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THE PAPERS OF THE HYMN SOCIETY
Carl F. Price
Editor
by
Ruth Ellis Messenger, Ph.D.
THE HYMN SOCIETY OF AMERICA
New York City
1942
Carl F. Price, Editor
Copies of these papers at 25 cents each may be obtained from the Executive Secretary of the Hymn Society.
Note: Inquire before ordering as some numbers are temporarily out of print.
Dr. Reginald L. McAll,
2268 Sedgwick Avenue
New York 53, N. Y.
Copyright, 1942, by Hymn Society of America
Reprinted 1949
There is no part of the general field of Christian hymnology so baffling to the student or so full of difficulties as the one under consideration in this paper. Many accounts of the subject are in existence but are far from conclusive. This is due, first of all, to the unexpected scarcity of original sources. When one views the rise of Christianity from its inception to the period of the Council of Nicaea, 325, its numerical growth from a handful of original adherents to millions of followers at the time of the Edict of Milan, 313, its literary development from early scattered records to the works of the great Greek and Latin fathers, one cannot help inquiring, “What has become of their hymns?”
Another puzzling aspect of the study is the complex historical background against which the progress of Christianity appears. The peace and constructive progress of the Augustan era, in which Christianity was founded, have often been cited as factors contributing to its evolution and spread. But this is not the whole story. The civilization of that day, especially in the eastern Mediterranean lands most concerned, was largely Hellenistic, of mingled Greek and oriental features which were necessarily wrought into the fabric of the new religion. An understanding of pre-Augustan conditions, in which these diverse historical and literary trends were merged, is essential, for without it the subject is unintelligible.
A further problem which confronts the student is that of interpretation. It is well known that any general treatment of early Christianity is apt to conform to the point of view of the author. The study of hymnology, like that of other features of the early Church, is apt to be affected by the opinion of the commentator.
It is no wonder that the field has been neglected and that
the accounts of it are vague, incomplete and unsatisfactory.
In fact, the task of re-examining the mass of extant records
of early Christianity and other relevant material, which
might illuminate the subject of hymnology, seems never to
In view of the dearth of available material in English, it has seemed timely to approach the whole subject from a new standpoint. In this study, the extant hymnic sources will be presented objectively. Groups of hymns will be used to illustrate the types current in the period. In connection with them, the related historical and literary influences will be noted.
Let us abandon at once our contemporary connotation of
the word hymn which is derived ultimately from the hymns
of Ambrose, 340-397, that is, a metrical lyric constructed in
stanzas. In the pre-Ambrosian period Christian hymns
were largely of the psalm type, to be chanted in rhythmic
periods without rhyme. Not only should the word hymn be
conceived in terms of ancient thought, but also the futile
attempt to differentiate among psalms, hymns and canticles
should be avoided. Specialists in liturgical matters testify
to the confusion existing among ancient writers in the use of
these words and to the uncertainty of definition which
results.
At the threshold of Christianity the student crosses from
the literary environment of the Old Testament into that of
Keeping these important facts in mind regarding the
psalms, the student may pass on to other hymnic sources in
the Old Testament. Many striking lyrical passages in the
Hebrew scriptures, uttered or perhaps repeated in moments
of emotional fervor, were used by later worshippers to
express a similar attitude toward the Divine.
Hannah’s Song of Thanksgiving,
the great hymns in the Book of Isaiah,
the second part of which begins,
Jonah’s Song,
the Song of Habbakuk,
The apocryphal addition to the Book of Daniel, known as
the Song of the Three Holy Children, may be considered
with Old Testament lyrics. Comprising sixty-seven verses, it was
added to
is the familiar Benedictus es, Domine; and the second part,
is the Benedicite, omnia opera.
The term canticle, mentioned above, has been applied in a
general sense to such lyrics from the Old Testament and
also from the New. “In practice,” says James Mearns, “it
means those Songs of Holy Scripture which have been
selected for ecclesiastical use and are appended to, or
incorporated with, the Psalter or other parts of the Divine
Office.”
