Part of it, but only part…

As we extend these concepts beyond the scope of Israel, it is probably not unreasonable to maintain that God’s people have been given an identity with God and that it is our responsibility to honor God as we reflect him in our lives. Moral behavior would unquestionably be part of that, but only a part.—Walton and Walton, The Lost World of the Torah, 206

'Tis Mystery All! (Tozer for Tuesday)

So many things in the spiritual realm remain a mystery. Where we get into trouble is trying to define and describe all of the mysteries. Many of us have a Sherlock Holmes complex when it comes to spiritual things. We want to know everything to the smallest detail. This is nothing more or less than religious minutia, and it only feeds Pharisaic pride.—A.W. Tozer, Experiencing the Presence of God, 11 (introduction)

We Lift Our Hearts to Thee

492 We Lift Our Hearts to Thee

1 We lift our hearts to thee,
   O Day-star from on high!
   The sun itself is but thy shade,
   Yet cheers both earth and sky.

2 O let thy orient beams
   The night of sin disperse!
   The mists of error, and of vice,
   Which shade the universe!

3 How beauteous nature now!
   How dark and sad before!
   With joy we view the pleasing change,
   And nature’s God adore.

4 May we this life improve,
   To mourn for errors past,
   And live this short revolving day,
   As if it were our last.

5 To God, the Father, Son,
   And Spirit, one and three,
   Be glory, as it was, is now,
   And shall for ever be.
                         John Wesley
                         The Methodist Hymnal, 1964 edition

<idle musing>
John Wesley didn't write a lot of hymns. He preferred to translate them and to edit Charles's hymns. Besides, Charles was a much better hymnwriter! That being said, the ones John wrote tended to be pretty solid, like this one, which occurs in around 165 hymnals. Hymnary.org inserts a verse:

4 O may no gloomy crime
   Pollute the rising day;
   Or Jesu’s blood, like evening dew,
   Wash all our stains away.

</idle musing>

That slippery word QDŠ

The English word moral does not match the semantic range of Hebrew qdš; a closer English semantic equivalent to qdš is divine. We might note that the vast majority of holy things—such as objects (the temple articles), places (Mount Sinai, Jerusalem), geopolitical abstractions (the land, the nation), or time (the Sabbath)—have no moral agency. When a thing becomes holy, whether that thing is the abstract community of Israel (which is what is addressed in Lev 19, not each Israelite individually) or an object like the ark or the sanctuary, that thing is or does in some way identify something about what God is or does.—Walton and Walton, The Lost World of the Torah, 204 (emphasis original)

O God, Before Whose Altar

486 O God, Before Whose Altar

1 O God, before whose altar
   The stars like tapers burn,
   At whose inscrutable decree
   The planets wheel and turn,
   Though earth and sea and heaven
   Unite thy praise to sing,
   Man in his weakness yet may give
   A worthier offering.

2 Those who gave up life's bounty
   To serve a race to be,
   Whose bones lie white along the trail
   Which leads the world to thee;
   Those who when fears beset them
   Stand fast and fight and die,
   Their unconsidered lives go up
   Like incense to the sky.

3 All those oppressed or lonely
   Or long at strife with pain,
   Who face the darkness undismayed
   And turn their loss to gain,
   Those who with love and meekness
   Outlast the years of wrong,
   Their silent courage pleads to heaven
   More eloquent than song.

4 O Lord, be ours the glory
   Beyond all earthly fame,
   Like those to conquer for thy sake
   Despair and doubt and shame;
   Till through a world made noble,
   Through lands from sin set free,
   The armies of the living God
   Shall march to victory.
                         P. H. B. Lyon
                         The Methodist Hymnal, 1964 edition

<idle musing>
Well, this hymn, which I don't recall ever singing, is only in about eight hymnals. Seems the author spent most of his career as a headmaster at various boys' school in England.
</idle musing>

O God of Earth and Altar

484 O God of Earth and Altar

1 O God of earth and altar,
   bow down and hear our cry,
   our earthly rulers falter,
   our people drift and die;
   the walls of gold entomb us,
   the swords of scorn divide,
   take not thy thunder from us,
   but take away our pride.

2 From all that terror teaches,
   from lies of tongue and pen,
   from all the easy speeches
   that comfort cruel men,
   from sale and profanation
   of honour and the sword,
   from sleep and from damnation,
   deliver us, good Lord!

3 Tie in a living tether
   the prince and priest and thrall,
   bind all our lives together,
   smite us and save us all;
   in ire and exultation
   aflame with faith, and free,
   lift up a living nation,
   a single sword to thee.
                         Gilbert K. Chesterton
                         The Methodist Hymnal, 1964 edition

<idle musing>
Yes, that G.K. Chesterton. I didn't realize he had also written hymns, but since he wrote poetry, I guess hymns are just a small step away. That being said, I don't recall ever singing it and it only occurs in about seventy-five hymnals.
</idle musing>

O Holy City, Seen of John

481 O Holy City, Seen of John

1 O holy city, seen of John,
   Where Christ, the Lamb, doth reign,
   Within whose foursquare walls shall come
   No night, nor need, nor pain,
   And where the tears are wiped from eyes
   That shall not weep again!

2 Hark, how from men whose lives are held
   More cheap than merchandise,
   From women struggling sore for bread,
   From little children's cries,
   There swells the sobbing human plaint
   That bids thy walls arise!

3 O shame to us who rest content
   while lust and greed for gain
   in street and shop and tenement
   wring gold from human pain,
   and bitter lips in blind despair
   cry 'Christ hath died in vain!'

4 Give us, O God, the strength to build
   the city that hath stood
   too long a dream, whose laws are love,
   whose ways are brotherhood,
   and where the sun that shineth is
   God’s grace for human good.

5 Already in the mind of God
   that city riseth fair:
   lo, how its splendour challenges
   the souls that greatly dare;
   yea, bids us seize the whole of life
   and build its glory there.
                         Walter Russell Bowie
                        The Methodist Hymnal, 1964 edition

Ah yes, the proof-text…

Years ago Donald McCullough spoke about trivializing God and referred to this tendency as treating God as the “God of My Cause.” We decide what we want to believe and then dig around in the Bible to dredge up support so we can “take a stand on biblical authority.” Too often the authority of the Bible is not well represented by extracting prooftexts, yet this is one of the major ways that Christians attempt to make the Torah relevant and to resolve controversial issues.—Walton and Walton, The Lost World of the Torah, 183

Thou, Whose Almighty Word

480 Thou, Whose Almighty Word

1 Thou, whose almighty word
   chaos and darkness heard,
   and took their flight;
   hear us, we humbly pray,
   and where the gospel day
   sheds not its glorious ray,
   let there be light.

