Wonderful Words of Life: Hymns in American Protestant History and Theology

Calvin Institute of Christian Worship Liturgical Studies

by Richard J. Mouw, John D. Witvliet (Foreword by)

While many evangelical congregations have moved away from hymns and hymnals, these were once central fixtures in the evangelical tradition. This book examines the role and importance of hymns in evangelicalism, not only as a part of worship but as tools for theological instruction, as a means to identity formation, and as records of past spiritual experiences of the believing community.

Written by knowledgeable church historians, Wonderful Words of Life explores the significance of hymn-singing in many dimensions of American Protestant and evangelical life. The book focuses mainly on church life in the United States but also discusses the foundational contributions of Isaac Watts and other British hymn writers, the use of gospel songs in English Canada, and the powerful attraction of African-American gospel music for whites of several religious persuasions. Includes appendixes on the American Protestant Hymn Project and on hymns in Roman Catholic hymnals.


Susan Wise Bauer
Thomas E. Bergler
Virginia Lieson Brereton
Esther Rothenbusch Crookshank
Kevin Kee
Richard J. Mouw
Mark A. Noll
Felicia Piscitelli
Robert A. Schneider
Rochelle A. Stackhouse
Jeffrey VanderWilt

Genres: Faith, Music

308 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2004

About the author

Richard John Mouw is a theologian and philosopher. He held the position of President at Fuller Theological Seminary for 20 years (1993-2013), and continues to hold the post of Professor of Faith and Public Life.

Reviews

[Andrew Mcneill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mixed bag of excellent and dull papers

I thoroughly enjoyed reading some of these papers and some were exceedingly enlightening. On the other hand, some were as dull as ditchwater and can probably be skipped without missing much.

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

These essays were a bit "hit or miss." The variety of authors and their actual beliefs is very broad which makes it interesting and keeps you on your toes. Some of the topics, however, just weren't reading about (e.g. "Marketing the Gospel: Music in English-Canadian Protestant Revivalism").

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love hymns and so I was excited to find this title that explored the role of hymns in American Protestant history and theology. Though this book largely was not what I had hoped (i.e. a biographical look at hymn writers, hymnal compilations, etc.) it still had some really fun moments.

For one thing, it was very scholarly which meant good news and bad news.

The good news? Examination of very nuanced topics that I may never really think about but are nonetheless important. Examples include white America's acceptance of the black church hymn tradition, how Catholicism adopted so many Protestant hymns, and a look at the role of death in Protestant hymns.

Yet, also because of its scholarly nature, it lent to some particularly dry moments.

Overall, I'd say I enjoyed this book and will probably use it as a reference for any projects that take up exploring the role of hymns in the church, though I would largely not recommend it.

[Carolyn]

Yep, seriously... I've gotten fascinated with the history of the old songs we're learning at HOGJam. This seems to concentrate more on the lyrics (the radical departure from using strictly biblical texts) and less on the musicology, but still pretty interesting.

[David Fabrycky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn't read all of it, but an interesting volume to dip in and out - really underscores the importance of hymns in developing our theology.