It was only natural that the hymnody of the Old Testament should have exerted a marked influence upon Christian practice. The Old Testament tradition was very strong. Familiar phraseology was ready at hand for the composition of new canticles which were often mere centos from the Psalms or other portions of the Hebrew scriptures. It should be recalled that Christianity not only arose in the Semitic environment but also was for some years localized chiefly in the oriental sections of the Roman Empire, and that it was affected by oriental ideas and modes of expression. Even after Greek and Roman influences were strongly felt, hymnology retained this traditional Semitic character and pagan lyrics were held in suspicion.
The transition, therefore, to the canticles of the New Testament was easy and perhaps inevitable. The Benedictus,
spoken by Zacharias, the Nunc dimittis,
by Simeon, and above all the Magnificat,
from the lips of the Virgin Mother, are among the most famous of early Christian hymns, which, together with the song of the angelic host at the birth of Jesus, the Gloria in excelsis,
appear within the Gospel narratives.
In the remaining portions of the New Testament other
hymn fragments are found. Some of these are direct quotations
from known sources.
a passage which has survived in the Western Church in the
expanded form of the Tersanctus, and in the Eastern Church
as the Hymnus Angelicus. In the same Book
(
may fall into this group or be considered a free rendering of
certain passages in Isaiah.
possesses a marked lyrical character. The lines beginning
reveal poetic features of a generally oriental style, framing the Old Testament content. Certain digressions in the Epistles, in which formulas of belief or of praise rise to a sure and effective climax, have the qualities of sustained hymns:
above all,
Poetic refrains are obvious in the following:
The Apostle Paul and other writers of the New Testament,
who quote freely from a variety of sources, have used
fragments of hymns to reinforce their teachings or with a
devotional purpose. One gains from such citations a text
only, or a fragment of text. Singing is not implied. The
apocalyptic vision of the Book of Revelation, however,
contains several magnificent hymns of praise which testify not
alone to the form and content of the early hymn but also to
the practice of worship in song. The praises of the heavenly
host are mirrored in the praises of the congregation upon
earth.
From the point of view of the evolution of Christian hymns,
the hymns in the Book of Revelation are perhaps the most
significant in the New Testament because they exhibit
varied elements, from Judaism, from Christianity and from
the mingling of the two.
It is interesting to re-read the New Testament in the search for hymns, but one should remember that the field is controversial. Some commentators would suggest that the entire 13th chapter of I Corinthians is a hymn, beginning,
A moderate rather than an extreme position, however, upon the identity of hymn sources in the New Testament seems more likely to be productive of a genuine appreciation of the style, subject matter and number of primitive Christian hymns.
Traces of poetic improvisation, which is so closely allied to
hymnody, must be seriously considered at this point. The
art of improvisation belongs to no one age or country. It
happens that the Greeks had practiced it for centuries and
that illustrations exist from the time of Homer. To the
Hellenized orient it was familiar. “The Greeks of Cilicia
and of the region about Antioch and Tarsus,” as Dr. George
Dwight Kellogg reminds us, “seem to have cultivated the
art and become famous.” He also suggests that the “gift of
tongues” refers to this art and that Paul himself possessed
the poetic talent in no small degree.
On the whole, the hymnic evidence found in the New
Testament points to a predominant Hebrew influence.
Both in the use of psalms and other Old Testament hymns
and in the phraseology of new hymns, the Christians found
themselves more at home in the traditional forms of expression.
Features of style, such as parallelism, uniformity and
the repetition of words or word order, were not necessarily
restricted to Hebrew poetry but might be found in other
oriental sources—a consideration to which further attention
will be given later.
Christian practice reveals a third type of Hebrew influence,
the liturgical, which brought about the use of the psalms in
public worship, together with other elements familiar in the
synagogue. At the close of a service of this kind, made up of
prayers, readings, psalms and preaching, the eucharist was
celebrated. Early writings, for example, the Apologia of
Justin Martyr, 100?-165,
Briefly stated, the Didache, or Teaching of the Twelve
Apostles, is a second century treatise, the second part of
which includes a ritual of baptism, fasting and the
eucharist.
offered at stages of the communion ritual where we approach
the heart of Christian worship.
The Apostolic Constitutions is a manual in eight books, of
ecclesiastical discipline, doctrine and worship, including the
Didache.