2 Thou, who didst come to bring
   on thy redeeming wing,
   healing and sight,
   health to the sick in mind,
   sight to the inly blind,
   O now to humankind
   let there be light.

3 Spirit of truth and love,
   life-giving, holy Dove,
   speed forth thy flight;
   move on the water's face,
   bearing the lamp of grace,
   and in earth's darkest place
   let there be light.

4 Holy and blessed Three,
   glorious Trinity,
   Wisdom, Love, Might;
   boundless as ocean's tide
   rolling in fullest pride,
   through the earth far and wide
   let there be light.
                         John Marriott
                         The Methodist Hymnal, 1964 edition

<idle musing
A good solid trinitarian hymn. It only occurs in about 500 hymnals and I don't ever recall singing it.
</idle musing>

Editing funny

In working through the bibliography of books you sometimes run into funny things. This one shows that people are quite ignorant of Latin:

Cross, Frank Moore, Werner E. Lemke, and Patrick D. Miller, eds. Magnolia Dei: The Mighty Acts of God; Essays on the Bible and Archaeology in Memory of G. Ernest Wright. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1976.

See the problem? I don't think the book is about magnolias! The correct spelling is Magnalia. But, the incorrect spelling shows up all over the place; it's even on JSTOR and de Gruyter's site!

Selective scripture

If we apply the derived principles approach only selectively, then we are the ones deciding what does and does not have value as God’s Word. Inevitably we will choose only the passages that we can readily attach to principles that we already believe are true. In this scenario, we are using Torah not to establish a moral system but to undergird one that we have already decided is valuable and coherent. In this case Torah is used as little more than illustration.—Walton and Walton, The Lost World of the Torah, 173

<idle musing>
And we are all only too familiar with that approach, aren't we? It's the recipe for division and strife as we argue about trivialities, siphoning the gnat and swallowing the camel...
</idle musing>

O Day of God, Draw Nigh

477 O Day of God, Draw Nigh

1. O day of God, draw nigh
   in beauty and in power;
   come with thy timeless judgment now
   to match our present hour.

2. Bring to our troubled minds,
   uncertain and afraid,
   the quiet of a steadfast faith,
   calm of a call obeyed.

3. Bring justice to our land,
   that all may dwell secure,
   and finely build for days to come
   foundations that endure.

4. Bring to our world of strife
   thy sovereign word of peace,
   that war may haunt the earth no more,
   and desolation cease.

5. O day of God, draw nigh
   as at creation's birth;
   let there be light again,
   and set thy judgments on the earth.
                         R. B. Y. Scott
                         The Methodist Hymnal, 1964 edition

<idle musing>
Not a terribly popular hymn, occurring in under 50 hymnals, but quite an appropriate hymn for this year and this time of year.

To me the interesting thing is that it was written by the Old Testament scholar R.B.Y Scott. His book Relevance of the Prophets was used as a textbook (among other books) in my Old Testament Prophets class and his The Way of Wisdom was used (among other books) for my Wisdom Literature class.

Besides that, there is an award named after him, offered by the Canadian Society of Biblical Studies. While I was at Eisenbrauns, three of our books won the award.
</idle musing>

The problem of reducing Torah to a checklist

The key is to have clear sight of the goal and to be committed to doing whatever represents the current wisdom in order to achieve that goal. If we try to reduce the goal to a checklist of practices and behaviors, it is likely that we will lose sight of the larger goal. Extracting a list of principles has the potential to undermine the importance of some of the more abstract ideas.—Walton and Walton, The Lost World of the Torah, 164

<idle musing>
Sounds similar to the accusation Jesus made to the Pharisees—and he would likely make to us. We jump through hoops sometimes, but are they right hoops? I suspect that more frequently than we would like to admit, they aren't.

By the way, merry Christmas!
<\idle musing>

Eternal Son, Eternal Love

471 Eternal Son, Eternal Love

1 Father of everlasting love,
   Take to thyself thy mighty power;
   Let all earth’s sons thy mercy prove,
   Let all thy wond'rous grace adore.

2 The triumphs of thy love display;
   In every heart reign thou alone;
   Till all thy foes confess thy sway,
   And glory ends what grace begun.

3 The God of grace, and health, and power,
   Fountain of light and love below,
   Abroad thine healing influence shower,
   O’er all the nations let it flow.

4 Inflame our hearts with perfect love,
   In us the work of faith fulfil;
   So not heaven’s host shall swifter move,
   Than we on earth, to do thy will.
                         Charles Wesley
                         The Methodist Hymnal, 1964 edition

<idle musing>
OK, it's not technically a Christmas hymn! But the Methodist hymnal puts it under Kingdomtide and that's ultimately what Christmas is all about, right?

I don't recall ever singing this hymn, and according to Hymnary.org, it only occurs in about 6 or 7 hymnals, so I guess that's not surprising.
</idle musing>

About those Ten Commandments...

Others locate the moral law even more strictly in the Decalogue alone. The base assumption is fueled by the equation that morality is achieved by law and that law is intended to produce morality. Given this two-way equation, the Torah, which they identify as law, is seen as being the source of morality, and since the source of Torah is God, the Torah has moral authority. As we have been discussing, this breaks down at almost every level. If the Torah is not legislation and cannot be reduced to morality, the fact that it has divine authority does not establish a divine source for either legislation or morality since neither is the Torah’s intent.—Walton and Walton, The Lost World of the Torah, 161

There is a first-aid kit! (Tozer for Tuesday)

I believe there is such a thing as being cleansed from sin, walking in the Spirit and not fulfilling the lust of the flesh. And I believe that it is entirely within the right of any Christian to go to God and demand that God make him holy and keep him from sin. Of course, he may stumble. If he stumbles, there is a first-aid kit. “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not.” That is the will of God, number one. “And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father” (1 John 2:1). That is the first-aid kit. The Lord does not let His stumbling children die. He picks them up, dusts them off, binds up their wounds and starts them all anew.—A.W. Tozer, Reclaiming Christianity, 217

Father Eternal, Ruler of Creation

469 Father Eternal, Ruler of Creation

1 Father eternal, Ruler of creation,
   Spirit of life, which moved ere form was made;
   Through the thick darkness covering every nation,
   Light to man's blindness, O be Thou our aid:
   Thy Kingdom come, O Lord, Thy will be done.

