As I was leading a hymn sing at a retirement home, I noticed the lyrics of the traditional hymns. They reflect the physical health and spiritual struggles but they always affirm how Jesus took away our pain, guilt, and shame and gives us freedom and joy. It occurred to me that the conservative resurgence in Christianity since the 80s and 90s has significantly diverged from the traditional orthodox teachings of Christianity.
Below are seven traditional hymns that counter the message of today's conservative Christianity (with elements including Fundamentalist Christianity, Reformed, Calvinist, or Evangelical Christianity). These traditional hymns resonate with a message of forgiveness, reassurance, and joy. Perhaps that is why so many elderly people like to sing, hear, and reflect on the old familiar hymns.
Traditional Christianity
The conservative resurgence has not only separated from the peace, love, and acceptance of 70s Christianity; it has moved far away from orthodox Christian beliefs. Let's compare Fundamentalist Christianity to the teachings and practices reflected in the church hymns and practices of the 1800s and early 1900s.
Sanctification by Self-Discipline or by Jesus
Fundamentalist and Reformed evangelical churches taught Rebecca Davis that while Jesus saved her through faith, it was up to her to be self-disciplined and live morally to earn sanctification. This new brand of fundamentalism focussed on judgement, self-discipline, on earning God's love.
The traditional Christian church taught that Jesus both saves and sanctifies. Reading about her experiences made me realize how far Christianity has changed from the 70s Christianity that formed my faith. Evangelicalism has also diverged significantly from traditional Christian teachings. Our moral living has nothing to do with salvation or sanctification. Jesus took care of both. It is finished.
The Old Rugged Cross is a well-known hymn written by George Bennard, an American evangelical in 1912. At that time, Christians taught that Jesus's life, death, and resurrection both saved and sanctified us. Verse 3 reads as follows:
In that old rugged cross, stained with blood so divine, A wondrous beauty I see. For 'twas on that old cross Jesus suffered and died, To pardon and sanctify me.
Discerning the Elect or Offering Salvation for All
Many conservative evangelicals focus on correct discernment, separating who is born again from who is not. While they try very hard to follow a set of rules, they fall into the trap of watching whether others are following their set of rules.
It means men define who's in and who's out and setting up walls dividing "us vs them". It means man-made rules such as prohibitions against meditation, yoga, rock music, dancing, or even musical instruments. It re-defines morality to accept common behaviours such as gluttony, jealousy, greed, pornography, and sexual harassment while rejecting divorce, common-law marriage, and second marriages.
Evangelicals often forget that Jesus came not to judge but to save (John 12:47). Jesus commanded us not to judge other people (Matthew 7:1-3). Instead, Jesus commanded us to love one another (John 13:34-35). Our job is not to judge or condemn, but to share God's love. God's grace is extended to all people and does not depend on our moral behaviour.
To God Be The Glory, an 1875 hymn by Fanny Crosby announces that all may be saved and that there is no "us vs them". Jesus has done all that is necessary. Every believer receives pardon:
To God be the glory, great things He hath done, So loved He the world that He gave us His Son, Who yielded His life an atonement for sin, And opened the life gate that all may go in.
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the earth hear His voice! Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the people rejoice! Oh, come to the Father, through Jesus the Son, And give Him the glory, great things He hath done.
Oh, perfect redemption, the purchase of blood, To every believer the promise of God; The vilest offender who truly believes, That moment from Jesus a pardon receives.
God as Judge or Protector?
Exangelicals report being threatened with being blocked from the kingdom of God by their behaviour. They were taught they were constantly at risk of losing their salvation. Fellow Christians felt entitled to point out and judge the alleged sins of others because, so they say, it is loving to tell them the truth and bring them back into the fold before it's too late. God is perceived as a judge full of wrath at us for being God's enemies; God would enjoy sending you to eternal punishment if it weren't for Jesus pleading on our behalf. They promote a satisfaction theory of atonement.
In contrast, the historical Christian church promoted a Christ as Victor theory of atonement, where Jesus died to defeat evil and win our freedom from sin, rather than as a payment to appease an angry God. The Bible portrays God as doing everything possible to redeem us, to bring the remnant back to the faith, and to protect us from temptation and evil. A traditional Christian church service includes repeating the Bible's reassurance of pardon (1 John 1:9). Traditionally, churches have been a source of comfort, peace, and compassion. That is why it is upsetting to see today's church as a source of spiritual and emotional abuse.