The following hymns appear in the seventh book of the Apostolic Constitutions:
A morning hymn, Δόξα ἐν ὑψίστοις θεῷ, Gloria in excelsis,
an evening hymn, Αἰνεῖτε παῖδες,
which includes Σοὶ πρέπει αἶνος, Te decet laus,
and Νῦν ἀπολύεις τὸν δοῦλόν σου, Nunc dimittis,
and a prayer at dinner, Εὐλογητὸς εἰ,
In the eighth book of the Apostolic Constitutions and also in the Liturgy of St. James we have the Tersanctus, Ἃγιος, ἃγιος, ἃγιος,
In another part of the same Liturgy the Trisagion appears, Ὁ τρισάγιος ὕμνος,
An evening hymn, Φῶς ἱλαρόν,
Joyful light, is mentioned
by Basil in the fourth century as very old. It was sung at
vespers in the Eastern Church:
Among ancient liturgical hymns the Te deum should be
mentioned. It is attributed to Nicetas, Bishop of Remesiana
in Dacia, and dated from the end of the fourth century. It
appears to be a combination of three distinct parts. The
first thirteen verses, or parts one and two, probably originated
earlier than the fourth century and may have been
inspired by Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, 200-258, who
wrote in terms almost identical with the phrases of this early
section, used of prophets, apostles and martyrs.
Biblical sources, especially the canticles, now appear as
liturgical hymns, either in their original form or in an enlarged
version.
associating it with the praise of the angelic ministrants, “ten
thousand times ten thousand,” beheld by Daniel
(
The evolution of the Great Doxology from the words of the angelic song,
to the Gloria in excelsis illustrates the expanding thought of
the Church, corresponding to the growth of the Christian
body within the culture of the Roman Empire. Again, the
Gloria illustrates Hellenistic features of poetic style,
bespeaking the oriental influences which had entered into
Greek literature.
of the invocation,
of the relative clause,
of the pronoun,
It is quite superfluous to analyze further the values of a
poetic form which has helped to make the Gloria one of the
truly magnificent Christian hymns of all ages.
Postponing for the present a more detailed inquiry into
stylistic origins, we may regard the group of liturgical hymns
here presented as a source collection of the utmost importance.
It reveals not only the continuity of the Old and New
Testament hymnology but also the evolution of worship in
song into the early Christian era. The fact that worship
Christianity expanded, as we have seen, in the environment of eastern Mediterranean culture. Its original heritage was that of Judaism, but within the first century it had entered upon the conquest of the Gentile world. As that conquest proceeded and the penetration of new ideas into pagan thought continued, a corresponding reaction of paganism upon the new faith took place. With the general aspects of this phenomenon all are familiar. It is significant here only in the field of lyrical expression. The period of pagan influence in the sense of an imprint from Greek and Roman literature is also the period of impact with pagan heretical ideas derived either from current philosophies or the practices of mystery religions.
Once more the chart and compass offered by the direct extant sources are the best guides through the cross currents of the literature in our possession. Representative pagan poetry must be examined, at least of a few general types, in order to establish what influence, if any, was exerted upon contemporary Christian hymns.
Regarding the classical influence, per se, a large number of
Greek hymns were in existence when Christianity was founded,
It is evident that the Christian hymns embedded in the books
of the New Testament were not constructed after a classical
model of this type. The influence of Old Testament poetry
was too strong, the associations of paganism repellant and,
moreover, the Greek poetry, familiar to the average man of
that day, quite different. The older Greek hymns, such as
the Homeric Hymns, the Odes of Pindar, the choruses of
There remain, then, only the extant hymns of the mystery
cults. In spite of many references to the use of singing in
connection with these religions, very few specimens of their
hymns actually survive. The mystery religion was a sacramental
religion “which stressed the approach to Deity
through rite and liturgy after a severe probation and an oath
pledging to secrecy.”
