Blended Music Before "Blending" Was Cool-Part 1

                Blended Music Before “Blending” Was Cool-Part 1

       About 100 years before blended music for worship became popular in public worship as part of the worship the worship renewal movement, Elisha A. Hoffman wrote the words to “What a Wonderful Savior”.  This song may be defined as a gospel hymn.  There are several definitions given for the gospel hymn by various authors.  These definitions run from a “mixture song” which includes praise to God mixed with clear fundamentalist doctrine to “simple songs with an elaborate chorus”.  Some of the definitions that I have found have been positive but others are very negative considerations of this musical genre especially because they stress adherence to the fundamental doctrines of the Bible. 

        Notably, the early gospel hymns were developed first by George Root (1820-1895), William Howard Doane (1832-1915), Robert Lowery (1826-1899), Philip Bliss (1838-1876), et al.  There have been a host of writers who have produced these mixture songs in the 20^th century.  Current writers are particularly negative about gospel songs that exhibit clear fundamentalist doctrine and the fact that these songs are quite simple harmonically.

       Although there are numbers of these songs that are anything but “classics”, time has already shown that they are not the only religious songs that often rightfully fall into obscurity after a short period of popularity.  At this point in time there is an emphasis on worship music that centers almost entirely on God with little or no content about man’s relationship to God.  The claims of the gospel are purposefully omitted from the bulk of praise and worship choruses.  Certainly, praise to God is not an option but rather a necessity for worship musicing.  However, as I have said often, so are songs of prayer, confession, contrition, the Trinity, Christ’s suffering, death, and resurrection, the second coming, and a host of other doctrinal and creedal content. 

       So, the gospel hymns written by the hymnists listed above were an integral part of the Moody, Sankey worship and evangelistic services.  Louis F. Benson notes that, “Their work [the gospel hymn] was appropriated in Dwight L. Moody’s English campaign and his later call upon American churches to add evangelism to worship.”  The Hymnody of the Christian Church, by Louis F. Benson, p.266   The concept of having an element of evangelism and fundamental doctrines of the church as a part of public worship is not popular in many churches today.  My philosophical question to those who oppose an element of evangelism in worship is, “Just when are songs that teach fundamental doctrines and have an evangelistic appeal appropriate for the modern audience?” 

        Many fundamentalist churches have shortened or removed revivals, camp meetings and evangelistic campaigns from their schedule of public services.  These same churches sing a repertoire of praise songs on Sunday morning and Sunday evening and at the midweek service, with little or no songs that catechize the audience in the cardinal doctrines of the church.  When should the church music present the claims of the gospel and give people an opportunity to come to know Christ by a personal profession of faith?  It seems that, if the modern fundamentalist churches are attempting to be seeker sensitive, they need to add an element of evangelism to their worship musicing in order for it to be a proper concomitant to the preaching of Christ crucified.  I want to emphasize again that I believe praise and worship music must hold a place of centrality in all the public services of the Assembly of Believers.  However, although praise music is fundamental to Christian worship, so is the exposition of the other cardinal doctrines of the church.  Tomorrow we will continue our discussion of the importance of the Gospel Hymn.