Should we sing hymns that were written by Roman Catholics e.g. Jesus thou joy of loving hearts, or Jesus the very thought of Thee?
We sing from our hymn books the hymns of writers from all walks of life and from various religious persuasions. It would seem that most of them, if not all, were believers who valued to a great degree the person of Christ and His work. Not all were gathered to His Name, for many of them lived long before what we call assembly truth was restored. We have hymns from a monk, a bishop, from Methodists (Charles Wesley), Anglicans (Francis Ridley Havergal), Baptists, and those in other denominations. The compilers, for example, of the Believers Hymn Book and Hymns of Light and Love, used by many assemblies in the English speaking world, were not governed by the narrowness of sectarianism in their choice of hymns, though here and there some lines of verse have been revised to be more in line with Scriptural truth. Many of the hymns are the result of some personal experience of the Lord and an expression of consecration to God. These hymn writers are not composing hymns as representatives of their particular denomination. Their hymns are for the most part individual compositions arising from the love of the heart to Christ. Too often when we sing such lovely hymns our lips are not expressing from the heart what the writer really felt.
As regards the hymns mentioned by the questioner, here is something of note to mention. They were originally authored by Bernard of Clairvaux during the time when the power and prominence of Roman Catholicism held sway, and when there was little gospel truth around (he lived from 1090 to 1153). An historian writing about Bernard says, "Bernard was in the true evangelical succession…He was an evangelist fired by the gospel and delighted to declare that Christ is the sinner’s only hope and salvation. As he lay dying he said, ‘I have lived wickedly, Thou loving Lord Jesus, but Thou hast purchased heaven with Thy suffering and death…’". He had little light compared with today, but his few hymns show that he knew and loved Christ. In actual fact the hymns were written in Latin and translated into English by two different authors in the 1800s: Dr Palmer and Edward Caswall, both of whom were believers, though not in assembly fellowship.
John J Stubbs
Does the confession of the Roman centurion, "Truly this was the Son of God" (Mt 27.54), indicate that he became a believer? His response, according to the account in Luke’s Gospel is, "Certainly this was a righteous man" (Lk 23.47).
According to Matthew’s account there were four immediate effects of Christ’s death:
i) "the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom" (Mt 27.51);
ii) "the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; And the graves were opened" (Mt 27.51-52);
iii) the confession of the centurion and his men (Mt 27.54);
iv) the open confession by Joseph of Arimathæa, as "He went to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus" (Mt 27.58).
Mark tells us that "when the centurion, which stood over against him, saw that he so cried out, and gave up the ghost, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God" (Mk 15.39). However, Matthew also draws our attention to those with the centurion: "Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God" (Mt 27.54). Thus the centurion and the company of soldiers under him (heathen as, no doubt, they were), having been set to watch, "feared greatly" when they "saw" - they were eyewitnesses. Thus there was not only an effect upon those in the graves (Mt 27.52,53) but also here upon living men.
Whether this was a confession that led to salvation is not clear from the passage, but it should be noted that subsequently "one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water" (Jn 19.34); this was surely not the action of a genuine believer. However, the confession does indicate a sense of awe and a realisation that the disturbances of nature were somehow connected with the death of this man named Jesus.
Luke records that "when the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God (N.B. to "glorify" is to bring into display all the qualities that exalt a person), saying, Certainly this was a righteous man" (Lk 23.47). In keeping with the theme of his Gospel, Luke draws attention to the fact that the centurion saw in this blessed Man true righteousness.
Eternity will reveal whether, on hearing of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, "the centurion, and they that were with him" "believe(d) on the Lord Jesus Christ" (Acts 16.31) and were saved.
David E West