During the period under consideration in this study Isis was honored in all parts of the Graeco-Roman world. An authentic hymn to Isis appears in the writings of Apuleius (b. 125), who describes a procession in honor of the goddess and gives the words of the chorus, closing,
Variants of the Isis cult hymn or hymns have been preserved in inscriptions; for example, a hymn of some fifty lines from Cyme in Aeolia,
Liturgical survivals of the cult of Mithra are almost unknown. Franz Cumont, the great student of Mithraism, quotes one hymn fragment only,
He is of the opinion, however, that the Manichaean song
mentioned by Augustine, 354-430, affords some idea of
Mithraic poetry. The song or hymn in question represents
a chief divinity surrounded by twelve minor divinities,
Hippolytus, a presbyter of Rome who died in 236, in his Refutation of all Heresies, quotes certain hymns in praise of Attis:
and
Here, as in so many cases, our information concerning pagan hymns is derived from an opponent, a Christian writer and defender of orthodox religion, but this circumstance in no way affects the validity of the text.
For the Orphic cult which had the longest period of influence, we possess what may be termed a hymn book containing eighty-seven hymns. It has been variously dated from the third century, B.C., to the fourth or fifth century, A.D. With a mental reservation as to the relevancy of the citations, we find that some of these hymns in praise of the gods are full of dignity, for instance,
So debatable is the subject of the Orphic hymns, both in
respect to date and usage, that they offer little or no assistance
to the student who is interested in a possible influence upon
Christian hymnology.
Sooner or later, one must turn to the land of Egypt, if one
desires a complete picture of early Christian culture. The
and a thanksgiving hymn,
Summarizing the Greek influence, both Hellenic and
Graeco-oriental, upon Christian hymnology, it is difficult,
if not impossible, to trace any connection between the classic
Greek hymns or the hymns of mystery cults, and those of
the new faith. If more sources were available, a valid
conclusion might be reached. At present, a tentative conclusion
involves the recognition of the vigorous protest and
revolt against pagan ideas revealed in contemporary prose
writings, in turn evoked by the actual pressure which was
exerted upon Christianity by alien cults. The twentieth
century has produced an impressive literature centered about
the mystery religions and the problem of their influence upon
Christianity; but in the field of hymnology there have been
discovered only the faintest of traces. These are wholly
stylistic. Christian hymns which reveal the characteristics
of the repetition of direct address, or of relative clauses or
predicates, previously mentioned, illustrate poetic forms
which are, in the final analysis, oriental rather than
Greek.
It is a satisfaction to the classicist, who is interested in
the history of this subject, that the classical meters, ignored
at this period, were destined to be revived at a later date.
They were used to some extent from the fourth century.
It was reserved for the court poets of the Carolingian circle
of the ninth century to restore the old lyric meters. The
Sapphic meter in its Horatian form not only was a favorite
among medieval Latin hymn writers, but also it has found
an occasional imitator in the course of the centuries even to
modern times.
While hymn sources derived from oriental cults are extremely
Perhaps the best known and certainly one of the loftiest expressions of Gnostic ideas is the Hymn of the Soul, which is found in the Apocryphal Acts of Thomas. Dating from the first half of the third century, the Acts of Thomas recounts the missionary preaching of the Apostle Thomas in India. While in prison, he chants this hymn, beginning,
It has no connection with the narrative but relates in allegorical
fashion the return of the soul, which has been awakened
from its preoccupation with earthly matters, to the higher
state of heavenly existence. Here is a theme congenial to
Christian thought and orthodox in its theology when extricated
The Acts of Thomas contains a second hymn,
a poem of oriental imagery, personifying the divine wisdom
as a bride.
The apocryphal Acts of John, dating from the middle of the second century, yields a third hymn, the Hymn of Jesus. In the Gospel narrative of the last supper, Jesus and his disciples, before going to the Mount of Olives, sing a hymn together. It is not identified but is generally believed to be a part of the Hallel or group of Passover Psalms, 113-118. The writer of the Acts of John represents Jesus as using a new hymn which opens,
It contains a long series of antitheses, as follows:
The hymn concludes,
Variants of the Hymn of Jesus are extant, one of which has
been preserved by Augustine, the Hymn of the Priscillianists,
which came to him from a correspondent in Spain.
Hippolytus, whose Refutation of all Heresies has been mentioned in another connection, discusses the Gnostic sect of the Naasenes. He quotes one of their hymns, beginning,
in which Jesus is represented as the guide of mankind to the
attainment of celestial knowledge.
a didactic presentation of Gnostic thought.
