HYMNS.

Waiapu Church Gazette, Volume 26, Issue 12, 1 December 1936, Page 8

HYMNS.

A PLEA FOR A WISER

SELECTION. (By the Bishop of Chelmsford.) (Reprinted from the "Chelmsford Diocesan Chronicle.) (Continued from Last Month.) A further point desires mention m this connection. It is noticeable that there is a class of hymn -which has disappeared almost entirely from •, bur worship. I refer to that group of hymns which is associated with what might be described as the oldfashioned doctrine of the Atonement. "There is a fountain filled with Blood" and "Glory be to Jesus," for instance. It would not be difficult to draw up a list of a dozen such hymn. I believe the fact that these hymns have gone out of fashion is a very significant thing, and is to be deplored. It is out of the question to enter into anything resembling a discujssion of the doctrine of the Atonement, but it always seems to me beyond dispute that there is a very close connection between the old-fashioned view of the Atonement and v penitence for sin. The people who look upon our Lord's death as sacrificial and redemptive m the common sense of the word are people who feel deeply the need for greater penitence for their own personal sins. And, on the other hand, I think there is a weak sense of the seriousness and gravity of human sin m those people whose doctrine of the Atonement is of the more liberal variety. There is one last point which is worth mentioning. Sometimes people criticise hymns we sing because some of the statements are extravagant, and they say that to call upon a general congregation to sing such hymns is encouraging unreality m religion. There is, ho doubt, a certain amount of truth m this. Quite clearly such a hymn as "Weary of earth and laden with •my sin" was never composed to be sung by a large mixed congregation of thoroughly healthy people who "feel their life m every limb." It was written, I imagine, for sufferers on their death-bed, but too much must not be made of this argument. There are times, probably m the ex-

perience of a good many of iis, when a hymn of this description has met us and helped us even when we were not smitten down with sickness. The same kind of criticism is levelled by unthinking people against some of the expressions of penitence m our hymns, e.g., "Lord, it is my chief complaint that my love is weak and faint." Many people sing this whose "chief complaint" is something of a completely different kind, probably the magnitude of their, income tax or their difficulty m paying their way. Is it really hypocrisy and unreality to utter such an expression as this? I think not. Psychologists tell us that the power of suggestion exercises a mighty influence over us. This being so,, to sing such words as these, or to say m our prayers such a thing as "the burden of our sins is intollerable," is suggesting to our minds that we ought to feel) and by such a practice of suggestion, w<= may be able to strengthen within our souls that .spirit of penitence and love which we ought to know.