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It says a great deal about Christianity’s trivialization in the last 400 years that a retiring bishop of the Church of England recently informed an interviewer he considered it his greatest accomplishment to have purged this choral [Now Thank We All Our God] – the basis of a wonderful cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach – from the hymnals in his diocese. The significance of the cross clearly eluded this supercilious prelate.

I don't understand this. Really. Why would that be something to be so proud of? What on earth is wrong with church leaders today?

Contemporary Christian "praise songs" are so banal, repetitive, and devoid of theology, that I for one relish the hymns found in our "old" Lutheran hymnals. Contemporary praise songs also completely miss the mark when it comes to what the article refers to as "Trotz und Trost", because we as poor, miserable sinners need encouragemet through the storms of life, not just get-happy platitudes.

Thank you for this post!

For midweek Lenten Vespers this year, I'm doing a sermon series on "The Hymns of Paul Gerhardt." I've got three more still to do; here are the first two entries in the series:

"'Hymns That Adore Him': The Baptized Life within Your Vocation"

"'Oh, May Thy Love Possess Me Whole': A Heart Warmed with Love"