English Congregational Hymns in the Eighteenth CenturyHistorians of the English congregational hymn, focusing on its literary or theological aspects, have usually found the genre out of step with the rationalist era that produced it. This book takes a more balanced approach to the work of four writers and concludes that only eighteenth-century Britain, with its understanding of public verse, common truth, and the utility of poetry, could have invented the English hymn as we know it. The early hymns sought to inspire, teach, stir, and entertain congregations. The essential purpose shifted slightly in line with each poet's setting and in accord with the poetic thought of his day. For Isaac Watts's Independents, powerful traditional imagery was appropriate. Charles Wesley's enthusiasm proceeded from and served the spirit of the revival. John Newton's prophetic vision particularly suited the impoverished community at Olney. William Cowper's masterful handling of formal conventions and his idiosyncratic personal hymns reflect his poetic, rather than clerical, vocation. Despite such temporal variations, the great poetry by each man displays themes of general Christian relevance, suggesting common experience, showing normative features of the genre, and bearing a complex and intriguing relationship to secular literature. |
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... indicates a catholicity of taste that defies modern categorization and refines the literary historian's appreciation of the interpenetration of literary periods. The place and nature of the cult of sensibility in the Wesleyan revival is ...
... indicating a third important feature of the study of hymns, is Erik Routley's The Music of Christian Hymnody. The bond between hymn text and tune is very strong, and familiar hymns can be considered apart from the traditional tunes only ...
... indicate how they were felt to be comforting, strengthening Christian evangelical tools and sources of truth. Their Christian interpretation and relevance were presumed. Expressing the joys and fears of the faithful individual, they are ...
... indicated by a call to “Look,” “Behold,” “See,” “Hark,” or “Hear.” Finally, hymns provided more flexible means of Christian education, the teaching of Bible stories and doctrine, than did psalms. When no coordination whatsoever with ...
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Contents
Self Sense the Revival | |
John Newton Olney Prophet | |
Exemplary Tradition the Loss of Control | |
Conclusion | |
Notes | |
Other editions - View all
English Congregational Hymns in the Eighteenth Century Madeleine Forell Marshall,Janet Todd Limited preview - 1982 |
English Congregational Hymns in the Eighteenth Century Madeleine Forrell Marshall,Janet M. Todd No preview available - 2014 |