2 Races and peoples, lo! we stand divided,
   And sharing not our griefs, no joy can share;
   By wars and tumults Love is mocked, derided,
   His conquering cross no kingdom wills to bear:
   Thy Kingdom come, O Lord, Thy will be done.

3 Envious of heart, blind-eyed, with tongues confounded,
   Nation by nation still goes unforgiven;
   In wrath and fear, by jealousies surrounded,
   Building proud towers which shall not reach to heaven:
   Thy Kingdom come, O Lord, Thy will be done.

4 How shall we love Thee, holy, hidden Being,
   If we love not the world which Thou hast made?
   O give us brother love for better seeing
   Thy Word made flesh, and in a manger laid:
   Thy Kingdom come, O Lord, Thy will be done.
                         Laurence Housman
                         The Methodist Hymnal, 1964 edition

<idle musing>
A very appropriate hymn for this time of year, and this time in the life of the world/country. We could use more hymns/prayers like this one.

The biography of Housman is interesting: He's the younger brother of A. E. Housman. He also was a committed pacifist and a socialist, so he had issues with censorship...
</idle musing>

The presence of the kingdom—in the Hebrew Bible!

God’s plans and purposes did not do something to the Israelites (other than give them a status as his people); his plans and purposes worked through them. His plan was not to cleanse them of their sins, provide for their eternal life, reconcile them to God, impute righteousness to them, or take their sin on himself. Instead, what he did was establish his kingdom on earth and dwell among his people as king. In the process, as we can see in hindsight, he was establishing what kind of God he was, so that when Christ appeared claiming to be God, people would have a way to understand that what he meant was not the same thing that the Greeks and Romans would have believed was represented by the word “God.” The Israelites were not anticipating incarnation, but they were to understand that their concept of their God was supposed to be slightly different from the understanding of other gods that both they and their neighbors shared.—Walton and Walton, The Lost World of the Torah, 159 (emphasis original)

The Lord Will Come and Not Be Slow (John Milton)

468 The Lord Will Come and Not Be Slow

1 The Lord will come and not be slow,
   His footsteps cannot err;
   Before him righteousness shall go,
   His royal harbinger.
   Truth from the earth, like to a flower,
   Shall bud and blossom then;
   And justice, from her heavenly bower,
   Look down on mortal men.

2 Surely to such as do him fear
   Salvation is at hand!
   And soon his glory shall appear
   And dwell within our land.
   Rise, God, judge thou the earth in might,
   This wicked earth redress;
   For thou art he who shalt by right
   The nations all possess.

3 The nations all whom thou hast made
   Shall come, and all shall frame
   To bow them low before thee, Lord,
   And glorify thy name.
   For great thou art, and wonders great
   By thy strong hand are done:
   Thou in thy everlasting seat
   Remainest God alone.
                         John Milton
                         The Methodist Hymnal, 1964 edition

<idle musing>
One of the fifteen hymns that John Milton wrote, and it only occurs in under a hundred hymnals. The versification varies widely, too. Some split this up into six verses instead of three.
</idle musing>

Father, in Whom We Live

465 Father, in Whom We Live

1 Father in whom we live,
   in whom we are and move,
   the glory, power, and praise receive
   of thy creating love.
   Let all the angel throng
   give thanks to God on high,
   while earth repeats the joyful song,
   and echoes to the sky.

2 Incarnate Deity,
   let all the ransomed race
   render in thanks their lives to thee
   for thy redeeming grace.
   The grace to sinners showed
   ye heavenly choirs proclaim,
   and cry: 'Salvation to our God,
   salvation to the Lamb!

3 Spirit of holiness,
   let all thy saints adore
   thy sacred energy, and bless
   thine heart-renewing power.
   Not angel tongues can tell
   thy love's ecstatic height,
   the glorious joy unspeakable,
   the beatific sight.

4 Eternal triune Lord!
   Let all the hosts above,
   let all the sons of men, record
   and dwell upon thy love.
   When heaven and earth are fled
   before thy glorious face,
   sing all the saints thy love hath made
   thine everlasting praise.
                         Charles Wesley
                         The Methodist Hymnal, 1964 edition

<idle musing>
A good trinitarian hymn. Would that it were more common; heaven knows we need better theology in our songs today. But this one only occurs in about 100 hymnals. Mores the pity.
</idle musing>

It's the community!

Torah provided the means for them to be in relationship with Yahweh through the covenant; it did not reconcile them to God by permanently obliterating their sin. (Reconciliation to God is another concept that is absent from Old Testament theology, except in regard to restoration of favor following covenant infidelity.) Individuals could be faithful to the covenant, and that put them in good standing in the covenant community, a community that continued to exist in covenant relationship with Yahweh generation to generation, though individuals would come and go. Individuals who failed to observe the Torah could be cut off from the community so that they would not negatively affect the good standing of the community as God’s people. If the community as a whole failed to keep the covenant, the covenant curses would come upon them and they could lose the covenant benefits (land and the privilege of Yahweh dwelling among them) and instead suffer exile.—Walton and Walton, The Lost World of the Torah, 159

We Believe in One True God

463 We Believe in One True God

1 We all believe in one true God,
   Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
   Ever-present help in need,
   Praised by all the heav'nly host,
   By whose mighty power alone
   All is made and wrought and done.

2 We all believe in Jesus Christ,
   Son of God and Mary's Son,
   Who descended from his throne
   And for us salvation won,
   By whose cross and death are we
   Rescued from all misery.

3 We confess the Holy Ghost,
   Who from both fore'er proceeds,
   Who upholds and comforts us
   In all trials, fears, and needs.
   Blest and holy Trinity,
   Praise forever be to thee!
                         Tobias Clausnitzer
                         Trans. by Catherine Winkworth
                         The Methodist Hymnal, 1964 edition

<idle musing>
Wow. For a hymn that only occurs in 50-odd hymnals, this one sure shows a lot of variation. The basic theme stays the same, but the words are all over. I couldn't find one that aligned fully with the Methodist hymnal I'm going through.

You can definitely tell that the hymnwriter is a Western Christian and not Eastern Orthodox: "Who from both fore'er proceeds" is something only a Western Christian would say. The filioque clause is still a hotly debated issue between East and West. </idle musing>

Is there continuity?

