In Christ Alone song - kicking out - the Wrath of God was satisfied

[thecreationtutor]

Did anyone hear that on the radio? People are changing the song to put God's wrath out of that song - itching ears - I have seen itching ears on CC of course - I remember one guy was like well, my God's a loving God so He didn't kill all those people, people said God did and put it in the Bible

I wonder what he would say to the 180,000 the angel of the Lord put to death overnight to an army - was that a lie in scripture - did they all just sneak up and kill them all in their sleep ah well itching ears

 

[Angela53510]

I read an article in Christianity Today on this. It was one branch of the American Presbyterian church that started this. They wanted to substitute the words "wrath of God was satisfied" with "the love of God was poured out," in their new hymnal.

The composers, Stuart Townsend and Keith Getty refused to give them permission to make the change, and the song "In Christ Alone" was left out of the hymnal. However, the denomination said they will continue to sing it, but with the changed words, and without permission.

Here is a nice version of this modern hymn (words "wrath of God" found in second verse):

[video=youtube;RCeSOY5tisI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCeSOY5tisI[/video]

 

[konroh]

You'd probably appreciate the irony of this. In the hymn "And Can it Be" some Presbyterians have changed the line in the 2nd verse from "Emptied Himself of all but love" to "Emptied Himself so great His love." It's true that the 1st line has a false kenosis theory (Jesus didn't empty Himself of all His attributes except for love). I would agree with this change.

I wouldn't however agree with the change in the hymn "At the Cross" the original words were "Would He devote that sacred head for such a worm as I" changed to "Would He devote that sacred head for sinners such as I" --not only a lessening of mankind's need but also bad grammar. This isn't just a Presbyterian change, not sure who first changed it.

 

[Tintin]

I read an article in Christianity Today on this. It was one branch of the American Presbyterian church that started this. They wanted to substitute the words "wrath of God was satisfied" with "the love of God was poured out," in their new hymnal.

The composers, Stuart Townsend and Keith Getty refused to give them permission to make the change, and the song "In Christ Alone" was left out of the hymnal. However, the denomination said they will continue to sing it, but with the changed words, and without permission.

Here is a nice version of this modern hymn (words "wrath of God" found in second verse):

[video=youtube;RCeSOY5tisI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCeSOY5tisI[/video]

Really? That weakens the lyrics.

 

[Nick01]

Really? That weakens the lyrics.

IT's part of an ongoing problem some Christians have with penal substitutionary atonement as a biblical concept. In a lot of Anglican churches, for instance, that line isn't really liked. It's funny when you get together with Anglicans from around the rest of Australia (and even the world), and it gets a bit quieter in the congregational singing when you get to that line!

Of course, there's also the point of it being someone else's song. The simple fact is - if you don't like a lyric in the song, then don't sing the song! Who gives you the right to change someone else's song? If the one line is enough for the song to be 'ruined' for you, then go sing another song. Simple. Pigs trampling on someone else's pearls, case in point.