Theology through hymnology

Why Theology through hymnology?

Bible word

They are both a study of words, the first the study of the Nature of God and the second the study of the words contained in hymns. They both depend on the utterings of the Eternal Word.

Let me rephrase something Jesus said: ‘‘Truly I say to you, as you have SAID it to one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you have SAID it to Me.’ (Matthew 25:40 Modern English Version)

Word and words

 ‘Lord, your Almighty Word’ with the Prologue or the Summary of John’s Gospel

I have had the words to this hymn by John Marriott running through my mind for over a week and when Rev. Philip mentioned the instance of Theology in Song – I had the thought to attempt a sermon on the words of

Marriott was an Anglican Clergyman and Hymnist who lived between 1780-1825. We are not 100% certain who the Author of John’s Gospel was it may have been the Apostle John the Beloved or a disciple of his. But it is different from the three synoptic or similar Gospels and has a distinct Greek Philosophical bent.

Hymnists wrote both Scripture and Theology into their hymns that those who might be illiterate could remember and ponder. Christians are at various stages of Faith and Doctrinal awareness, and Scripture in Song is a great assistant to our ponderings as, through the power of the Spirit of Truth and Love we grow in the Word. This is why the Word. Let us ponder on what we believe of God and how this came to be! John 1.17 – No one has ever seen God; it is the Only Begotten, ever at Abba’s side, who has revealed God to us. In reality we cannot speak of God without revelation, the truest thing we can say is “God is” any further than this and the Truth is not in us this is the reason we study the Scriptures and sing them in Praise to the Father.

Lord, your Almighty Word’ consists of four verses. The first three verses speak to our belief in the three persons of the Trinity, as three Persons in One God while the fourth verse refers to the “Holy and blessèd Three, glorious Trinity,” Wisdom, love Might. To the Holy Triune One.

The word Logos or Word captured me! Putting to flight the chaos and darkness of the shapeless earth, transports us back to the beginning of Genesis while the Ruach Elohim, the life-giving Holy Dove brooded upon the primeval dark, chaotic, empty Earth.

The prologue of John’s is his Nativity, and he begins the telling writing “In the beginning there was the Word; the Word was in God’s presence, and the Word was God.” Present to God in the beginning everything was made through him. And as Marriott puts it the Word is Light and life, shedding the light of the Gospel where it has not been heard before and John tells us that the dark forces of the then and now have never overtaken it. Marriott echoes Genesis at the end of each verse by saying “Let there be Light.”

 Marriott’s second verse sings of the Saviour who came healing the blind, the mentally ill and the dense, he continues the theme of darkness, not allowing us to forget that through the Incarnate Word the preternatural light came shining in the darkness on that first day John the Baptist testifies about this Light, this Word who comes as a human being into the world of his time, yet his creation does not recognise its maker. His own Faith Family – the Jewish people did not accept the Word. “Let there be light.” Concludes verse two. Though individuals who did accept the Word were enabled to become siblings of the Word, children of God, born from above – an early visit to Nicodemus.

The Word stayed for a little time among us, or Tabernacled, pitched his tent, John recalls the diagramme of the Tabernacle to be built by Moses, instructions given to him by God– The incarnate Word was the personification of the dwelling place of God because God filled the Word in every nook and cranny. And Of this One’s fullness we’ve all had a share- gift on top of gift.

For while the Law was given through Moses, the gift- and the Truth- came through Jesus Christ. Yet the law has not passed away, not one jot or tittle, but a higher law, that of love has extended it to convict us by our very thoughts. The two Great Commandments are to “love God and love other people. They sum up all the 613 Mitzvah or Commandments that smoothed the Jewish way through life. And Jesus, the eternal Word made flesh has fulfilled them in his sanctifying and salvific death and now we are not commanded but rather live righteous lives through the Grace and Truth of the light of the Word.

As I said at the beginning, this third verse of Marriott’s sings of the Holy Spirit and takes us back again to the Beginnings where the Spirit of God moved upon the waters. Carrying the Lamp of Grace (of Gifting) – he writes, to shine into those dark places where the Gospel Day has not dawned. “” Let there be light”

And the fourth

“Holy and blessèd Three, glorious Trinity, Wisdom, Love, Might, boundless as ocean’s tide rolling in fullest pride, through the earth far and wide, let there be light.” (“447. Lord, your almighty word – Hymnary.org”)

Here, the word Trinity is used, a word not in the Scriptures but spoken about by the Word, in riddles, as the Word was wont to do. – go away and read John 16 about the sending of the Counsellor, Paracletus or Holy Spirit One who stands beside us like an Advocate in Court, and who remains with us always.

‘Wisdom, Love and Might.’ Today this Trinity rolls pridefully over the rolling seas. Through the length and breadth of the World.

And three into One does go.

Note: – Trinity is not the name of anything or anyone. The Latin abstract noun “Trinitas” is the source of the English term “Trinity,” which most literally means “three-ness” (or “the property of occurring three at once”). Alternatively, “three are one” might be used. Tertullian, who lived around 200, is credited with using this Latin term for the first time to refer to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, or, more generally, to any trio of things. Theophile of Antioch, who lived from 115 to 181, first used the term Trinity in Book 2, chapter 15, which discusses creation on the fourth day.

The English word triad and words with a similar meaning in other languages are derived from the Greek term ” Tριάς ” (a set of three or the number three), which was used to refer to the Christian Trinity.