27
Nov
2010

Elisabeth Elliot on Hymnody

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27 Nov 2010

I happened across one of Elisabeth Elliot’s newsletters, from 1999, in which she wrote an article titled, “Whatever Happened to Hymns?” In this short piece, she expressed some of her concerns about the modern church’s abandonment of the use of ancient hymnody in worship. It was especially moving to hear Elliot recounted how she laid in bed singing “How Firm a Foundation” on the night that her husband, Jim Elliot, was murdered. There is great comfort in the biblical truths of so many Christian hymns. It was also encouraging to see that she recommended our own Trinity Hymnal as a good source of theologically solid hymnody. You can read the article here.

About Post Author

Nick Batzig is the senior pastor of Church Creek PCA in Charleston, SC and an associate editor for Ligonier Ministries. Prior to serving at Church Creek, Nick was a pastor at Wayside PCA on Signal Mountain, TN. Formerly, Nick served as the founding pastor of New Covenant Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Richmond Hill, GA and as the editor of Reformation21 and the Christward Collective--sites of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. He frequently writes for Tabletalk Magazine, Reformation 21, He Reads Truth, and the Christward Collective. Nick was also the host of East of Eden, a podcast devoted to the Biblical and Systematic Theology of Jonathan Edwards. You can friend him on Facebook here and follow him on Twitter @nick_batzig

1 Response

  1. Robert Murphy
    Reply

    It is true that hymns are essential, and I do carry a hymnal with me into my devotionals, but there is a reason that the Church has fallen off in this practice: Hymns of the late 19th and 20th century lacked majesty and Scriptural tone. In the face of Exclusive Psalmody denominations, I have hard time defending ‘Trinity Hymnal’s inclusion of “El Shaddai” and other fluff. My old, Dutch, “blue” Psalter/Hymnal is half Psalms, half hymns. That seems a much more defensible position.

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