101 Hymn Stories

by Kenneth W. Osbeck

Excellent for devotional reading, sermon illustrations, and bulletin inserts, as well as for historical or biographical research.

Genres: Music, Christian, History, Nonfiction, Faith, Biography, Theology

288 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1981

About the author

A native of Michigan, Kenneth W. Osbeck entered the world on December 13, 1924. A World War II veteran, he earned a Master of Arts degree from the University of Michigan. He was well-known for his sixteen books related to hymn stories and music ministry, and he was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Letters degree from Cornerstone University. He taught music and fine arts for 35 years on the faculty of Cornerstone University and the Grand Rapids School of the Bible and Music. He served as minister of music in seven churches in the Grand Rapids area, and he directed music for the Children's Bible Hour, Youth for Christ, the Radio Bible Class, and Diadem Records.

After he retired from teaching, he and his wife, Betty, traveled extensively for many years presenting over 600 dramatized hymn story programs.

His books about the stories behind our hymns will live on as a memorial to his love for God and our worship of Him. His books included 101 Hymn Stories; 101 More Hymn Stories; the best-selling Amazing Grace: 366 Inspiring Hymn Stories for Daily Devotions; Hallelujah, What a Savior!; 25 Most Treasured Gospel Hymn Stories; and Joy to the World.

Reviews

[Brian Eshleman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I expected dramatic stories from every hymn as with the guy who lost his daughters and was able to declare in that spot that it is well with our souls. Not so, and I'm thankful. So often, it seems God springs profound and lasting words from persevering in relatively ordinary habits, like prayer and ministering to people who are hurting.

Even better for this particular would-be scribe in a wheelchair, He has used a disproportionate number of people with physical limitations to transcend those limitations, and indeed the limits of their lives, by their words He has seen fit to keep pumping through Christendom. Fanny Crosby had not written a Christian song until she was 44, and she wrote 8000 thereafter. There is hope.

[The Celtic Rebel (Richard) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been reading this through as a daily devotion and I absolutely loved it. A few of the stories behind the hymns I had heard before but still enjoyed reading them again. My favorite selections were How Great Thou Art, Stand Up For Jesus, Just As I Am, and It Is Well With My Soul.

I loved the mixture of info about the lyrics, why the poems/lyrics were written, what inspired them, and the bits of bio and history of the authors and musicians. Very well done.

[Jamie Holloway · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. I love seeing a lot of the hymns I remember singing in church when I was younger and learning about the authors. Awesome!

[Dave Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who grew up in church (and still loves the Church), worship was obviously always something I was familiar with, but because of the type of churches I grew up with, traditional hymns were not really part of it. I always attended more modern churches, and even now I go to one with lights, smoke machines, and I play electric guitar there. Of course, I was familiar with some hymns (especially the more popular ones), and occasionally we would sing them, but it was always with a sense that they were anachronistic. But recently I have been fascinated with older hymns, and wanted to know a bit more.

I thought this book was really great. I almost want to give it a 5 star review. It's a great history lesson on many popular church hymns, and the audiobook especially is great, because it has some music to accompany each hymn as the author reads the first verse or chorus of each hymn.

I loved that the author didn't have a theological axe to grind. He didn't try to split hairs on differences of opinions and this was a truly objective historical account of the stories behind the music. What I loved about each story was that they were all so different in many ways, but they all shared a common theme of being written from personal testimony or revelation. Even with some of the popular hymn writers who wrote thousands of hymns, I never got the impression that they were writing hymns just to churn the next one out. They were all inspired. And so many of the stories themselves were touching and memorable.

As someone not well-versed in hymnology, I was surprised with how many I actually knew. And it never even occurred to me that several Christmas songs we sing each year are hymns. I loved the fact that I knew a lot of these, and there were several "new" ones that I wanted to look up and listen to in their entirety.

