Anthony Esolen has written an article for Touchstone magazine this month on the mutilation of hymns for the purpose of removing reference to the masculine.
We, at our house are not fans of the modernization of hymns, whether it is to remove "archaic language" or for more politically correct reasons. My 10 and 12 year old sons, who are, I admit, unusual, will spend hours poring over copies of The Lutheran Hymnal and Lutheran Worship analyzing word changes and discussing whether there was any validity or if they were just stupid. Very seldom is there a good (better doctrine) reason for a change. The changes often ruin the poetry, as some of the changes Mr. Esolen discusses did, and for those of us who were blessed to have memorized lots of hymns it is jarring to have the words changed.
One thing that I've noticed at Redeemer is that there is frequently a person or two who just goes ahead and sings the old words. Sometimes I join them.
2 comments:
Completely agree. I'm one of those who will sing the old words, too. Especially to Christmas hymns, WHAT IS THAT ABOUT????
Anyway, sorry that I missed you. We are desperately ill around here....blech.
We were worried that someone must be sick! Hope you all fell better soon.
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