Salvation from sins is not something that was expected in the Old Testament and is therefore not even a major theme of the Old Testament, let alone its defining and central subject. If one were to try to draw connections between salvation from sins in the New Testament and deliverance from slavery or exile in the Old Testament, again difficult obstacles would have to be overcome since these crises are very different from the problem of sin.—Walton and Walton, The Lost World of the Torah, 157

The Head That Once Was Crowned

458 The Head That Once Was Crowned

1 The head that once was crowned with thorns
   Is crowned with glory now;
   A royal diadem adorns
   The mighty Victor's brow.

2 The highest place that heaven affords
   Is His, is His by right,
   The King of kings and Lord of lords,
   And heaven's eternal light,

3 The joy of all who dwell above,
   The joy of all below
   To whom He manifests His love,
   And grants His name to know.

4 To them the cross, with all its shame,
   With all its grace; is given,
   Their name an everlasting name,
   Their joy the joy of heaven.

5 They suffer with their Lord below,
   They reign with Him above,
   Their profit and their joy to know
   The mystery of His love.

6 The cross to them is life and health,
   Though shame and death to Him;
   His people's hope, His people's wealth,
   Their everlasting theme.
                         Thomas Kelley
                         The Methodist Hymnal, 1964 edition

Theodoret of Cyprus on the incarnation

But Apollinaris, who values drivel more than truth, and who sets his homely prattle before the pious dogmas, says God the Word put on flesh and used it rather like a veil; and that, having no need of a soul, He takes the place of a soul in the body. But, my dear, someone may say to Apollinaris that God the Word had no need of a body either, for He had no lack at all. He was able even to carry out our salvation by a simple command; but He wanted also to have some properly arranged communion with us. To that end He assumed sinful nature and justified that nature by His own deeds. He set it free from the bitter tyrants, Sin and Devil and Death, and deemed it worthy of heavenly thrones, and through that which He assumed He gave to all the race a share in liberty.—Theodoret of Cyprus in William A. Jurgens, Faith of the Early Fathers, 3:242

It was never intended that way…

What is important for our study is that we understand that Torah, in the context of the Old Testament, was never intended to provide a way to heaven or a way to pay the penalty for sin fully and finally. It was never intended to do what Jesus accomplished through his death and resurrection. It is therefore not a failed approach; it did precisely what Yahweh intended for it to do. When we talk about Christians not being under law, but under grace, it is a reflection on what Christ has done for us, not a biblical rejection of the Torah as a means of salvation (which it never was intended to be). Non-Jews can neither accept nor reject the Torah because it was never offered to them.—Walton and Walton, The Lost World of the Torah, 155

Come, Let Us Rise with Christ

457 Come, Let Us Rise with Christ

1. Come, let us rise with Christ our head
   And seek the things above,
   By the almighty Spirit led
   And filled with faith and love;
   Our hearts detached from all below
   Should after Him ascend,
   And only wish the joy to know
   Of our triumphant Friend.

2. Enthroned at God’s right hand He sits,
   Maintainer of our cause,
   Till every vanquished foe submits
   To His victorious cross;
   Worthy to be exalted thus,
   The Lamb for sinners slain,
   The Lord our King, who reigns for us,
   And shall forever reign.

3. To Him our willing hearts we give
   Who gives us power and peace,
   And dead to sin, His members live
   The life of righteousness;
   The hidden life of Christ is ours
   With Christ concealed above,
   And tasting the celestial powers,
   We banquet on His love.
                         Charles Wesley
                         The Methodist Hymnal, 1964 edition

<idle musing>
I can't believe the stats on this one: A Wesley hymn that only occurs in four hymnals! I've never seen that before. And it's not like the hymn is bad; the theology is good. Wonder why it isn't more popular...
</idle musing>

Cyril of Alexandria on the incarnation

They are utterly stupid who represent, I know not how, that Christ was able to err, because of His having been made incarnationally into a form like us. . . . And if he wore the nature of man for this very reason, that just as that nature in Adam was weakened, in Himself it might prove most powerful and superior to sin, why do they waste their time vainly seeking what they cannot possibly find? . . . Just as in Adam we were condemned because of his disobedience and his transgression of the command, so too in Christ we have been justified because of His utter sinlessness and His perfect obedience and blamelessness; and it is in Him that human nature has its boast.—Cyril of Alexandria in William A. Jurgens, Faith of the Early Fathers, 3:236

Economics

There is no ideal economic system because people will always find a way to corrupt any system and abuse others through it. Any system can be operated with integrity or alternatively be used repressively or oppressively. The Torah insisted that God’s people should not abuse people through the system that was in place in their world. The Bible does not call on us to return to an agropastoral economy, and it did not call on them to abolish debt-slavery.—Walton and Walton, The Lost World of the Torah, 141

<idle musing>
Ain't that the truth! I have never understood how people could say that God's endorsed form of economics is capitalism. Yet I have run into it time and time again over the years. I would go a step further than the Waltons do, though, and say that captitalism especially is prone to abuse—especially in our society that has thrown off so many moral restraints against greed and abuse of power.
</idle musing>

Tozer for Tuesday

Any doctrine that makes the world your friend is not your friend. And any doctrine that makes it easy for you to hobnob with the world and the world’s ways and accept the world’s values, and do the way the world does, is not of God.—A.W. Tozer, Reclaiming Christianity, 216–17

Ambrose on the incarnation

Letter of Ambrose to Sabinus, a Bishop. ca. AD 390

Just as in the form of God, He lacked nothing of the divine nature and its fullness, so too in the form of man there was nothing lacking in Him, by the absence of which He might have been judged an imperfect man; for He came to save the whole man. It would not have been fitting for One who accomplished a perfect work in others to allow anything imperfect in Himself. If something was lacking in His humanity, He did not redeem the whole man; and if He did not redeem the whole man, He was a deceiver when He declared that He had come to save the whole man. But He did not deceive, because “It is not possible for God to lie. ” Because He came, therefore, to save and redeem the whole man, it follows that He took upon Himself the whole man, and that His humanity was perfect.—Ambrose in William A. Jurgens, Faith of the Early Fathers, 2:148

Is it really all or nothing?

Since the Torah cannot be divided into categories of ritual, moral, and social, if we read any of it as divine legislation, we must read all of it as divine legislation, with social ideals standing equally beside moral ideals. Some interpreters, of course, are inclined to read the social stipulations of the Torah as divine ideals anyway.—Walton and Walton, The Lost World of the Torah, 136

<idle musing>
Not sure I buy that. I read a review of one of John's books a while ago where the reviewer basically said that John needed a better theological foundation from which to read. I believe this is one of those places... Not that I think that he's wrong about torah not being laws; I just think nuance would be a bit better. YMMV, of course.
</idle musing>

Look, Ye Saint! The Sight Is Glorious

453 Look, Ye Saint! The Sight Is Glorious

1 Look, ye saints! the sight is glorious;
   See the Man of Sorrows now;
   From the fight returned victorious,
   Every knee to Him shall bow:
   Crown Him, Crown Him, Crown Him, Crown Him,
   Crowns become the victor's brow,
   Crowns become the victor's brow.

