The reality is that 190 of the 358 hymns in the Mormon hymnal came from non-Lds sources that Joseph Smith said were "apostate" and "corrupt" (Joseph Smith, Pearl of Great Price, Joseph Smith History, vv. 18-19). That's a full 53%!
That includes Martin Luther's "A Mighty Fortress is our God" [#68]
and Christian hymn writers like Christian evangelist John Wesley's brother, Charles, who died in 1788 ["Rejoice, the Lord is King" hymn (#66)]
Smith said that the Christian church went totally AWOL. Yet over half of the hymns they import from "apostate" sources who embraced 100% abominable creeds, eh?
What should we believe? Mormon leaders' claims? Or their counterfeit actions?
From the article: Based on the commonality of hymns and the identical doctrinal assertions repeatedly contained within them which point to Christ; his divine sonship and virgin birth; his life of perfection; his attributes of love, mercy and compassion; his incomparable suffering in Gethsemane; his crucifixion; and his Resurrection, it is only logical to conclude that if Baptist believers of the 1950s through the 1970s were “Christians,” then also are the LDS or Mormon believers of the mid-1980s to the present.
Virgin birth? This Baptist-turned-Mormon needs to better read Lds "apostle" McConkie's assertion about a Heavenly Father "literal paternity" involving Mary...& Brigham's claim that the Father impregnated Mary "rather than letting any other man do it."
Of course, this author forgot to mention that Baptist Hymnals don't include...
* "Praise to the Man" hymns sung directly to Joseph Smith.
* "O My Father" with lines in there about a divine "Mom"
* "If You Could Hie to Kolob" where the author starts off...
1. If you could hie to Kolob In the twinkling of an eye, And then continue onward With that same speed to fly, Do you think that you could ever, Through all eternity, Find out the generation Where GODS began to be?
2. Or see the grand beginning, Where space did not extend? Or view the last creation, Where GODS and matter end?
Yeah, this courtroom lawyer apparently flunked math...going from a theistic Baptist to a polytheistic Mormon.
I can think of a few hymns that aren't shared, such as "Praise To The Man" and "When I Hie To Kolob".
My wife and I went to a friend’s Mormon Babtism. Singing some of the Hymns that I knew from church, thinking “this isn’t so bad for a cult”.
Got to the one of “Praise to the Man” I think. The tune was familiar, and the words seemed sort of familiar. About the second verse though when it was clear that the “by his wounds we were saved” or somesuch referred to Joe Smith I stopped singing. And looking around to see if a lightning bolt was going to strike me!
I am a Baptist p.k.
I played organ for a “Reformed lds” church. Many hymns were the same. A few were new to me. There were also some word changes in hymns that I learned growing up.
John, author of the words in the First Amendment, would have been among those denounced by Smith as a fallen person.
So much for the man who founded African American Gospel music.
I'd suggest to Mormons that they go back through all their hymnals or other songbooks and Remove anything by John Leland. For one thing he didn't approve of Sunday school! We can only imagine what he'd felt about Temple Work.
So?
A gorilla's blood is RED; too!
(BTW; LDS ain't included into ANY 'christian' group other than by themselves; so don't get any ideas...)
Unfortunately, my church no longer uses its hymnal. We do “Rock Me, Jesus” every Sunday with our ‘worship team’.
I’d love to be able to have this argument.
Well LDS have borrowed and uses a great deal of Christian language etc....no wonder they’d borrow the hymns too. They can’t help but keep on putting layers over what they really are.
The LDS has different lyrics for the Christmas carol “Joy to the World.” Note the last stanza in particular:
Joy to the world! The Lord is come.
Let earth receive her King
Let every heart
Prepare Him room
And Saints and angels sing
And Saints and angels sing
And Saints and Saints and angels sing
Joy to the world, the Saviour reigns
Let Saints their songs employ
While fields and floods
rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy
Repeat the sounding joy
Repeat, Repeat, the sounding joy
Joy to the world with truth and grace
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness
And wonders of His love
And wonders of His love
And wonders and wonders of His love
No more will sin and sorrow grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He’ll come and make the blessings flow
Far as the curse was found,
Far as the curse was found,
Far as, far as the curse was found.
He rules the world with truth and grace,
And gives to nations proof
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love;
And wonders of His love;
And wonders, wonders of His love.
Rejoice! Rejoice in the Most High,
While Israel spreads abroad
Like stars that glitter in the sky,
And ever worship God,
And ever worship God,
And ever, and ever worship God.
http://www.wordproject.org/asia/joy_to.htm
I have never seen an LDS hymnal, but I’ll bet you right now, the old Baptist favorite “Beneath the Cross of Jesus” is not in it. Because the cross is not understood or appreciated in the LDS. And that is missing everything.