The Golden Age of Hymns: Did You Know?
Dr. James Townsend is Bible editor at David C. Cook Publishing Co. and author of eight volumes in The Bible Mastery Series

The Hymn Born in a Synagogue
How a Hebrew text and synagogue melody became a well-known Christian hymn.
Dr. James D. Smith III is Senior Pastor of Clairemont Emmanuel Baptist Church and Adjunct Professor of Church History at Bethel Seminary-West, both in San Diego. He is a member of the advisory board of Christian History.

The Golden Age of Hymns: From the Editor – Silent String
KEVIN A. MILLER

The Forgotten Wesley
Often overshadowed by his famous older brother, Charles Wesley has emerged as perhaps “the greatest hymnwriter of all ages.”
Dr. James Townsend is Bible editor at David C. Cook Publishing Co. and author of eight volumes in The Bible Mastery Series

Radicals in Times of Revolution
Dr. James Townsend

Why Wesley Still Dominates Our Hymnbook
Two centuries later, what’s the secret of Charles Wesley’s undiminished popularity?
The Right Reverend Timothy Dudley-Smith is Anglican Bishop of Thetford, Great Britain, and author of A Flame of Love: A Personal Choice of Charles Wesley’s Verse.

The Hymn Explosion
In 1700, there were precious few English hymns. In 1800, there were hymnbooks galore. What happened?
Dr. Robin A. Leaver is Professor of Church Music at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey, and teaches in the liturgical studies program at Drew University in Madison, New Jersey. He is the author or editor of twenty-four books on hymnody and related subjects.

Where Did We Get The Doxology?
The story behind what may be the world’s best-known hymn.
Dr. James D. Smith III is Senior Pastor of Clairemont Emmanuel Baptist Church and Adjunct Professor of Church History at Bethel Seminary-West, both in San Diego. He is a member of the advisory board of Christian History.

The Golden Age of Hymns: A Gallery of the Hymn Writers’ Hall of Fame
The poets who put words in our mouths.
Vinita Hampton Wright is Editorial Assistant for Harold Shaw Publishers. She has written previously for Christian History.

Other Important Hymn Writers

The Golden Age of Hymns: Christian History Timeline
Dr. Paul Westermeyer is Professor of Church Music at Luther Northwestern Theological Seminary in St. Paul and author of The Church Musician

America’s Hesitation Over Hymns
Why did colonial churches resist the first British musical invasion?
Dr. David W. Music is Associate Professor of Church Music at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth, Texas, and editor of The Hymn, the quarterly journal of the Hymn Society in the United States and Canada.

Were Hymns Good Poetry?
They have endured. But does their lasting popularity prove their quality?
Dr. Jan Anderson is Professor of English at Clearwater Christian College.

The Spiritual
In the furnace of slavery, a lasting musical form was forged.
Angela M. S. Nelson is a doctoral candidate in American culture at Bowling Green State University.

What Did Slave Songs Sound Like?
Angela M. S. Nelson

A New Species of Christian Song
Where did the English hymn come from?
Dr. Madeleine Forell Marshall is on the faculty of the University of San Diego and of California State University at San Marcos. She has taught literature at the University of Puerto Rico, the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, and St. Olaf College. She is co-author, with Janet Todd, of English Congregational Hymns in the Eighteenth Century

Irrational Music Sung By a Mob of Extremists?
Why the Church of England disliked hymns
Dr. Madeleine Forell Marshall is on the faculty of the University of San Diego and of California State University at San Marcos. She has taught literature at the University of Puerto Rico, the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, and St. Olaf College. She is co-author, with Janet Todd, of English Congregational Hymns in the Eighteenth Century

Three Hymnals That Shaped Today’s Worship
The hymnbooks of John Wesley, John Newton, and John Rippon endured for generations.
William J. Reynolds is professor of Church Music at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, and author of Songs of Glory

The Golden Age of Hymns: Recommended Resources