I think my only complaint (if this is one) is that the audiobook is divided in a weird way, so that it only has about 40-50 chapters. Each chapter is for one hymn, so by the time you near the end, you are wondering with the other half of the book is. I still don't know if half of the book is missing, or if the chapters are numbered this way on purpose. I didn't count the hymns, so I don't know. Come to think of it, I didn't read anything about Amazing Grace (which is a travesty), so maybe there's an error with the book?

All the same, it was a free book to read on Hoopla, so no real complaints. Amazing book if you're interested in the subject.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book as a Christmas present from some dear friends back in 2009. They gave it to me because I sing in our church choir. I remember reading a few selections and then putting it in a drawer and promptly forgetting about it. I was cleaning out drawers and closets a month ago and came upon it, and decided to start from the beginning and finally read it in its entirety. I’ve been reading it for awhile now - reading a few pages every morning as a type of a devotional. I am very glad I did.

The author displays each hymn as it appears in a hymnal, and then includes a short biography of both the author of the text and the arranger of the music. I knew many of the hymns as my church incorporates a lot of music in its services every week. For the ones I did not know, I went to YouTube and played at least a portion of the hymn. I took my time and enjoyed the process.

It was amazing to me that the vast majority of these hymns were written in a very short length of time. Often it was after a profound emotional experience of joy or sorrow, where the author scrounged for any bit of paper in order to get his or her words down quickly. So many were written by ministers, but some were written by devout lay people or musicians. A few have an extraordinary back story, such as John Newton with Amazing Grace, but most are an expression of incredible faith. It was a humbling experience to read this book. The writing is not extraordinary but it didn’t need to be - the hymns are the stars of this book.

[Tom James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Back when churches still used hymnbooks, we'd see names at the top--Charles Wesley, Philip P. Bliss, Fanny J. Crosby, etc.--and wonder who they were and what moved them to write the songs that we sang each Sunday. Wonder no longer, for this volume gives the background of both the lyricists and the composers for 101 well-known hymns.. The songs appear in the book alphabetically by title for easy reference and contain notes and words. An excellent resource for those interested in the musical and literary heritage of the Church. Scripture references for each hymn are provided, so the book can be read as a daily devotional. My one criticism is that the biographies contain some redundancies and could use some more editing.

[LAMONT D · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having grown up in the church and the playing the organ and piano for many services over the years, I knew almost half of these hymns and could sing them without having to go to the keyboard. Very fascinating stories about the authors, the composers and the story behind the hymns as research by our author. We have lost the art of the old hymns in many of our church services today, not necessarily a total negative but yet the theology and the tunes that run through my head when I see a title of one of these hymns will always be an encouragement to me that I will take to my grave.

[Caroline Parkinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I zoned out of a lot of this book, but there were still many fascinating stories about the authors behind some of history's most beloved hymns, which fueled my own desire to write God honoring songs. Not sure if that's a dream that will ever bear fruit, but I'm encouraged by hearing about other Christians who wrote through great hardship or didn't start writing until later in life.
I would've given 4 stars, but they added 3 patriotic hymns when there were still more Christ centered hymns that were left out, so 3.5 stars

[Darcy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting trivia, but not a life-changing book.

[Casey Schulz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I select stories from this every year to pair with the history lessons in our homeschool. Wonderful hymns, fascinating stories, and a wide selection of hymns overall.

[Stacie Hamilton · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s so interesting to learn about the back stories of all these hymns that we sing in church and about the people who wrote them. If you love both history and music you’ll really enjoy reading this book.

[Dodo P · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of historical value in where each of these 101 hymns was created and a fond memory of my childhood church. The only thing I'd have done differently in this audio version is I would add lyrics, sung to the music. Great collection though!

[Thk · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting look into many popular hymns, but the best way to go through it is probably to play Youtube versions of the hymns alongside your reading

[Covenant Presbyterian Springfield Ohio]

Call Number: 783.9 OSB

Available.

[Gavin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not actually completed, just moving to my “Reference” shelf.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good one for background of many of the old hymns.

[Tammy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book about how some of the most famous hymns were written.