Translate

Sunday, May 31, 2020

Come, thou long-expected Jesus

1. Come, thou long-expected Jesus,
Born to set thy people free;
From our fears and sins release us,
Let us find our rest in thee.
Israel's strength and consolation,
Hope of all the earth thou art;
Dear desire of every nation,
Joy of every longing heart.

2. Born thy people to deliver,
Born a child and yet a King,
Born to reign in us forever,
Now thy gracious kingdom bring.
By thine own eternal spirit
Rule in all our hearts alone;
By thine all sufficient merit,
Raise us to thy glorious throne.

By Charles Wesley, Hymns for the Nativity of Our Lord

Friday, May 29, 2020

In other words, mauvais ton & mazel tov

  • antelucan, adjective. Of, belonging to, or occurring in the hours just before dawn.
  • awfulize, verb, intransitive. To class as awful or terrible.
  • begrudgery, noun. Envy or resentment of another’s success, happiness, wealth, etc.; reluctance to give praise or show admiration.
  • bukateria, noun. A roadside restaurant or street stall with a seating area, selling cooked food at low prices.
  • cloudy, adjective. Full of or overcast by clouds; having little or no sunshine; of or like a cloud or clouds; pertaining to clouds.
  • hendecad, noun. A group, set, or series of eleven things; especially, a period of eleven years. Formerly, the number eleven (obsolete).
  • mauvais ton, adjective. Unacceptable in certain circles or polite society.
  • mazel tov, interjection. A Jewish phrase expressing congratulations or wishing someone good luck.
  • muscose, adjective. Of the nature of or resembling moss; mosslike.
  • saturnine, adjective and noun. In regard to a person’s temperament, mood, or manner: gloomy, melancholy, dejected, downcast, grim; not easily enlivened, enthused, or cheered; (in early use) ill-tempered, angry.
  • sidereal, adjective. Resembling, characteristic of, or reminiscent of a star or starlight; starlike; esp. lustrous, bright, shining; splendid, outstanding.
  • simony, noun. The buying or selling of ecclesiastical or spiritual benefits; esp. the sale or purchase of preferment or office in the church. Also sometimes more generally: trading in sacred things.
  • sub voce, adverb. As a direction in a text: under the word or heading given (abbreviated s.v.).
  • thwart, verb (used with object). To oppose successfully; prevent from accomplishing a purpose; to frustrate or baffle (a plan, purpose, etc.).
  • yark, noun. A sharp blow with a whip, hand, or other object; a stroke, a lash. Also: the sound of a sharp blow; a crack; a thud.

Tuesday, May 26, 2020

Cultural Accounting, and other links

The posting of links does not constitute an endorsement of the sites linked, and not necessarily even agreement with the specific posts linked.

Monday, May 25, 2020

Happy Memorial Day

...with special honor to those who had to study the art of war.
I could fill Volumes with Descriptions of Temples and Palaces, Paintings, Sculptures, Tapestry, Porcelaine, &c. &c. &c. -- if I could have time. But I could not do this without neglecting my duty. The Science of Government it is my Duty to study, more than all other Sciences: the Art of Legislation and Administration and Negotiation, ought to take Place, indeed to exclude in a manner all other Arts. I must study Politicks and War that my sons may have liberty to study Mathematicks and Philosophy. My sons ought to study Mathematicks and Philosophy, Geography, natural History, Naval Architecture, navigation, Commerce and Agriculture, in order to give their Children a right to study Painting, Poetry, Musick, Architecture, Statuary, Tapestry and Porcelaine.
Excerpt from a letter from then ambassador (later president) John Adams in Paris, France to his wife Abigail Adams, May 12, 1780

Sunday, May 24, 2020

Home Above

Galatians 4:26 But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.

The first hymn is found in The Sacred Harp. It appears with Home Above, a tune by J. L. Hinton, No. 441b in The Sacred Harp, 1870. This common meter text is unattributed.

Home Above
Oh for a light to guide my feet
In heav’n’s alluring way,
To that celestial bright retreat,
Where smiles can ne’er decay.
Eternal Father, Shine around
And spread thy silken love,
And flit all o’er this spacious mound,
To bring us home above.

This following hymn is credited to Elder Aaron Brooks Whatley in The Pilgrim’s Hymnal by W. H. Crouse in 1908. It has the same first line, but is not the same hymn as the one in The Sacred Harp.

Prayer and Praise
O for a light to guide my feet,
While in this world below;
And in my Saviour be complete,
His love and mercy know.

O may he guide me in his truth,
His grace to me impart;
His righteousness to me impute,
Dwell richly in my heart.

By faith I’ll mount on eagle’s wings,
And soar away on high;
My Saviour’s love and mercy sing,
With rapture till I die.