2 Crown the Savior, angels, crown Him;
   Rich the trophies Jesus brings;
   In the seat of power enthrone Him,
   While the vault of heaven rings:
   Crown Him, Crown Him, Crown Him, Crown Him,
   Crown the Savior King of kings,
   Crown the Savior King of kings.

3 Sinners in derision crowned Him,
   Mocking thus the Savior's claim;
   Saints and angels crowd around Him,
   Own His title, praise His name:
   Crown Him, Crown Him, Crown Him, Crown Him,
   Spread abroad the Victor's fame,
   Spread abroad the Victor's fame.

4 Hark, those bursts of acclamation!
   Hark, those loud triumphant chords!
   Jesus takes the highest station:
   O what joy the sight affords!
   Crown Him, Crown Him, Crown Him, Crown Him,
   King of kings, and Lord of lords,
   King of kings, and Lord of lords.
                         Thomas Kelly
                         The Methodist Hymnal, 1964 edition

O Sons and Daughters, Let Us Sing

451 O Sons and Daughters, Let Us Sing

1 O sons and daughters of the King,
   whom heavenly hosts in glory sing,
   today the grave has lost its sting.
   Alleluia! Alleluia!

2 That Easter morn at break of day,
   the faithful women went their way
   to seek the tomb where Jesus lay.
   Alleluia! Alleluia!

3 An angel clad in white they see,
   who sat and spoke unto the three,
   "Your Lord has gone to Galilee."
   Alleluia! Alleluia!

4 How blest are they who have not seen
   and yet whose faith has constant been,
   for they eternal life shall win.
   Alleluia! Alleluia!

5 On this most holy day of days,
   to God your hearts and voices raise
   in laud and jubilee and praise,
   Alleluia! Alleluia!
                         Jean Tisserand
                         Trans. by John M. Neale
                         The Methodist Hymnal, 1964 edition

<idle musing>
Cyberhymnal inserts the following verses:

4 When Thomas first the tidings heard
   that some had seen the risen Lord,
   he doubted the disciples' word.
   Lord, have mercy!

5 At night the apostles met in fear;
   among them came their Master dear
   and said, "My peace be with you here."
   Alleluia!

6 "My pierced side, O Thomas, see,
   and look upon my hands, my feet;
   not faithless but believing be."
   Alleluia!

7 No longer Thomas then denied;
   he saw the feet, the hands, the side.
   "You are my Lord and God!" he cried.
   Alleluia!

</idle musing>

Hermeneutics? Or dogma?

The authority of Paul’s statements is derived not from his hermeneutics but from his apostolic inspiration. Today, we are obligated to use hermeneutical principles to validate our interpretations because we are not inspired. Paul’s authority derived from his apostolic status, but in our case whatever authority we have derives from the integrity of our method. Sound hermeneutical principles are essential to place necessary restrictions on us as interpreters because we do not have authority. If we were all inspired, we would not need hermeneutics. What makes the New Testament authors different from us is that they are inspired; we are not. Consequently, we should never conclude that we could reproduce their methodology; the authority of their message is vouchsafed from their inspiration no matter how sound their methodology may or may not be.—Walton and Walton, The Lost World of the Torah, 131

<idle musing>
OK. This is a bit much! I don't buy it. It sounds to me like an attempt to justify their version of hermeneutics as opposed to the style of hermeneutics used by the NT authors (and other interpreters at the time). Again: NO! I could go on, but I'll spare you…
</idle musing>

I Know That My Redeemer Lives (hymn)

445 I Know That My Redeemer Lives

1 I know that my Redeemer lives;
   What joy the blest assurance gives!
   He lives, He lives, who once was dead;
   He lives, my everlasting Head!

2 He lives, to bless me with His love;
   He lives, to plead for me above;
   He lives, my hungry soul to feed;
   He lives, to help in time of need.

3 He lives, and grants me daily breath;
   He lives, and I shall conquer death;
   He lives, my mansion to prepare;
   He lives, to bring me safely there.

4 He lives, all glory to His Name;
   He lives, my Saviour, still the same;
   What joy the blest assurance gives:
   I know that my Redeemer lives!
                         Samuel Medley
                         The Methodist Hymnal, 1964 edition

<idle musing>
Every time I read the title of this hymn, I instantly think of Handel's Messiah and his rendition. That being said, this hymn stands on its own merits, occurring in about 450 hymnals. There are more verses:

2 He lives, triumphant from the grace,
   He lives, eternally to save;
   He lives, all-glorious in the sky,
   He lives, exulted there on high.

4 He lives and grants me rich supply,
   He lives to guide me with his eye,
   He lives to comfort me when faint,
   He lives to hear my soul's complaint.

5 He lives to crush the pow'rs of hell,
   He lives that he may in me dwell,
   He lives to heal and make me whole
   He lives to guard my feeble soul.

6 He lives to silence all my fears;
   He lives to stop and wipe my tears,
   He lives to calm my troubled heart,
   he lives all blessings to impart.

7 He lives my kind, my heavenly friend,
   He lives and loves me to the end;
   He lives, and while he lives I'll sing,
   He lives my Prophet, Priest and King.

</idle musing>

What God is doing

However, we have argued that the Bible is God’s revelation of himself. We could argue that God does not change either, but God is also complex; new revelation might be intended to reveal new aspects of God, as opposed to reiterating the same aspects. The divine personality is in fact so diverse that later theologians had to break it apart into three distinct personae (Greek prosopon English “person”). If God reveals something new about himself, we would not expect it to simply duplicate the information that came before. Further, we have argued specifically that the Bible reveals God’s purposes, that is, what God is doing.—Walton and Walton, The Lost World of the Torah, 127

<idle musing>
I would quibble w/their reasoning for the Trinity, but otherwise would pretty much agree.
</idle musing>

Sing with All the Sons of Glory (Resurrection Song)

440 Sing with All the Sons of Glory

1 Sing with all the saints in glory,
   Sing the resurrection song!
   Death and sorrow, earth’s dark story,
   To the former days belong.
   All around the clouds are breaking,
   Soon the storms of time shall cease;
   In God’s likeness, man awaking,
   Knows the everlasting peace.

