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

Anglican Theological Review, Fall 2005 by Doran, Carol

Wonderful Words of Life: Hymns in American Protestant History and Theology. Edited by Richard J. Mouw and Mark A. Noll. Calvin Institute of Christian Worship Liturgical Studies Series. Grand Rapids, Mich.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2004. xx + 288 pp. $18.00 (paper).

This collection of eleven essays about the theology and poetry of American Protestant hymnody was written by scholars who understand themselves to be Evangelical Christians. Their well-informed reflection on the hymnody of their tradition offers the reader fresh perspectives on a body of hymns that also is an integral part of congregational song in Episcopal churches.

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For example, a database of American Protestant hymns (published most often from 1737 to 1960) includes, among the three hundred most popular hymns, ninety-one hymns from two current Episcopal hymnals: sixty-eight hymns from The Hijmnal 1982, and twenty-three from Lift Every Voice and Sing II. (This "Ranked List of Most Frequently Printed [American Protestant] Hymns, 1737-1960," by Stephen Marini of Wellesley College, is included in this volume as Appendix One, pp. 253-264.)

This book also contains perspectives on the role of hymns with which Episcopalians may find themselves in agreement. Series Editor John D. Witvliet reminds us that "[t]hinking of hymns at least partly as liturgical documents also helps us consider the link between liturgical and devotional prayer" (p. viii).

Witvliet also acknowledges the intention of this book to contribute to the work of interdisciplinary worship scholars as well as church historians, theologians, musicians, and liturgists. Chapter 7 treats "Protestant Hymnody in Contemporary Roman Catholic Worship." Chapter 8 is titled: "White Folks 'Get Happy': Mainstream America Discovers the Black Gospel Tradition."

The essays are divided into three groups: "In the Beginning was Watts," "Hymns and the Ordering of Protestant Life," and "Hymns as Good (or Bad?) Theology. " It is not surprising to find a variety of approaches among the eleven authors, but some are significantly more attentive than others to what the book's editor, Richard J. Mouw, terms "theological pedagogy" (p. xiii), that process by which the imagery of the poet's art, together with the experience of communal singing of an inspired hymn text, "impresses the theological point on your consciousness as no scholarly treatise can do" (p. xiv).

The most overtly theological essay, "Stories and Syllogisms: Protestant Hymns, Narrative Theology, and Heresy," by Susan Wise Bauer, analyzes "narrative" hymn texts and "systematic" hymn texts and invites us to celebrate the amalgamation of both experience and doctrine in the tradition of American Protestant hymnody.

Neither the tunes to which hymns are sung nor their role in expressing the meaning of individual texts are discussed in these essays. Observing the difference between the two tunes paired with "O for a closer walk with God" in The Hymnal 1982 (numbers 683 and 684), however, reminds the reader of the extent to which the choice of tune can influence the experience of singing the text. One wonders whether a particular well-known musical style is simply assumed to be the norm for "American Protestant" hymnody and needs no further discussion.

Most of the essays in this book were prepared originally for a conference sponsored by the Institute for the Study of American Evangelicals at Wheaton College. Reading what Evangelicals say and write when they are "at home" provides a privileged view for the stranger and assurance that, in fact, there are a number of points at which our traditions intersect.

There is another way in which this book will be useful. A wise Episcopal presbyter who attended the Wheaton College conference commented that as people with experience in other denominations continue to come into the Episcopal Church, it is important that leaders understand the communities and cultures from which they are coming.

CAROL DORAN

Virginia Theological Seminary

Alexandria, Virginia

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

Anglican Theological Review, Fall 2005 by Doran, Carol

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