Then from this world I’ll take my flight,
To reign with Christ above;
And wear a robe of spotless white,
With the redeemed in love.

Friday, May 22, 2020

Baptists as Orthodox Radicals, and other review links

The posting of book reviews does not constitute endorsement of the books or book reviews that are linked.
  • A Review of Dr. Yarnell’s “Who Is The Holy Spirit? Biblical Insights into His Divine Person.” -- “Dr. Yarnell was also motivated by the lack of material written about the person of the Holy Spirit as opposed to the work of the Holy Spirit.”
  • Baptists as Orthodox Radicals -- “At any rate, Bingham’s argument is well-documented, demonstrating from the primary sources that the ‘Baptists’ conceived of themselves as travelers along the ‘Congregational way’.”
  • Book Review: Calm, Cool, and Connected -- “It’s timely in arriving on the scene of a society that finds it more real to interact online than in person.”
  • Book Review: Eve in Exile, by Rebekah Merkle -- “This isn’t a biblical theology of women or a treatise on marriage; Merkle addresses women in the canonical context of the Bible’s storyline, but her focus is on how wives and mothers should live in our cultural moment.”
  • History of the Donatists [Book Review] -- “The Donatists serve as yet another reminder of the great cost paid in blood to live according to truth and worship God freely.”
  • Nominal Christianity—Not Complementarianism—Leads to Abuse -- “While churchgoing conservative Protestant men register the lowest rates of domestic violence, it turns out that the opposite is true of nominal conservative Protestant men—that is, men who identify as ‘conservative Protestant’ but do not attend church.”
  • Paul and His Letters -- “Each chapter ends with a judicious bibliography, while detailed end-notes demonstrate familiarity with a broad swath of secondary literature, most of it quite recent.”
  • Review: The Count of Monte Cristo -- “...though I rooted for Dantès when he was the David, I couldn’t find myself liking him or believing him when he was the all-powerful Goliath, the Count of Monte Cristo.”

Wednesday, May 20, 2020

Ravi Zacharias Dies, and other links

The posting of links does not constitute an endorsement of the sites linked, and not necessarily even agreement with the specific posts linked.

Monday, May 18, 2020

The Real “Race” Issue

The Real “Race” Issue
SPIRITUALLY, there are only two races — the children of Adam and the regenerated children of God. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:6). The supreme “race issue” is whether we belong to the once-born or the twice-born. There is not much excitement about this issue, but it is the only one that will matter in eternity.
Vance Havner, 1901-1986

Saturday, May 16, 2020

If I have seen further, and other quotes

The posting of quotes by human authors does not constitute agreement with either the quotes or their sources. (I try to confirm the sources that I give, but may miss on occasion; please verify when possible.)

“If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants.” -- Isaac Newton

“I never will vote for a sermon that has not the slightest perfume of the Rose of Sharon.” -- Robert Patterson

“We are too prone to regard only one of God’s attributes—his mercy; forgetting that he was infinite in them all – his justice as well as his mercy.” -- Robert Patterson

“A place for everything, everything in its place.” -- Benjamin Franklin

“Though we ought to reverence the blessed Bible above all other books, yet we may not worship it, but the Author of it only.” -- Increase Mather

“Excellent research is a team sport.” -- Heather Nelson

“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched – they must be felt with the heart.” -- Helen Keller

“We ought to bring nothing of our own when we worship God, but we ought to depend always on the Word of His mouth.” -- John Calvin

“Instead of wondering when your next vacation is, you ought to set up a life you don’t need to escape from.” -- Seth Godin

“A true love for God must begin with a delight in His holiness, and not with a delight in any other attribute; for no other attribute is truly lovely without this.” -- Jonathan Edwards

Thursday, May 14, 2020

Addenda to the R. E. Browns

Brown, Reuben Ellis, Sr. on May 13, 1861, already in an advanced age, enrolled in Company B of Captain James R. Arnold’s Company of Texas Infantry Riflemen, at Nacogdoches, Texas. He ranked as a private, and served as a chaplain. He died in Galveston, Texas in February of 1864. Thomas Rogers McCrorey (1838–1902), of Company E of 20th Texas Infantry, Elmore’s Regiment, on February 23, 1864, was detailed to carry the remains of Brown back to Polk County, Texas for burial. They encased his body in lime for the trip. The exact location of burial is now unknown. Of Reuben E. Brown, Sr., W. L. Andrews wrote, “Among other accomplishments, he was a noted vocalist. He had a splendid voice, full, rounded, rich and he had trained it well, and by his good singing as well as preaching he always attracted large crowds wherever he appeared.” According to one newspaper account, R. E. Brown, Sr. wrote a song during the War of 1812, which began “Come, all ye tempered hearts of steel—come quite your flocks and farms.” It was later repurposed as a Civil War song. See also Makers of The Sacred Harp, p. 92.
333      Family Circle

