns for Children' (pruned but still pre-1900!) and 37 'Songs and Choruses' from CSSM favourites to more recent 'worship songs'. Cautious modernisationThe editors have cautiously followed evangelical modernisers in seeing little reason to use thee/thou for the Godhead, and none for using such pronouns for ourselves, towns, cities, stars, or death. Where a rhyme is not affected some archaisms have gone; but 'Be still my soul, the Lord is on your side' is soon followed by 'Give to the winds thy fears' because of a single 'thee' in the latter. Among rescue attempts are small improvements to 'It is a thing most wonderful', 'Lead us, heavenly Father', 'One day when heaven', and 'When we walk with the Lord'. These policies are briefly explained in a new Preface alongside the old. 'Come, my soul, thy plea prepare' loses its 'suit' but not its 'thy' and the saints still sing 'in concert'. It may be too much to expect Bible usage of capital letters, but at least these disappear from the beginning of lines except where starting a sentence. Bravo! New writersSeveral new and younger writers are represented; co-editor Paul Cook also serves us well with 'From heaven's eternal throne there came a word of strong decree' (needing a firmer tune?). But there is little point in today's hymns still celebrating 'blood-bought throngs' or 'anguish sore'. 20th century classics by Rosamond Herklots and Edward Burns are here, the latter in outdated form. Some hymns surprisingly convey a 'holy place' theology. More surprising are the 'renewal' items (such slippery labels!) among the main body of hymns; Kendrick and Townend with 19 between them. Here we find the rich man's theology (Luke 16) with 'Restore, O Lord' (Do a miracle; then they'll believe!). Meanwhile, nothing from Bell, Bayly, Cosnett, Gaunt, Pratt Green, Leckebusch, Mowbray, Wigmore or Wren; much Americana, but little from Africa, Asia or Australia. Tunes?Luther's 'Ein' feste Burg' provides two tune-arrangements, but Carlyle's text deserves a better partner than is offered here. The music is generally conservative with a Welsh flavour. Several hymns are set to three tunes, while too many tunes come three or more times and Church triumphant an amazing six. Where the music seems inappropriate, it is often because it is too mournful (126, 127, 339a, 426) or ill-matched to syllables or stress (218b, 353). Thanks for including Abingdon for 'And can it be', especially since Sagina growls along in G. No guitar chords are shown; the layout and indexing are clear. The words-only edition is double-column, saving space but crippling the longer lines. I struggle to love any book which omits Isaac Watts's foundational 'Behold the glories of the Lamb'. This complaint is partly offset by tantalising tastes of James Montgomery Boice ('Come to the waters'), Stephen Crowter ('Sometimes my eyes are blind'), Michael Perry ('Not the grandeur of the mountains'), Emma Turl ('From a life of weariness') and David Preston's three Psalm versions. With this 98% rubbish-free hymnal, CH regains its place in the top four. If your church buys it, you will still need those extra hymn-sheets or acetates, but not half so many. Christopher Idle, © Evangelicals Now - February 2005 |
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