In the second line, Watts says “Let earth receive her king.” Note that the object of the first two lines has changed, from world to earth. I don’t think this was a slip of the pen or poetic variation in his writing. Watts was not only a hymn writer, he was
Tag: Christianity
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Now I want to look in detail at the New Year’s carol – Joy to the World. In the next installments of this blog series we will examine the significance of each stanza for our lives as we enter this New Year. As we have said, this hymn celebrates the
Like so many young people today, Isaac Watts (1674-1748.) was frustrated with the quality of the hymns at his church. After one Sunday service, he complained to his father, who challenged Isaac that if he did not like the hymns, he should produce something better. The next Sunday, at age 18,
On December 10th, I wrote a blog entitled Joy to the World as the beginning of my reflections on the Advent season. Since then I have done more reflection on this wonderful hymn and I wanted to share some of my insights with you. While this hymn is sung at
Recently a new friend, Pastor Wayne Wager of Illini Life Christian Fellowship at the University of Illinois, Champaign, sent me a paper he had written entitled The Buses Will Wait: The Emergence and Rise of Neo-Evangelicalism (1940-1970). His paper explores the history of evangelicals with a focus on the Neo-Evangelical
But it is here that we need to make a distinction. This is a distinction that most people, including Barack Obama, fail to make. The distinction is between what we might call ideological pluralism and political/social pluralism. Dictionary.com provides us with several definitions of pluralism. Two of these definitions can
Check out www.YouTube.com/VishalMangalwadi in light of Obama’s upcoming inauguration. Should he swear in on the Bible? Plus, other interesting thoughts about race, change, merit, and politics. We think a lot of Vishal’s work, reflections and important cultural insights. -Tim C. Williams
A few weeks ago, our good friend Ana from Brazil sent us a note with a video clip of Barack Obama’s comments on whether the USA was a Christian nation. The tape, titled Obama and Religion, was from a message that he delivered at the June 28, 2006 keynote speech
James Davidson Hunter, the William R. Kenan Professor of Sociology and Religious Studies at the University of Virginia, has written a profound book that helps us understand the impact of language on moral development. In his book, The Death of Character: Moral Education in an Age without Good or Evil,
In reading Scott’s blog on the definition of marriage, I was struck anew that its redefinition has already happened. As the thinking in the West has shifted from the Biblical worldview that helped to shape Europe (and was foundational to the birth of the USA) to an Atheistic materialistic worldview,