Brown, Reuben Ellis, Jr. (1827–December 7, 1891) was the son of Reuben Ellis (Sr.) and Elizabeth Brown. R. E. Brown, Jr. married first Hester Marshall, circa 1848 and married second Mrs. Nancy A. Johnson, July 12, 1864. He “died at his home a mile from Clayton on Monday at 2 o’clock a.m. He had been sick for three or four week, and died from the effects of old age and disease. He was a well known character is our midst and highly respected by those who knew him.” He was buried at or near Clayton, in Barbour County, Alabama, but the exact location is unknown. R. E. Brown, Jr. lived in southeast Alabama. He sang with some whose names would become a recognizable part of Sacred Harp history, such as D. C. Allen, T. J. Allen, W. M. Cooper, Jas. T. Hollan, J. M. C. Shaw (revisers and promoters of the Cooper book), and Z. E. Blocker (a member of the J. L. White revision committee, q.v.). The respect accorded Brown can be seen in his lesson at Dean’s in June 1891, a few months before his death – “Reuben E. Brown, Jr. whose time was unlimited.” See also Makers of The Sacred Harp, p. 93.
392      Converting Grace

Tuesday, May 12, 2020

Abortionist admits, and other links

The posting of links does not constitute an endorsement of the sites linked, and not necessarily even agreement with the specific posts linked.

Monday, May 11, 2020

A Light-house at the Harbour

“But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.” Hebrews 10:39
The Scriptures have brought certain marks not only to test, but also to comfort God’s people. But in order to keep them tremblingly alive to the fear of being deceived; in order to set up an effectual beacon lest their vessel should run upon the rocks, the blessed Spirit has revealed such passages as we find in the sixth and tenth chapters of the Hebrews. They seem set up by the Spirit of God as a light-house at the entrance of a harbour. Is it not so naturally? Some shoal or sand-bank often lies near the entrance of a port, which the mariner has to guard against. How is he guarded? A light-house is erected on or near the spot, which warns him of the shoal.
J. C. Philpot (1802-1869)

Friday, May 08, 2020

J. L. White Sacred Harp Book Singing

John Plunkett has pointed me to the following J. L. White Book Sacred Harp Singing whose audio is available online:
Thanks John, Bobby Watkins, and Nathan Rees.

Thursday, May 07, 2020

All is well

At Baptist News, opinion writer Kate Hanch asks, “Amid this pandemic, can we say with Julian of Norwich, ‘All shall be well’?” I say yes, and not only, “All shall be well,” but with the text used by J. T. White in his Sacred Harp song on page 122, “All is well.”

In Christ:
If this be sickness, all is well.
If this be death, all is well.
If this be life, all is well.

For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Philippians 1:12

Tuesday, May 05, 2020

My God, the spring of all my joys

Perkins, E. A. probably is Edward A. Perkins, son of John Perkins and Mary Bassett, born March 1834 in Ohio. In 1840 & 1850 the family was in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, and in Pepin County, Wisconsin in 1860. Perkins worked in treasury department, living in Washington, DC in 1880. He appears in the Multnomah County, Oregon censuses, living in Portland in 1900, 1910, and 1920. However, he was in Hudson, New Jersey, living with Stephen and Grace Anderson (his daughter) during the 1905 New Jersey state census. His occupation that year is “composer.” The tune Solon appears at least as early as 1857 in The Jubilee: an Extensive Collection of Church Music (William B. Bradbury, New York, NY: Mason Brothers, 1857, p. 158) credited to E. A. Perkins. Perkins also has a tune named Menona in that book. In 1857 he produced The Western Bell: a Collection of Glees, Quartetts and Choruses, with Frederick H. Pease (Boston, MA: Oliver Ditson & Co., 1857). Edward A. Perkins wrote the words and music of The Soldier’s Dream Of Home, sheet music published in 1858 (Boston: Oliver Ditson & Co, 1858). Some of Perkins’s songs appear in the New York Musical Review and Gazette; one attribution locates him in Lyons, New York in 1856. School Chimes: a New School Music Book (James R. Murray, Cleveland, OH: S. Brainard’s Sons, 1874) includes three songs by Edward A. Perkins “Composed for this work.” He may be the same Edward Perkins who died January 22, 1922, in Portland, Oregon.

Solon is found on page 91b of 1911 The Sacred Harp, Fourth Edition with Supplement, and was on 91b in the new section of The Sacred Harp, Fifth Edition in 1909. The song uses two stanzas of Isaac Watts’s hymn “God’s presence is light in darkness.”

My God, the spring of all my joys,
The life of my delights,
The glory of my brightest days,
And Comfort of my nights!