2 O what glory, far exceeding
   All that eye has yet perceived!
   Holiest hearts for ages pleading,
   Never that full joy conceived.
   God has promised, Christ prepares it,
   There on high our welcome waits;
   Every humble spirit shares it,
   Christ has passed th'eternal gates.

3 Life eternal! heaven rejoices:
   Jesus lives who once was dead;
   Join, O man, the deathless voices;
   Child of God, lift up thy head!
   Patriarchs from the distant ages,
   Saints all longing for their heaven,
   Prophets, psalmists, seers, and sages,
   All await the glory given.

4 Life eternal! O what wonders
   Crowd on faith; what joy unknown,
   When amid earth's closing thunders,
   Saints shall stand before the throne!
   O to enter that bright portal,
   See that glowing firmament,
   Know, with Thee, O God immortal,
   "Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent!"
                         William J. Irons
                         The Methodist Hymnal, 1964 edition

About that waw conversive…

Unfortunately, this role [as a stative or adjective] has commonly been misunderstood in the past, and this potential function of the perfect has been overlooked in light of the belief that there is some property inherent in the waw to make the perfect act as though it were some other aspect/tense (the “waw conversive”). Some will even go so far as to say that a perfect prefixed by a “waw conversive” ought to be understood as an imperfect! If that were the case, the Hebrew authors had a perfectly fine morpheme to express the meaning of an imperfect: an imperfect. So, why would an author not use an imperfect verb to express an imperfect meaning? That is really where the question lies.—Grant Testut, “Conjunction and Disjunction,” in ”Where Shall Wisdom Be Found? A Grammatical Tribute to Professor Stephen A. Kaufman, 277–78 (emphasis original)

But it all changed in the Hellenistic period…

It was only when Torah was adopted as legislation in the Hellenistic period that a community discussed the idea of keeping all the law as if it were legislative and comprehensive. As we have seen in our previous discussion, in both Mesopotamia and Israel, the only form of divine law is found in the decrees issued by the gods that maintain order in the cosmos. In contrast, the Greek concept was that law emanated from the gods in the sense that the divine realm was the source of rationality and reason, which in turn served as the foundation for an understanding of natural law. In their view, this law is universal and unchanging, and resulted from general revelation. The model seen in the ANE fits the Torah data better. If that is the case, Torah can be considered neither divine legislation nor a manifestation of the inherent functioning of the world. This is important to recognize if we are interested in reading the text in accordance with its genre and context.—Walton and Walton, The Lost World of the Torah, 124–25

Christ Jesus Lay in Death’s Strong Bands

438

1 Christ Jesus lay in death’s strong bands,
   for our offenses given;
   but now at God’s right hand He stands
   and brings us light from heaven.
   Therefore let us joyful be
   and sing to God right thankfully
   loud songs of hallelujah.
   Hallelujah!

2 It was a strange and dreadful strife
   when life and death contended;
   the victory remained with life,
   the reign of death was ended.
   Holy Scripture plainly saith
   that death is swallowed up by death;
   his sting is lost forever.
   Hallelujah!

3 Here the true Paschal Lamb we see,
   whom God so freely gave us;
   He died on the accursed tree-
   so strong His love to save us.
   See His blood upon our door;
   faith points to it, death passes o'er,
   and Satan cannot harm us.
   Hallelujah!

4 So let us keep the festival
   whereto the Lord invites us;
   Christ is Himself the Joy of all,
   the Sun that warms and lights us.
   By His grace He doth impart
   eternal sunshine to the heart;
   the night of sin is ended.
   Hallelujah!
                         Martin Luther
                         Trans. by Richard Massie
                         The Methodist Hymnal, 1964 edition

Once more: It is not a checklist!

Even if one successfully adhered to all the stipulations of the Torah one could not claim to have fulfilled the expectations of Torah because even though they are stipulations, they are not intended to be comprehensive. It is not a checklist to be marked off—the law is “kept” by order being reflected in every aspect of life. The goal of the Torah is order, not legislation or salvation. Sometimes order is even sustained by violating the stipulations, as Jesus frequently demonstrates concerning the Sabbath. Likewise, even “obeying” the commandments of the Torah did not result in the rich young ruler in Luke 18:18-23 embodying the covenant order. The Torah is a guide to what order looks like, not a checklist that can be followed to attain it.—Walton and Walton, The Lost World of the Torah, 124

Tozer on emotion

Some might ask, “Is it possible to have an emotional experience that is not of God?” I should say so. It is entirely possible to get emotional experiences that are not of God. But I believe that true experiences carry an emotional overtone, and for that reason, I have no objection whatever to emotions. I believe the Lord’s people ought to be the happiest and most radiant people in the world, and I believe they ought not to hesitate to speak right out and say “amen” when they feel like it. If it is not just a habit, it is just so much dry wood.—A.W. Tozer, Reclaiming Christianity, 212

Go to Dark Gethsemane

434 Go to Dark Gethsemane

1 Go to dark Gethsemane,
   You who feel the tempter's pow'r;
   Your Redeemer's conflict see;
   Watch with Him one bitter hour;
   Turn not from His griefs away;
   Learn of Jesus Christ to pray.

2 Follow to the judgment hall;
   View the Lord of life arraigned;
   O the worm-wood and the gall!
   O the pangs His soul sustained!
   Shun not suff'ring, shame, or loss;
   Learn of Him to bear the cross.

3 Calv'ry's mournful mountain climb
   There' adoring at His feet,
   Mark the miracle of time,
   God's own sacrifice complete:
   "It is finished!" Hear the cry;
   Learn of Jesus Christ to die.

4 Early hasten to the tomb
   Where they laid his breathless clay;
   All is solitude and gloom;
   Who hath taken Him away?
   Christ is ris'n! He meets our eyes:
   Savior, teach us so to rise.
                         James Montgomery
                         The Methodist Hymnal, 1964 edition

<idle musing>
Somehow it seems fitting that during Advent I'm going through the Lenten and Holy Week section of the hymnal.
</idle musing>

Conditional occupation

The Torah is given so that Israel might learn from the wisdom of the king (Yahweh) how to retain his favor and presence, enhancing his reputation through the order they establish proclaiming his rule and honoring his name. If they fail to do so, they may jeopardize their lives, they may be driven from the land (once they take residence there), or he might abandon them.—Walton and Walton, The Lost World of the Torah, 115

Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross

433 Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross

1 Jesus, keep me near the cross;
   There's a precious fountain,
   Free to all, a healing stream,
   Flows from Calv'ry's mountain.