Whatever impression may be created upon the modern mind by the perusal of Gnostic poetry, its influence was admitted by contemporary Christians and combatted by every means in their power. The Gnostic leaders, unhampered by Hebrew traditions of religious poetry, were able to make use of popular forms and popular concepts. They met the trend of the times more than halfway. Heretical groups of all varieties of opinion were using hymns as a means of expressing their beliefs and persuading possible adherents. At the opening of the fourth century, Arius appeared, the leader of the group whose theology was rejected at the Council of Nicaea, 325, and whose hymns were met and overcome by the verses of Ambrose. Such was the influence of heretical upon orthodox hymnody.
Turning once more to the authentic Christian hymns of the first three centuries and this time omitting those which appear in liturgical sources, we observe three distinct linguistic groups, the Syriac, the Greek and the Latin.
The most familiar of the Syriac hymns were written by
Ephraem Syrus (b. 307), who strove to counteract the influence
of the Gnostic poets, especially that of his countryman,
Bardesanes. Strictly speaking, he belongs to the
first half of the fourth century but should be considered by
the student who is tracing the continuity of this subject.
His hymns are metrical in the sense of having lines with a
A hymn for the Lord’s Day begins,
It is possible that the hymns of Ephraem were influenced
by the Syriac Odes of Solomon, discovered in 1909, which
were produced in the first century. Whether the Odes
themselves are of Gnostic or Christian origin cannot be
definitely asserted but the probability of the latter is strong.
For a full discussion of this most interesting but highly
controversial topic the work of special commentators must be
consulted.
Ode IX,
Ode XXIX,
Ode XXXI, in which Jesus speaks,
Forty-two in number, the Odes reveal a true inspiration,
novel and significant from the religious and the literary
standpoint. They preserve the tradition of the Old Testament
hymns, yet breathe the spiritual life of the new revelation.
Their chief interest lies in the possibility that they
illustrate a valid Christian poetry of a very early date. If
it is true, as the editors suggest, that the Odes emanate from
Antioch,
The tradition of Syriac hymnody, of which these illustrations alone may be given from the early period, did not come to an end as Christianity moved westward. It was continued through thirteen centuries and is preserved in the Nestorian and other branches of the Syrian Christian Church.
Before the main stream of hymnody in the Greek language
is traced, two sources from the second century will serve as an
introduction. The first of these is the Epistle to Diognetus,
by an unknown author, possibly a catechumen of the Pauline
group.
The fourth admonishes the Christian to union with the mind of God,
The second source is a passage from a sermon on The Soul and Body, written by Melito of Sardis, a bishop and philosopher who was martyred in 170. The author pictures all creation aghast at the crucifixion of Jesus, saying,
Whether admissible as a hymn or not, this passage blends, in a most striking way, oriental and Greek elements employed in the expression of Christian belief.
Authentic Greek hymnody begins with Clement of Alexandria, 170-220. He is the author of a work of instruction for catechumens, the Paedagogus, to which is appended a Hymn to Christ the Savior, Ὕμνος τοῦ σωτῆρος Χριστοῦ, beginning, Στόμιον πώλων. It is a hymn of praise and thanksgiving on the part of those newly received into the Church. Christ is addressed in the familiar oriental imagery of the guide and shepherd, but the theme is rendered in a poetic style, which, by the use of short lines and the anapest, heightens the effect of ecstatic devotion.
The modern adaptation of Clement’s hymn, Shepherd of
Tender Youth, by Henry M. Dexter, 1846, while preserving
in a measure the spirit of this piece, in no way reproduces
the original. The Στόμιον πώλων
of Clement is representative
of a theme which pervades Christian hymnody
in all ages, the joy and enthusiasm of the initiate or the
admonition and encouragement addressed to the Christian
who stands upon the threshold of a new life. The Odes of
Solomon have been interpreted in these
terms.
