“Instead of serving as a family heirloom that would be sufficient for generations, hymnals began to be treated as an accessory for churches and Christian social groups that would need to be replaced every few years to remain relevant. This was mostly for musical, not textual, reasons, since older texts continued to be preserved (albeit with choruses attached) alongside new ones.” - P&D
“Few songs are still sung after 1,200 years. “Be Thou My Vision” is one of them. I love it deeply, but so have Christians from medieval Ireland to modern churches worldwide. Here’s why and where it came from.” - Josh Barzon
“What was left of the hymn, archeologists found 100 years ago in ancient Egyptian ruins on a scrap of tattered papyrus, long buried by desert sand. The discovery was sealed in a climate-controlled vault at Oxford University until John Dickson came along.” - Baptist Press
“ ‘Man of Sorrows’ was the last hymn Ira Sankey ever heard Bliss sing. Bliss’s name is on the top left and right of this hymn. The words and the tune came from him. The focus, however, is entirely on Jesus.” - TGC
“Today, January 13, we remember the Hussites who, on this day in 1501, published the first hymnal in history written in the language of the common people.” - Breakpoint
Things you probably didn’t know: “1. The Library of Congress has an amazing ‘Amazing Grace’ collection…. 2. One of the verses of ‘Amazing Grace’ was stolen.” - TGC
“Homer Rodeheaver has quite a lot to do with all kinds of gospel music, as Kevin Mungons and Douglas Yeo demonstrate in their fascinating, eminently readable biography of a wildly underrated and rarely appreciated figure who made a significant impact on sacred music, Black and white.” - C.Today
John Piper needed “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” to match a sermon, so he wrote two new Reformed verses. Many of writer Thomas Chisholm’s fellow Methodists, who “sing their theology,” couldn’t sing along. - CToday