Refrain:
   In the cross, in the cross
   Be my glory ever,
   Till my ransomed soul shall find
   Rest beyond the river.

2 Near the cross, a trembling soul,
   Love and mercy found me;
   There the bright and morning star
   Shed its beams around me. [Refrain]

3 Near the cross! O Lamb of God,
   Bring its scenes before me;
   Help me walk from day to day
   With its shadow o'er me. [Refrain]

4 Near the cross! I'll watch and wait,
   Hoping, trusting ever,
   Till I reach the golden strand,
   Just beyond the river. [Refrain]
                         Fanny J. Crosby
                         The Methodist Hymnal, 1964 edition

'Tis Midnight, and on Olive's Brow

431 'Tis Midnight, and on Olive's Brow

1 'Tis midnight, and on Olive's brow
   The star is dimmed that lately shone;
   'Tis midnight, in the garden now
   The suffering Savior prays alone.

2 'Tis midnight, and from all removed,
   The Savior wrestles lone with fears;
   E'en that disciple whom He loved
   Heeds not his Master's grief and tears.

3 'Tis midnight, and for others' guilt
   The Man of Sorrows weeps in blood;
   Yet He that hath in anguish knelt
   Is not forsaken by His God.

4 'Tis midnight, and from heavenly plains
   Is borne the song that angels know;
   Unheard by mortals are the strains
   That sweetly soothe the Savior's woe.
                         William B. Tappan
                         The Methodist Hymnal, 1964 edition

'Tis Finished! The Messiah Dies

429 'Tis Finished! The Messiah Dies

1. ’Tis finished! The Messiah dies,
   Cut off for sins, but not His own:
   Accomplished is the sacrifice,
   The great redeeming work is done.

2. The veil is rent in Christ alone;
   The living way to Heaven is seen;
   The middle wall is broken down,
   And all mankind may enter in.

3. The reign of sin and death is o’er,
   And all may live from sin set free;
   Satan hath lost his mortal power;
   ’Tis swallowed up in victory.
                         Charles Wesley
                         The Methodist Hymnal, 1964 edition

<idle musing>
Not a very popular hymn, only occurring in about 65 hymnals. As usual with a Wesley hymn, there are more verses. Cyberhymnal has them:

2. ’Tis finished! all the debt is paid;
   Justice divine is satisfied;
   The grand and full atonement made;
   God for a guilty world hath died.

4. The types and figures are fulfilled;
   Exacted is the legal pain;
   The precious promises are sealed;
   The spotless Lamb of God is slain.

6. Saved from the legal curse I am,
   My Savior hangs on yonder tree:
   See there the meek, expiring Lamb!
   ’Tis finished! He expires for me.

7. Accepted in the Well-beloved,
   And clothed in righteousness divine,
   I see the bar to heaven removed;
   And all Thy merits, Lord, are mine.

8. Death, hell, and sin are now subdued;
   All grace is now to sinners given;
   And lo, I plead the atoning blood,
   And in Thy right I claim Thy Heaven!

</idle musing>

Imputed? Or bestowed?

We can now see that the Torah, situated in the covenant, includes all three of these focus elements (justice, purity, and faithfulness), but more than all of them as it gives examples of the order that will define Yahweh’s identity (= holiness). The attribute of holiness (the status conferred on Israel) is the underlying reason why justice, faithfulness, and purity are necessary. Upon the ratification of the covenant, Israel receives its holy status. Holiness is therefore not the stipulation of the covenant and not simply an amalgam of conditions such as justice, purity, or faithfulness.—Walton and Walton, The Lost World of the Torah, 109

Alone Thou Goest Forth

427 Alone Thou Goest Forth

Under copyright!
                         Peter Abelard
                         Trans. by F. Bland Tucker
                         The Methodist Hymnal, 1964 edition

<idle musing>
Whodda thunk! The hymn is over 1000 years old, and under copyright! Well, technically only the translation is under copyright. No wonder it only occurs in about 25 hymnals. Can you imagine trying to get permission from Abelard : )
</idle musing>

Situated Torah

To say that the Torah is situated in the ancient world is another way of recognizing that its communication and conversations are embedded in the ancient world. Consequently, every aspect of it must be interpreted within that ancient context; extrapolation outside of that context is hazardous. That does not mean that we cannot extrapolate, only that it has to be done very carefully with full knowledge of what we are dealing with (genre) and how extrapolation can take place effectively (methodology and hermeneutics). One cannot seek to extrapolate it on the assumption that it is legislation or a moral system. It is neither a question, then, about the unchanging law of an unchanging God nor a presumption that morality is relative. If the Torah is neither a law code nor a moral system (more discussion in proposition twenty-one), then its lessons cannot be learned from following those pathways.—Walton and Walton, The Lost World of the Torah, 100

Cross of Jesus, Cross of Sorrow

426 Cross of Jesus, Cross of Sorrow

1 Cross of Jesus, cross of sorrow,
   Where the blood of Christ was shed,
   Perfect Man on thee did suffer,
   Perfect God on thee has bled!

2 Here the King of all the ages,
   Throned in light ere worlds could be,
   Robed in mortal flesh is dying,
   Crucified by sin for me.

3 O myster'ous condescending!
   O abandonment sublime!
   Very God Himself is bearing
   All the sufferings of time!

4 Cross of Jesus, cross of sorrow,
   Where the blood of Christ was shed,
   Perfect Man on thee did suffer,
   Perfect God on thee has bled!
                         William J. Sparrow-Simpson
                         The Methodist Hymnal, 1964 edition

<idle musing>
As usual when there are more verses, Cyberhymnal has the most complete:

4. Evermore for human failure
   By His passion we can plead;
   God has born all mortal anguish,
   Surely He will know our need.

5. This—all human thought surpassing—
   This is earth’s most awful hour,
   God has taken mortal weakness!
   God has laid aside His power!

6. Once the Lord of brilliant seraphs,
   Winged with love to do His will,
   Now the scorn of all His creatures,
   And the aim of every ill.

7. Up in Heaven, sublimest glory
   Circled round Him from the first;
   But the earth finds none to serve Him,
   None to quench His raging thirst.

8. Who shall fathom that descending,
   From the rainbow circled throne,
   Down to earth’s most base profaning,
   Dying desolate alone.

