Christian songs your favourite..

[Steve H]

who is Yoda, apart from the star wars character??

The Star Wars character I meant. Like this he talks. Maybe German he is. They as well do it.

[floo]

Many hymns are sickly sweet and meaningless, the god featured in Bible is nothing like they claim it to be.

[Aruntraveller]

Many hymns are sickly sweet and meaningless, the god featured in Bible is nothing like they claim it to be.

Some may be, but there are some great hymns which are amongst the most sublime pieces of music written. Hymns are like any other type of music you'll have a fair number of misses, but you will get the occasional brilliant little gem. Your usual critique of God doesn't have any relevance for the purposes of this discussion.

Anyhow the first stanza of the original version is one of my favourites:

Veni, veni Emmanuel!
 Captivum solve Israel!
 Qui gemit in exilio,
 Privatus Dei Filio,
Gaude, gaude, Emmanuel
nascetur pro te, Israel

Several English translations followed from this, the most common being Lacey's version in 1906:

O come, O come, Emmanuel!
 Redeem thy captive Israel
 That into exile drear is gone,
 Far from the face of God's dear Son.
 Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
 Shall come to thee, O Israel

I prefer it sung by only male voices as I find it much more affecting and effective.

[Anchorman]

Many hymns are sickly sweet and meaningless, the god featured in Bible is nothing like they claim it to be.

Agreed on the nineteenth century hymnody - but what's that got to do with modern Christian songs, many of which are not worship songs and whose lyrics are far from sickly sweet? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aw_RZ6RPL78

[Steve H]

Many hymns are sickly sweet and meaningless, the god featured in Bible is nothing like they claim it to be.

Examples?

[Aruntraveller]

I imagine LR is talking about hymns like this:

All things bright and beautiful,
 All creatures great and small,
 All things wise and wonderful,
 The Lord God made them all.

 Each little flower that opens,
 Each little bird that sings,
 He made their glowing colours,
 He made their tiny wings.

I give this as an example, but as I have already pointed out, as with any type of music you have to seek out the gems.

[Rhiannon]

I imagine LR is talking about hymns like this:

All things bright and beautiful,
 All creatures great and small,
 All things wise and wonderful,
 The Lord God made them all.

 Each little flower that opens,
 Each little bird that sings,
 He made their glowing colours,
 He made their tiny wings.

I give this as an example, but as I have already pointed out, as with any type of music you have to seek out the gems.

Who Put the Colour in the Rainbow. Good grief.

[floo]

Examples?

'Gentle Jesus meek and mild', is one which springs to mind. The gospel accounts don't give that impression.

[Aruntraveller]

Who Put the Colour in the Rainbow. Good grief.

I know. How could they get that so wrong? It was obviously Judy. 

[Rhiannon]

I know. How could they get that so wrong? It was obviously Judy. 

 

[Rhiannon]

'Gentle Jesus meek and mild', is one which springs to mind. The gospel accounts don't give that impression.

Once in Royal David’s City is a bit like that. ‘Christian children all should be/Mild, obedient, good as he.’ The evidence is that as a child he wasn’t obedient at all. That doesn’t make him ‘bad’ - I think it makes him interesting - but the moral lesson that the hymn writer was trying to convince children of is simply false, if the Gospels are to be believed.

[Steve H]

Once in Royal David’s City is a bit like that. ‘Christian children all should be/Mild, obedient, good as he.’ The evidence is that as a child he wasn’t obedient at all. That doesn’t make him ‘bad’ - I think it makes him interesting - but the moral lesson that the hymn writer was trying to convince children of is simply false, if the Gospels are to be believed.

It was written by a Victorian bishop's wife, and you have to allow something for the time she lived in. Once in Royal... has mved me to tears before now.

[Anchorman]

I imagine LR is talking about hymns like this:

All things bright and beautiful,
 All creatures great and small,
 All things wise and wonderful,
 The Lord God made them all.

 Each little flower that opens,
 Each little bird that sings,
 He made their glowing colours,
 He made their tiny wings.

I give this as an example, but as I have already pointed out, as with any type of music you have to seek out the gems.

   



Aaaaaargh!
Agreed, TV - with bells on....especially the non-PC verse which isn't in most hymn books....a bit like the vile fifth verse of the british national anthem.

[Anchorman]

'Gentle Jesus meek and mild', is one which springs to mind. The gospel accounts don't give that impression.

Don't faint here - I'm with you...the hymn's cloying, and, like the equally trite drivel "Away in a manger" and too many Victorian efforts, drivel to be ditched.