Fanny Crosby, a blind woman, wrote over 8,000 hymns and gospel songs. In her 1873 composition, Blessed Assurance, this woman pronounced her assurance of salvation, her confidence in being an heir of God's, washed completely clean. She sings about no longer bearing guilt, regret, or shame, being free to sing praises from the heart:
Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine; Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine! Heir of salvation, purchase of God, Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood. This is my story, this is my song, Praising my Savior all the day long.
The final verse defines submission as resting in God's protective embrace. It has nothing to do with women submitting to men, but both men and women submitting to God. It has nothing to do with working to please God, but working to rest in God, enjoying the work of God's salvation:
Perfect submission, all is at rest, I in my Savior am happy and blest; Watching and waiting, looking above, Filled with His goodness, lost in His love.
Power: to Control or to Protect
The conservative resurgence seems to secure its power by teaching that God is a harsh judge, anxious to send you to punishment, looking for any excuse to exclude you from grace and love. They will use fear to control and manipulate people to obeying a male hierarchal structure. They will threaten us with God's wrath and offer their rule book as protection from God. How often has a man reassured a woman that he will be her protector, only to become her persecutor?
In contrast, God's power is a reliable protector. Priscilla Jane Owens wrote Will Your Anchor Hold in 1882. It is designed to alleviate fears, bring comfort, and empower people with the knowledge that God protects and shelters them. Priscilla Jane Owens was a Methodist Episcopal Sunday School teacher, her song encourages the singer's faith to remain strong during life's fears and temptations. The words reassure us that we can trust in God to hold us firmly in a protective and loving embrace. The traditional teaching is that Jesus is a firm anchor on whom we can rely.
You will find refuge like baby birds under a mother hen's wings (Matthew 23:37, Psalm 91:4). God has made us heirs of the promise:
"... we who have taken refuge might be strongly encouraged to seize the hope set before us. We have this hope, a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters the inner shrine behind the curtain, where Jesus, a forerunner on our behalf, has entered..." (Hebrews 6:18-20 NRSVUE)
Will your anchor hold in the straits of fear, when the breakers roar and the reef is near? While the surges rave and the wild winds blow, shall the angry waves then your bark o'er flow? We have an anchor that keeps the soul steadfast and sure while the billows roll, fastened to the rock which cannot move, grounded firm and deep in the Saviour's love!
Live Guilty or Forgiven
Many Reformed or Calvinist Christians focus on humans being born totally depraved, incapable of choosing to be kind or good, their inner thoughts making them incapable of pleasing God. It often means listing and defining immorality and striving to obey a list of rules for behaviour. This list defines who's in and who's out. You not only confess your sins and promise not to repeat your errors, but you are told that reoffending causes Christ to go to the cross for you again. You learn not to trust your intuition or any inner thought since you are inherently evil, and trust only in the church leaders and the rules they teach.
Traditional Christians do a time of confession followed by a reassurance of pardon. They expect faith to transform a person from the inside out, and the Spirit to bring forth good fruit such as kindness, gentleness, and self-control. The list of vices and virtues is simply to give examples of the kinds of fruit that life in the Spirit will produce. The traditional church teaching gives freedom from guilt and shame, a deep peace, comfort, and joy. We can experience complete joy in knowing that God forgives us, removes our guilt from us, and shows unending, unconditional love.
It is Well with My Soul (Peace Like a River), written in 1876, affirms the joy and bliss that believers no longer bear their sins; we are freed. Unlike the teachers of the conservative resurgence, who say you must bear with the punishment of your guilt and you could lose your salvation, Christians traditionally believed that God separated us from our guilt and sin, as far as east to west, and we no longer have to bear the burden of guilt. Verse 2 reads:
My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought My sin, not in part but the whole, Is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more! Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, oh, my soul! It is well (it is well) With my soul (with my soul) It is well, it is well with my soul
A Chosen Exceptional Nation or No More Jew and Gentile
Some American evangelicals have come to believe that God has chosen the United States as a New Israel, has blessed them above other nations, and made them exceptional. It asserts American hierarchal power and assumes itself righteous and burdened with establishing laws to force other Americans to obey the rules of their brand of Christianity, as well as telling other nations and races how to behave.
This current brand of self-righteous separation of Christians from others echoes the 15th-century church doctrine of Discovery. This glorification of colonialism is exemplified in the 1899 poem by Rudyard Kipling "The White Man's Burden". It encouraged the United States to assume colonial control over the Philippines.