9. From the Holy, Holy, Holy,
   We adore Thee, O most High,
   Down to earth’s blaspheming voices
   And the shout of Crucify.

</idle musing>

Torah and definitions

The Torah, then, far from being legislatlon, has as its objective to define the nature of the order that defines the people who in turn give some definition to the identity of Yahweh. The wisdom of the Torah instructs its primary audience—the kings and priests and their subordinate administrators—on the nature of the order they should be up-holding if they want to reflect Yahweh’s identity properly and thereby retain his favor in the form of the covenant blessings.—Walton and Walton, The Lost World of the Torah, 93 (emphasis original)

Hosanna, Loud Hosanna

423 Hosanna, Loud Hosanna

1 Hosanna, loud hosanna
   the little children sang;
   through pillared court and temple
   the lovely anthem rang.
   To Jesus, who had blessed them,
   close folded to his breast,
   the children sang their praises,
   the simplest and the best.

2 From Olivet they followed
   mid an exultant crowd,
   the victory palm branch waving,
   and chanting clear and loud.
   The Lord of earth and heaven
   rode on in lowly state,
   nor scorned that little children
   should on his bidding wait.

3 "Hosanna in the highest!"
   That ancient song we sing,
   for Christ is our Redeemer,
   the Lord of heaven, our King.
   O may we ever praise him
   with heart and life and voice,
   and in his blissful presence
   eternally rejoice.
                         Jeanette Threlfall
                         The Methodist Hymnal, 1964 edition

<idle musing>
Not a terribly popular hymn, only occurring in about 160 hymnals. The biography of the author (linked to above) says this:

The sacred poems are not very well wrought, nor at all noticeable in thought or sentiment. But all through one feels that a sweet spirit utters itself.

Not a bad characteristic, I would say. I'd rather hear a sweet spirit than most of what I hear today…
</idle musing>

So, What is cleansed, anyway?

The result of kipper being accomplished by the sin and guilt offerings is that the person can be forgiven—that is, he or she will not have to be cut off from the community. If a person is not forgiven or not cut off from the community, the person’s continuing presence in the community will continue to contaminate the sanctuary, resulting eventually in the withdrawal of the divine presence and favor. But the contamination remains on the sanctuary, not on the person, so there is no suggestion of kipper cleansing an individual of sin.—Walton and Walton, The Lost World of the Torah, 76

Discerning the spirits (Tozer for Tuesday)

Jesus Christ, our Lord, is indispensable; He is above all; and any experience, any interpretation of Scripture that does not make Him big and great and wonderful, is not of God. For God wants to make His Son glorious, and the Son wants to make the Father glorious, and the Holy Spirit wants to make the Father and the Son glorious. And so anything that comes to you, even an archangel with a wingspread of 40 feet and shining like a neon sign were to come down here and tell me that he has just seen a miracle and wants me to come, I would want chapter and verse. I would want to know that he was from God. I am not running after any will-o’-the-wisp.—A.W. Tozer, Reclaiming Christianity, 211

About those offerings…

We now turn attention to the sacrifices that are responses to offense: the so-called sin offerings and guilt offerings. These sacrifices feature blood rituals prominently (whereas blood is rarely used outside of them), with the logic being that life is in the blood (Lev 17:11). Blood rituals are uncommon in the rest of the ancient world. Animals are offered to other deities, but blood manipulation is not generally involved. In Israelite practice, the Torah establishes these two sacrifices as responses when some impurity encroaches on the sanctuary (sin offering) or when something that belongs to the sanctuary is appropriated for personal use (guilt offering).—Walton and Walton, The Lost World of the Torah, 75

The Son of God Goes Forth to War

419 The Son of God Goes Forth to War

1. The Son of God goes forth to war,
   A kingly crown to gain;
   His blood red banner streams afar:
   Who follows in His train?
   Who best can drink His cup of woe,
   Triumphant over pain,
   Who patient bears his cross below,
   He follows in His train.

2. That martyr first, whose eagle eye
   Could pierce beyond the grave;
   Who saw his Master in the sky,
   And called on Him to save.
   Like Him, with pardon on His tongue,
   In midst of mortal pain,
   He prayed for them that did the wrong:
   Who follows in his train?

3. A glorious band, the chosen few
   On whom the Spirit came;
   Twelve valiant saints, their hope they knew,
   And mocked the cross and flame.
   They met the tyrant’s brandished steel,
   The lion’s gory mane;
   They bowed their heads the death to feel:
   Who follows in their train?
                         Reginal Heber
                         The Methodist Hymnal, 1964 edition

<idle musing>
I don't recall ever singing this hymn, but it appears in more than 840 hymnals. As I was reading this, I was sure there would be more verses; it just seems to require them. Well, Cyberhymnal adds only one. I was expecting a parade of witnesses type of verses, but I guess this one sums them all up:

4. A noble army, men and boys,
   The matron and the maid,
   Around the Savior’s throne rejoice,
   In robes of light arrayed.
   They climbed the steep ascent of Heav’n,
   Through peril, toil and pain;
   O God, to us may grace be giv’n,
   To follow in their train.

</idle musing>

Christ Is the World's True Light

408 Christ Is the World's True Light

1 Christ is the world's true light,
   its Captain of salvation,
   the Daystar clear and bright
   of every land and nation;
   new life, new hope awakes,
   for all who own his sway:
   freedom her bondage breaks,
   and night is turned to day.

2 In Christ all races meet,
   their ancient feuds forgetting,
   the whole round world complete,
   from sunrise to its setting:
   when Christ is throned as Lord,
   all shall forsake their fear,
   to plough-share beat the sword,
   to pruning hook the spear.

3 One Lord, in one great name
   unite us all who own thee;
   cast out our pride and shame
   that hinder to enthrone thee;
   the world has waited long,
   has travailed long in pain;
   to heal its ancient wrong,
   come, Prince of Peace, and reign.
                         George W. Briggs
                         The Methodist Hymnal, 1964 edition

<idle musing>
Meditate on the words to this hymn. It definitely speaks to the need of our time! If only Christians would take seriously the call of Christ to be peace-makers, not peace-breakers! (Bearing in mind Glenn Stasson's call to just peace-making.)

That being said, this is not a terribly popular hymn, only occurring about 50 times. Take a minute to read the biography of the writer. He seems to have been an interesting person. For example, "he is the author of one of the prayers used at the time of the famous meeting of Churchill and Roosevelt on H.M.S. Prince of Wales in 1941 when the Atlantic Charter was framed." Another time when (just) peace-making was desperately needed.
</idle musing>