[Anchorman]

It was written by a Victorian bishop's wife, and you have to allow something for the time she lived in. Once in Royal... has mved me to tears before now.

To be fair; I've conducted the Christmas worship more than once....and threatebed to break several of the Ten commandments if the organist ever dared to play that particular hymn.

[Robbie]

Anyhow the first stanza of the original version is one of my favourites:

Veni, veni Emmanuel!
 Captivum solve Israel!
 Qui gemit in exilio,
 Privatus Dei Filio,
Gaude, gaude, Emmanuel
nascetur pro te, Israel

Several English translations followed from this, the most common being Lacey's version in 1906:

O come, O come, Emmanuel!
 Redeem thy captive Israel
 That into exile drear is gone,
 Far from the face of God's dear Son.
 Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
 Shall come to thee, O Israel

My all time favourite!  I never tire of hearing it.

Another hymn which stirs me is 'Jerusalem' which I know many don't consider to be a hymn or Christian song- I don't care about that. The first time I remember hearing it was when I started at 'big' school, in Assembly. I was profoundly moved by the introduction, never mind the rest of the song.

[Anchorman]

I remember a visiting  Anglican using this at our Friday Assembly once (in the days before I figured out how to dodge going to it.) The silence when he announced  the first hymn as "Jerusalem" was breathtaking....you could hear the fingernails of the pianist hitting the keys at the back of the hall - which seated 400.....

[Grace of God]

The Star Wars character I meant. Like this he talks. Maybe German he is. They as well do it.

still not getting what you are going on about..

[Steve H]

still not getting what you are going on about..

"Christian songs your favourite", rather than "Your favourite Christian songs".

[Anchorman]

Easter moan time; "When I survey" is a wonderful hymn - no matter to which tune it's sung. Why should nearly every hymnal miss iout the fourth verse, though - the one which starts.. "His dying, crimson like the robe...."? I think the words in that verse are just as relevent as the others.

[Steve H]

Easter moan time; "When I survey" is a wonderful hymn - no matter to which tune it's sung. Why should nearly every hymnal miss iout the fourth verse, though - the one which starts.. "His dying, crimson like the robe...."? I think the words in that verse are just as relevent as the others.

I agree. I believethat that verse wasa left out of hymnals because it offended the squeamish Victorians.
On the other hand, "Amazing Grace" is a not-bad hymn (though not one of my favourites), but nowadays always has the verse beginning "When we've been there ten thousand years" added, which verse was added in the 19th Century - it's not part of Newton's original - , is theologically dubious, has a different rhyme-scheme to all the other verses, contains a trite internal rhyme in line three, and has very little to do thematically with the rest of the hymn.

[Robbie]

Prompted by this thread I decided to look up the final verse of our National Anthem:-
"Lord grant that Marshal Wade
May by thy mighty aid
Victory bring
May he sedition hush
And like a torrent rush
Rebellious Scots to crush
God save the King"

Not surprised no-one sings that bit nowadays nor why Anchorman is so anti! Dreadful.

Also looked up "All things bright and beautiful". This verse is apparently rarely used because it endorses the class system:-

The rich man in his castle,
The poor man at his gate,
God made them high and lowly,
And ordered their estate.

Ha ha.

StevenH I too like 'Once in Royal David's City'. Some of the songs people find sickly are liked by children, 'Away in a Manger' being one. Even I liked that when I was a child,I didn't know many Christian songs but that made me think of Christmas.

I've never heard 'Who put the colours in the rainbow'.

I remember a visiting  Anglican using this at our Friday Assembly once (in the days before I figured out how to dodge going to it.) The silence when he announced  the first hymn as "Jerusalem" was breathtaking....you could hear the fingernails of the pianist hitting the keys at the back of the hall - which seated 400.....

It does have that effect. I am always spellbound by it,feel close to tears at the very mention! I don't care that it's not a 'proper' hymn.

[Anchorman]

Er.....no, that's not why the silence was profound. The words "And did those feet in ancient times walk upon ENGLAND's mountains green...." - an Anglican hymn - when 98% of the audience were Scots, might have had something to do with the silence!

[Robbie]

Oh yeah, maybe not a tactful choice  . If you ever pop down south and come to my parish church I'll make sure 'Five Hundred Miles' is played for you at the end. Not a Christian song but not unChristian.

[Robbie]

still not getting what you are going on about..

Or - what you are going on about I am not getting still?