In darkest shades, if thou appear,
My dawning is begun,
Thou art my soul’s bright morning star,
And thou my rising sun.

Monday, May 04, 2020

Dissolve a heart of stone

“Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us.” Titus 3:5
To view mercy in its real character, we must go to Calvary. It is not sufficient to contrast the purity of God with the impurity of man. That indeed affords us some view of what mercy must be to reach the depths of the fall; a sideface of that precious attribute. But to see its full face shining upon the redeemed, we must go by faith, under the secret teachings and leadings of the Holy Ghost, to see “Immanuel, God with us,” groveling in Gethsemane’s garden. We must view him naked upon the cross, groaning, bleeding, agonizing, dying. We must view Godhead and manhood united together in the Person of a suffering Jesus; and the power of the Godhead bearing up the suffering manhood. We must view that wondrous spectacle of love and blood, and feel our eyes flowing down in streams of sorrow, humility, and contrition at the sight, in order to enter a little into the depths of the tender mercy of God. Nothing but this can really break the sinner’s heart.
“Law and terrors do but harden,
All the while they work alone;
But a sense of blood-bought pardon
Soon dissolves a heart of stone.”
Law terrors, death and judgment, infinite purity, and eternal vengeance will not soften or break a sinner’s heart. But if he is led to view a suffering Immanuel, and a sweet testimony is raised up in his conscience that those sufferings were for him—this, and this only will break his heart all to pieces. Thus, only by bringing a sweet sense of love and blood into his heart does the blessed Spirit shew a sinner some of the depths of the tender mercy of God.
J. C. Philpot (1802-1869)

With softening pity look,
And melt my hardness down,
Strike with thy love’s resistless stroke,
And break this heart of stone!
Charles Wesley, Hymn 102, in A Collection of Hymns, for the Use of the People Called Methodists

Sunday, May 03, 2020

The Better Country

The Better Country is a song found on page 508 in The Sacred Harp, Fourth Edition with Supplement. The words are by Rev. C. W. Ray (probably Charles Walker Ray, a Baptist pastor in New York and Philadelphia who wrote a number of hymns) and the music by John R. Bryant. Bryant wrote other tunes in J. L. White, including Walden (p. 488a, first printed in The Musical Million, and also in Union Harp and History of Songs on page 126). According to J. S. James, Bryant was born in 1861 in Newton County, Georgia, married Mamie (actually Minnie) Johnson in 1885, studied music under R. M. McIntosh, and was living in Atlanta, Georgia at the time James wrote the bio. He died the next year. The Lifeboat, 162 in Union Harp, was originally arranged by Bryant, but arranged by S. M. & T. J. Denson.

With L. L. Pickett and M. W. Knapp, Bryant was a compiler of Tears and Triumphs circa 1896.

1. O better country far away,
In fadeless beauty dressed,
Where toil-worn pilgrims soon shall lay
Their burdens down and rest.
No dreaded plague nor artful foe,
Their presence there invades;
Delights untold they each shall know,
In thy embow’ring shades.

2. O city fair, thy gates for me,
Thy king shall soon unfold;
Within thy courts I soon shall be,
And walk the streets of gold.
We now the dawn of glory know,
We sight the distant towers.
We catch the fragrance here below,
From thy celestial bow’rs.

3. O better country far away,
Whose glories one can tell,
Who would on earth forever stay,
Or weep to say farewell.
I soon shall reach the mansions blest,
From sin and sorrow free;
To kindred hearts we shall be press’d
And Zion’s King shall see.

The Progressive Farmer, June 16, 1896, page 4

Friday, May 01, 2020

Born in Burton-upon-Trent, died in South Carolina

Greatorex, Henry Wellington (December 24, 1813September 10, 1858) was born in Burton-upon-Trent in England. He was the son of Thomas Greatorex, an organist of Westminster Abbey and from whom Henry received his musical education. Henry was an organist at St. Mary-le-bone Church in London before going to the United States in 1839. He served in churches in New York City, Hartford, Conn., and Charleston, S.C. as an organist. He was married twice and had several children. His second wife was Eliza Pratt (18191897), an artist who acquired a reputation through her pen-and-ink sketches. Greatorex died in Charleston of yellow fever, and is buried at Saint Philips Episcopal Church Cemetery, Charleston, Charleston County, South Carolina. The tune Manoah first appeared in Henry W. Greatorex’s Collection of Church Music, published in 1851, which included 37 of his tunes and arrangements. In the Bible, Manoah is the father of Samson, and is probably the source of the title.It is often disputed whether the tune Manoah is derived from a theme Gioacchino A. Rossini or Francis Joseph Haydn. The Sacred Harp, Fourth Edition, includes the note “From Rossini”. Other tunes by Greatorex include Bemerton, Grostete, Leighton, and Seymour.
487a    Manoah