Wonderful Words of Life by Various authors

First published: Grand Rapids, Mich.: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2004

Edited by Richard J. Mouw and Mark A. Noll

Genre(s): Nonfiction

Subgenre(s): Church history; critical analysis; theology

Core issue(s): Catholics and Catholicism; evangelization; faith; Protestants and Protestantism

Overview

Wonderful Words of Life, edited by Richard J. Mouw and Mark Holl, is part of the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship Liturgical Studies series and focuses on the history and significance of hymns in Christianity. It is the product of the Hymnody in American Protestantism project, a three-year study conducted by the Institute for the Study of American Evangelicals. As part of the project, Stephen Mariani of Wellesley College compiled a list of three hundred of the most frequently published American hymns.

Hymns provide concise theology, often expressed in memorable poetic imagery; they both teach and delight. Generally grounded in orthodoxy, hymns allow greater understanding of saints throughout history and of the church universal. The work contains eleven essays divided into three sections. The first section examines the work and influence of hymn composer Isaac Watts. The second section looks at the role of hymns in the Protestant life, examining how hymns are used by evangelists, the Youth for Christ Movement, and the Catholic church and how white churchgoers are using gospel music. The third section focuses on the message of hymns that deal with various parts of Christian doctrine and topics such as death and divine rescue.

The first three chapters are devoted to Isaac Watts (1674-1748), an English Noncomformist pastor who wrote hymns central to British and American evangelical revivals of the eighteenth century. Perhaps his best-known hymn is “Joy to the World.” Watts wrote hymns on foundational, unifying doctrines: sinfulness, faith as battle, Christ’s love and redemption, and the yearning for Heaven. His hymns brought together people of various classes and races, provided a “public voice” for female composers, and promoted unity. Reformed singing had used Bible texts set to music in literal translation so that congregations might learn Scripture, but Watts appropriated the Psalms for singing through his method of “Psalm imitation,” departing from literal translation to allow a poetic, emotive rendering in English, expressive of modern Christian experience. He encouraged singers to relate Scripture to their lives, both individual and communal, with political and social references. His Psalter provides a “national” background to the narrative of the relationship between God and his people. His hymns spread from their native England to the Americas. By 1800 many Watts texts had been revised to reflect an American sensibility, including the shift from Calvinism to evangelicalism.

Chapters 4 to 7 examine the popularity of hymns and their role in evangelization. Hymns played an important role in missionary work, whether in converting individuals or promoting the mission to the public. Missionary hymns frequently used battle imagery depicting the power of American Christianity and culture to subdue heathen ignorance and unbelief; they also emphasized evangelization in relation to Christ’s return. Both attitudes were compelling in the growth of nineteenth century missions.

Hymns were also used in Canadian revivals, where evangelists’ focus was on repentance, conversion, and commitment to Christian living. Emotionally engaging, sentimental gospel songs invited participants into the joys of salvation. While they disapproved of secular entertainment, evangelists often used the same theatrics to draw crowds to alternative entertainment venues with well-known celebrity preachers.

The Youth for Christ movement similarly took cues from popular music to create Christian music that attracts young people while promoting religious values. In the beginning, the movement struggled to define modern Christian music as separate from secular music. Its leaders denounced rock music in the 1960’s as a dangerous substitute for a relationship with Christ, but modern Christian music has borrowed elements from rock and pop music to create music that is largely indistinguishable from its secular counterpart except by the lyrics, which bear a Christian message. Essay author Thomas E. Bergler states that the Youth for Christ movement, through music, has moved Protestant worship from fundamentalist to evangelical. Christian music continues to grow in popularity, with radio stations and record labels devoted to the genre, and youth evangelists use it to attract both non-Christians and Christians.

The popularity of Protestant hymns has led to their inclusion in Catholic hymnals. Essayist Felicia Piscitelli says that this is not surprising, as borrowing occurred even during the Reformation. The Second Vatican Council regularized worship in vernacular languages, along with greater lay participation and interaction with non-Catholic Christians. Piscitelli theorizes that an “evangelical” trend in Catholicism may account for increased Catholic use of praise songs and contemporary Christian music.

