May a Baptist (or any other Protestant) sing Catholic hymns?
Welp. That pretty much shoots down all my guilt-by-association arguments right there.
I’ve seen a couple of the more militantly “fundamental Baptist” hymnals, and quite frankly they could really use a little infusion of hymns from other parts of the church, to put it mildly. Not every Catholic hymn as Mariolatry, and not every Lutheran hymn is about baptismal regeneration. Or, what pvawter said.
Aspiring to be a stick in the mud.
Whose permission am I seeking regarding the hymns I sing?
My feisty, curmudgeonly side’s first response was that I can sing any hymn I please that does not violate my conscience. SMILE
"Some things are of that nature as to make one's fancy chuckle, while his heart doth ache." John Bunyan
Hillsong (or various other CCM) is strictly off limits because its songwriters may or may not be charismatic in their doctrinal beliefs (regardless of the actual lyrical content of any particular song), but songs by Roman Catholic songwriters are (most usually) absolutely fine regardless of the songwriter’s aberrant doctrinal beliefs. Or as the author of the OP article puts it: “Are we actually permitted to sing the truth of God composed by someone who may have espoused transubstantiation or venerated Mary? I think so. All truth is God’s truth, even if a donkey speaks it.”
Ow. I suddenly just developed a headache. (Now where did I put that Tylenol?)
Here’s a bottle of ibuprofen. You can use it while cataloging the great old hymns and Gospel songs written by tongues-speaking old-line Pentecostals!
"Some things are of that nature as to make one's fancy chuckle, while his heart doth ache." John Bunyan
[josh p]I must be missing something. I didn’t see anything about Hillsong or anything that would come across as decisive in any way. From my perspective as long as the song itself doesn’t have abberant theology I will sing it.
Josh, I do believe our dear brother Larry was making fun of the tendency of some in our number to separate from Hillsong, who are theologically orthodox except for being continuationist in their “charismatology” (is that a word?), while accepting Catholic scholarship that of course errs on the side of denying all five Solas, which is a far bigger deal, theologically speaking. We might describe his headache as a hangover born of the 100 proof illogical liquer called “guilt by association”, and administer a cup of Isaac Watts’ coffee as the cure.
(hang in there, Larry!)
Aspiring to be a stick in the mud.
[Ron Bean]Here’s a bottle of ibuprofen. You can use it while cataloging the great old hymns and Gospel songs written by tongues-speaking old-line Pentecostals!
Consider A. B. Simpson - founder of the Christian Missionary Alliance (and faith healer) - a common hymn sung in (older) fundamentalist churches (v 3 is frequently omitted from our hymnals, but v 1 still says “still he love to … heal the sick and lame”:
1. Oh, how sweet the glorious message simple faith may claim:
Yesterday, today, forever, Jesus is the same;
Still He loves to save the sinful, heal the sick and lame,
Cheer the mourner, still the tempest—glory to His name!
Refrain:
Yesterday, today, forever, Jesus is the same,
All may change, but Jesus never—glory to His name!
Glory to His name! Glory to His name!
All may change, but Jesus never—glory to His name!
2. He who was the friend of sinners seeks the lost one now:
Sinner, come, and at His footstool penitently bow;
He who said, “I’ll not condemn thee, go and sin no more,”
Speaks to thee that word of pardon as in days of yore.
3. Oft on earth He healed the suff’rer by His mighty hand:
Still our sicknesses and sorrows go at His command;
He who gave His healing virtue to a woman’s touch
To the faith that claims His fullness still will give as much.
4. As He walked once to Emmaus, with them to abide,
So through all life’s way He walketh ever near our side;
Soon again we shall behold Him—hasten, Lord, the day—
But ’twill still be this same Jesus as He went away.
We all like to sing, “All Creatures of our God and King”! It was written by St. Francis of Assisi, a Catholic who received the Stigmata. Translated by an Anglican Vicar into English and set to the tune that was written by a Jesuit priest, and is beloved by most fundamentalist congregations.
I only sing hymns written by independent, fundamental Baptists who share the same doctrinal views as I do about everything, who have been baptized by immersion by a Baptist preacher of identical faith and practice, and who are current members of Baptist churches of identical faith and practice.
To this end, I follow every eligible Baptist song-writer on social media, and act accordingly whenever I detect secondary separation may compel me to disassociate and stop using their music.
But, that’s just me. I don’t want to be sullied by the world …
Tyler is a pastor in Olympia, WA and works in State government.
[TylerR]I only sing hymns written by independent, fundamental Baptists who share the same doctrinal views as I do about everything, who have been baptized by immersion by a Baptist preacher of identical faith and practice, and who are current members of Baptist churches of identical faith and practice.
To this end, I follow every eligible Baptist song-writer on social media, and act accordingly whenever I detect secondary separation may compel me to disassociate and stop using their music.
But, that’s just me. I don’t want to be sullied by the world …
Just curious which hymn it is. I don’t want to be sullied by the world, either! :^)
Aspiring to be a stick in the mud.
Discussion