However, many Christians spoke out against colonization and American imperialism in the early 1900s. The Social Gospel movement of the late 1800s aimed to address poverty, labour reforms, economic and racial inequality, and work so that God's Kingdom would come to the world.
In 1908 John Oxenham wrote "In Christ There is No East or West". He may have been inspired by a line in a Rudyard Kipling poem: "East is East, and West is West, and Never the Twain shall Meet". The Kipling poem shows an Afghan warrior and an English colonel coming to appreciate each other's honourable qualities. It references “Look how wide also is the east from the west: so far hath he set our sins from us” (Psalm 103:12). In 1937, taking its cue from Galatians 3:28, the United Methodist hymnal updated the language from "brothers of the faith" to "children of the faith, and "who serves my Father as a son" to "who serves my Father as a child". This traditional hymn asserts the biblical message that God shows no favouritism, God chooses all people, and in Christ, there is no more male and female, no more Jew and Gentile.
In Christ there is no east or west,In him no south or north, But one great fellowship of love Thru'out the whole wide Earth.
Join hands, then, children of the faith,Whate'er your race may be! Who serves my Father as a child Is surely kin to me.
After World War 2, many Christians helped societies move from colonial control towards independence. A total of 65 countries have claimed independence from the British Empire/United Kingdom, including 34 that gained independence from 1945-1970. Many Christians are working towards reconciliation after the divisions of our colonial past.
The Authority is: the Bible or Jesus
Conservative Christians teach that to be a Christian means believing the Bible is the most authoritative source of truth and guidance. It is infallible and should be read literally. Christianity has traditionally believed that the Bible is inspired by God, and reveals truth using a combination of history, poetry, allegory and metaphor. It should be read within the context of the place and the person who wrote it.
Controversy over how we read the Bible is not new. In the late 1800s, there was a controversy over biblical methodology and the dating and authorship of Scripture. Bishop Robert Gray defended the traditional dating and authorship of the Pentateuch while Bishop John William Colenso promoted the source-criticism method for establishing the dating and authorship of Scripture.
Enter Samuel J. Stone, who saw the new way of studying the Bible as a threat to the church. In 1866, he wrote "The Church's One Foundation" in support of Bishop Gray. It asserts article nine of the Apostle's Creed "I believe in the HOly Catholic (universal) church" and is based on 1 Corinthians 3:11: "For no one can lay any foundation other than the one that has been laid; that foundation is Jesus Christ." (NRSVUE)
This hymn reflects the constant potential for schisms in the Christian church and brings us to unity with the simple message and vivid images from Scripture. We may believe different doctrines but we may be unified with Jesus Christ as the foundation of our faith. At the retirement home, with residents who come from a variety of Christian backgrounds, all can be united iwith one Lord, one faith, one birth, singing this hymn: The Church's One Foundation is Jesus Christ, her Lord."
The Church's one foundation Is Jesus Christ her Lord; She is his new creation, By water and the word; From Heav'n he came and sought her To be his holy bride; With his own blood he bought her, And for her life he died.
'Mid toil and tribulation And tumult of her [the church's schisms] war, She [the church, the bride] waits the consummation Of peace forever more; Till with the vision glorious Her longing eyes are blest, And the great Church victorious Shall be the Church at rest.
Conclusion
I hope joining me in looking at the lyrics of traditional favourite hymns has blessed you with knowing that Christianity through the centuries has offered freedom, peace, and joy.
I am disappointed to see how the new brand of conservative Christianity has robbed many people of their freedom, adding man-made rules to the Bible's commandment to love and serve one another. The conservative resurgence burdens believers with continued guilt, shame, and low self-esteem. They call empathy a sin and promote doctrine over loving other people. Women who were preachers and teachers, missionaries and ordained as pastors in the late 1800s and early 1900s were forgotten or sidelined, discounted as not obedient to the Bible.
This conservative Christian brand of loving involves judging anyone who believes something different about the Christian faith. It means defining Christians as evangelicals, and excluding Catholic and Mainline Protestants from being called Christians. Maybe that is why we find Catholic and mainline Protestant church leaders speaking out against the current brand of conservative, Fundamentalist Christianity.
They discredited the traditional reassurances of God as our redeemer, reaching out to us in every way possible to bring us grace, freedom, and love. They have mischaracterized God. Enough is enough.
All of this is, in fact, unbiblical and comes to the core of why I write. I write to show that God loves us all, and does not show favouritism by gender, race, or sexual orientation. The Holy Spirit lives in us, empowering women and men with wisdom and guidance and boldness.
Elaine Ricker Kelly, Author
Comments