“If worship transforms us into kinder, more loving people, then why do we fight over worship?” Paul Basden
One of the most prolific worship song writers of all time was Isaac Watts (1674-1748). He has been called the “Father of English Hymnody.” During his song writing career he created a stir by paraphrasing Scripture into his ‘man-made’ hymns.
Watts was brilliant as a young boy, having learned five languages by the time he turned twelve. As a young man Watts was distressed by the dry singing in the English churches. His frustration motivated him to produce over 750 hymns. His derision for the existing church music moved him to remark, “The singing of God’s praise is the part of worship most closely related to heaven; but its performance among us is the worst on earth.” The influence of the hymns that Watts wrote on the English churches of his day compares to the impact that ‘contemporary music’ has had on the church in the last 50 years. In Watts’ time churches often split due to the conflict between traditional church music and the sacred music. Much of this conflict was directly related to the songs that he wrote.1
The sacred music that Watts wrote once again allowed people to move from being audiences of great works of music to participants in the worship service. Throughout the 18th century, composers "borrowed" common melodies of popular non-church songs as the tunes for worship music. The worship lyrics were sung to the popular tune. During this period hymns, anthems, and choruses, as the church has come to call them, were written by musicians, clergy and lay people.
The controversy around music continued!
Stay tuned for Part 7.
Matt
1. (Resource: THE PHILOSOPHY OF CHURCH MUSIC AND ITS EFFECTS ON THE EXPANSION OF THE CHURCH -- A Paper Presented to Dr. Thom Rainer - The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary)
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