Along with more formal hymns, Christians have enjoyed gospel music. Gospel music is sometimes thought of as having two separate branches, black gospel and southern, or country, gospel. Black gospel music has influenced modern jazz and rock as well as country gospel and contemporary Christian music. White singers have also begun performing what has been regarded as traditional black gospel music. Essayist Virginia Lieson Brereton examines white perceptions of black gospel singers and decides that most whites who write about black gospel are “indulging in a bit of mythmaking and romanticizing,” but she says that examining the white gaze can be instructive of what speaks to whites in this music.

The final section in this work deal with the theology in the hymns. Essayist Susan Wise Bauer identifies seventy-seven narrative and fifty-six systemic hymns from Marini’s list. The narrative hymns trace the Christian’s journey, while the systemic hymns express various aspects of Christian doctrine. Bauer concludes that numerous composers, including Watts, wrote both types, and she calls for more acceptance of narrative hymns by sometimes suspicious evangelicals.

The remaining essays deal with two common topics in hymns: death and rescue. Many American hymns refer to death in relation to historical attitudes regarding death and the afterlife. Many consolatory hymns exalt a blissful heavenly existence in contrast to a trouble-filled earthly life, while monitory hymns caution us about our mortality.

Mouw examines the topic of rescue hymns by evaluating Sandra Sizer’s Gospel Hymns and Social Religion (1979) and Peter Selby’s Rescue: Jesus and Salvation Today (1995). Although he finds valuable insights in Sizer, Mouw believes Selby is more correct and recommends examining rescue hymns in light of liberationist theology. The listener, he says, must understand that all people (the oppressed and the oppressors) need divine rescue and that two responses are necessary: a passive obedient waiting on God who rescues and an active faithful endeavor to rescue others through individual salvation and the removal of systems of oppression.

Christian Themes

One major theme in this work is the importance of Psalms and hymns in congregational singing and worship. Singing binds worshippers together in the expression of theological truths and encouragement to persevere in Christian living and faith. Although the authors of the essays in Wonderful Words of Life see value in praise songs and contemporary Christian music, they call for a valuing of historic, evangelical traditions in hymnody. If Christians ignore the Psalms and hymns of the past, they lose valuable resources for the maintenance of Christian devotion and instruction in orthodox doctrinal traditions. Collectively, hymns teach about the Scriptures of both Old and New Testaments as well as the experiences and faith of saints throughout history. Because they tend to focus on foundational, biblical truths, they can help bring appreciation, acceptance, and unity across doctrinal, denominational lines; they provide a common denominator of faith.

A second significant theme is the valuing of important contributions from a variety of doctrinal views. While liberal and conservative Christians tend to emphasize different aspects of faith, hymns address both the individual Christian’s experience and the importance of adherence to the teachings of Scripture. Because traditional hymns address issues and beliefs of the universal, catholic church, they are valuable in bridging differences between Roman Catholic and Protestant Christians. This unifying effect also draws together believers of different social classes, races, and nationalities.

Sources for Further Study

Bishop, Selma L. Isaac Watts, Hymns and Spiritual Songs, 1707-1748: A Publishing History and a Bibliography. London: Faith, 1962. A definitive work to begin researching this innovator of Protestant hymnody; it provides sources for additional avenues of research.

Brown, Candy Gunther. Review of Wonderful Words of Life. The Journal of American History 91, no. 4 (March, 2005): 1457. Review examines the book’s attempt to analyze the social and theological effect of hymns.

Noll, Mark A., and Edith L. Blumhofer, eds. Sing Them Over Again to Me: Hymns and Hymnbooks in America. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 2006. Eleven essays examine hymnody and American Protestant life. Includes the history of the hymn “Amazing Grace” and an analysis of how the content of hymns and hymnals has changed.

Rhoads, Mark. Review of Wonderful Words of Life. Christian Scholar’s Review 34, no. 2 (Winter, 2005): 271-272. In addition to reviewing the work, Rhoads discusses the hymnal he used as a child, the influence of gospel music, revivalism, and contemporary Christian music.

Stricklin, David. Review of Wonderful Words of Life. The Journal of Southern History 71, no. 2 (May, 2005): 508-509. Stricklin reviews the work and discusses its significance for Southern history.