The Singing Church
The Hymns It Wrote and Sang
9781465638922
281 pages
Library of Alexandria
Overview
In preparing this discussion of the Christian hymn, it has been my ambition, not to be pre-eminently scholarly, but rather to be pre-eminently helpful. The current treatment of this phase of church worship is quite sufficiently thorough in its literary analysis and historical research; there is nothing but praise for this aspect of the study of the hymn in the many excellent treatises in America as well as in England. The fathers of American hymnology, Professors Austin Phelps and Edwards A. Parks and Rev. Daniel L. Furber, set a good example to later hymnologists in their Hymns and Choirs in laying stress on the thought and sentiment of the hymns and in devoting nearly one-third of their study to “The Dignity and the Methods of Worship in Song,” discussing choirs, congregational singing, organs, and many other practical phases in the use of hymns. They gave little consideration to the historicity of individual hymns; that viewpoint had not risen above the horizon. Later works have given more attention to the historical background. The work of Dr. Louis F. Benson, the greatest hymnologist America has produced, cannot be too highly commended for its scholarly thoroughness and indefatigable research. His The English Hymn and The Hymnody of the Christian Church should be found in the library of every minister. Other valuable American treatises on hymns are Ninde’s Story of the American Hymn, Gilman’s Evolution of the English Hymn, Reeves’ The Hymn as Literature, Marks’ Rise and Growth of English Hymnody, and Tillett’s Our Hymns and Their Authors, all of which are most helpful and illuminating discussions bearing on the literary and historical aspects of Christian hymns. On the other side of the sea are other most valuable studies of the hymn. Horder’s The Hymn Lover is particularly fresh and inspiring. Others are instructive regarding the individual hymns, such as Josiah Miller’s Singers and Songs of the Church, John Telford’s The Methodist Hymn-Book Illustrated and Evenings with the Sacred Poets, and W. T. Stead’sHymns That Have Helped. Supreme above them all is Julian’s Dictionary of Hymnology, which is a stupendous work of vast comprehensiveness and indefatigable industry, the last word in the history and critical study of Christian hymns of all lands and all Christian ages. The justification of another survey of the field lies in the fact that all these admirable books confine themselves to the purely literary and historical data regarding each hymn, with side glances in only a few cases at the practical values involved. While the fundamental urge of expressing religious emotions back of Christian hymns is not denied or even deprecated, the emotional values are not developed or stressed.