The Amherst papyrus is a part of the new store of knowledge
from antiquity which has been opened up within recent
years by the discovery and study of papyri. This branch
of archaeology and palaeography has made available new
fields of research in the study of early Christianity hitherto
unfamiliar. In 1920, among the Oxyrhynchus papyri was
discovered a fragment of a Christian hymn. It appears on
the back of a strip which records a grain account of the first
half of the third century. The hymn has a musical setting,
the earliest example of Christian church music extant. The
fragment consists of the conclusion only, so that the length
and subject matter of the hymn as a whole are unknown.
Creation is enjoined to praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost,
in the form of a doxology. The meter is anapestic and
purely quantitative.
The Hymn of Thekla, Ἄνωθεν παρθένοι, appears in the Banquet of the Ten Virgins, a work of Methodius, Bishop of Olympus and Patara in Lydia, who was martyred at Chalcis in 312. It is a hymn of twenty-four stanzas sung by Thekla, each followed by a refrain sung by the chorus,
Once more, a traditional theme in Christian hymnody is set forth, familiar from biblical as well as classical connotations and perpetuated either in the praise of virginity or in the form of the mystic union of Christ and the Church.
It is customary in presenting the subject of Greek hymn writers to pass from Clement of Alexandria to Gregory of Nanzianzus and Synesius of Cyrene, poets of the fourth century who mark the beginning of a new era beyond the limits of this study. They are mentioned here only as a reminder of the long succession of great poets who created and maintained Greek hymnody throughout the ancient and medieval centuries.
Contemporary with the development of Greek hymns, the
literature of the Church was moving toward its destination
in Latin culture. As Latin became a liturgical language the
service hymns, already cited, appeared in their Latin form.
Perhaps this is one reason why the production of original
Latin hymns was so long postponed. It was not until the
is a hymn of seventy verses in honor of the Trinity,
an Easter hymn, and
a hymn on the theme of the temptation of Jesus.
So far no mention has been made of the fact that the early
period of Christian history was characterized by persecution.
As a rule sporadic and intermittent, it was periodically
severe. At all times Christians, if not actually persecuted,
were objects of suspicion to the Roman government. We
owe to the official zeal of Pliny the Younger, who was a
proconsul in Bithynia in 112, our first glimpse of Christian
worship from the point of view of the outsider. In a letter to the
Emperor Trajan on the subject of the Christians, he says that, as a
part of their service at sunrise, they chanted a hymn, antiphonally,
to Christ as a God.
Reviewing the total pagan influence, both Greek and
Latin, upon Christian hymnody, it must be understood that,
By the time of Ambrose in the fourth century, however, Greek and oriental elements had long since merged in other aspects of civilization and, in the course of time, Christian hymns felt the effect of a universal development. There was a certain departure from biblical models and an emancipation from the old poetic forms in favor of the trend toward accent and rhyme. After all, a new religion had come into existence which demanded an authentic expression of a spiritual aspiration beyond that of the Old Testament models, just as Isaac Watts in the eighteenth century turned from the tradition of psalmody to an original presentment of the new revelation in Christ.
Are we to suppose that the Christians in the Mediterranean
world of the first three centuries, representing the
average inhabitant of these lands, had no hymns except those
cited above? Or others like them? If they had, we are
unacquainted with them. It is fair to assume that secular
poetry and music eventually exerted an influence upon
hymnody. At least the beginning of such influence was
apparent in the adoption of popular meters by heretical poets,
as well as by the orthodox.
The problem of music is outside the province of this paper
but is involved in any serious study of hymnology at any
period of its development. Here the student is almost
totally at a loss for manuscript evidence bearing musical
notation from the primitive period. The Oxyrhynchus
hymn is a solitary example.
No student can leave the consideration of early Christian hymnology without a sense of defeat. The past cannot be forced to yield the hidden knowledge of which it is the custodian. Sources are very scanty, especially in proportion to other literary remains of early Christianity. Specifically, there is no collection of hymns in existence which might correspond to a modern hymnary. On the contrary, isolated examples or groups appear from place to place and from time to time in varied forms. But in one respect our evidence is sure, if not complete. Springing from the culture and the vicissitudes of the age, Christian hymns of the early Church, as in every other stage of its development, not only express the spiritual aspiration of the time but also respond to the challenge of a new day.