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Introduction
In The Barber of Seville, Figaro sings, “If a thing is too silly to be said, it can always be sung.” Sadly, Figaro’s comment could easily refer to some of today’s most popular Christian songs. Referring to a gospel song, a pastor said to me, “No, the song isn’t true – but that’s ok; it is just a song.”
This kind of doctrinal carelessness is particularly noticeable in our children’s music. If our songs provide spiritual food, many Christian children are surviving on a diet of theological junk food. Even churches that carefully teach biblical truth in their children’s ministry sometimes accompany the meat of God’s Word with the junk food of meaningless “children’s music.”
While preparing this paper, I did a Google search of popular Sunday School songs. It was, to say the least, a discouraging study. Few of the songs presented a clear gospel message. A few taught good moral principles (“Oh Be Careful, Little Eyes, What You See”), but many of the songs had no clear message of any kind (“Ten Little Angels” sung to the tune of “Ten Little Indians” and my personal favorite, “You can’t go to heaven on roller skates ’cause you’d roll right past the Pearly Gates”).
Dr. Roberta King has noted, “It is in the midst of worship that our theology is shaped at its deepest levels. And music, as worship, therefore participates in theological development.”[1] If this statement is true, the songs we teach our children take on great theological significance. King concludes, “Music and songs are not merely fillers or entertainment. Neither are they only a prelude to the sermon…. Rather, Christian songs function as sermons in their own right.”[2] King understands the importance of our hymns in shaping our theology and our spiritual development.
John and Charles Wesley had a profound appreciation for the role of hymnody in the spiritual instruction of children. In this paper, I will study the 1763 collection Hymns for Children, one of several volumes that Charles and John collected for the spiritual instruction of the young. I will examine Wesley’s purpose for writing these hymns, review some representative themes in the collection, and conclude with implications for children’s music today.
I. The Purpose for Wesley’s Hymns for Children
When John Wesley visited the Moravian community at Herrnhut, he was impressed with an item from their constitution: “Our little children we instruct chiefly by hymns; whereby we find the most important truths most successfully insinuated into their minds.”[3] This may have inspired Wesley’s lifelong interest in hymnody for children.
Children’s hymns held the attention of the Wesley brothers for nearly fifty years. John published a collection of hymns for children in 1747; Charles worked on another collection for more than a decade during the 40’s and 50’s; John and Charles jointly published Hymns for Children (the topic of this paper) in 1763; John published an abridged version of Hymns for Children in 1787 and added a preface to a 1790 reprint of this collection.
In a day of short lifespans, the Wesleys understood that early spiritual instruction was of eternal importance. In the words of a hymn from this collection, there is “No room for mirth or trifling here” (LXIV:3).[4] A survey of Hymns for Children suggests three purposes for the collection:
The Hymns for Children Are Intended to Teach Right Doctrine
In his edition of Charles Wesley’s sermons, Kenneth Newport argues that “Charles was a theologian of not insignificant ability.”[5] The hymns represent what Karl Barth called “irregular dogmatics” – a theological approach closer to preaching than to academic writing. Although not a systematic theologian, Charles Wesley was a careful poetic theologian.
The theological purpose for the collection is seen in thirty hymns based on John’s Instructions for Children.[6] Charles uses John’s catechism as the framework for a group of hymns that teach theology. He addresses children as young adults who can comprehend sound doctrine and its importance in the Christian life. John added a preface to the 1790 reprint of Hymns for Children.
There are two ways of writing or speaking to children: the one is to let ourselves down to them, the other to lift them up to us. Dr. Watts has wrote on the former way, and has succeeded admirably well speaking to children as children, and leaving them as he found them. The following hymns are written on the other plan: they contain strong and manly sense, yet expressed in such plain and easy language as even children may understand.
But when they do understand them they will be children no longer, only in years and in stature.[7]
I won’t comment on John’s subtle putdown of Isaac Watts, but he is certainly correct that Charles’ hymns contain “strong and manly” language. These hymns do not talk down to Wesley’s young audience.
Hymn #1 illustrates Wesley’s didactic purpose. The hymn is based on the first of John’s Instructions for Children. This lesson teaches children about God, using the language of the Westminster Shorter Catechism: “God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.”[8]
Charles teaches his young audience to sing a hymnic version of this article: Thou neither canst be felt or seen, Thou art a Spirit pure. Who from eternity hast been, And always shalt endure. (I:2)
Charles restates in poetic form each of the primary points of the Westminster Catechism. Some examples:
“Present alike in every place… (omnipresence)
Beyond the bounds of time and space…
Thou dwellest forevermore. (eternity)
In wisdom infinite Thou art….”
Those who argue that the Wesleys had an inferior concept of God’s sovereignty should sing the first hymn for children.
“Whate’er Thou wilt, in earth below Thou dost, inheaven above” (I:5).
But we cannot separate God’s sovereign power from His gracious love. So, Wesley continues:
“Whate’er Thou wilt, in earth below
Thou dost, in heaven above.
But chiefly we rejoice to know
The almighty God is Love.” (I:5, italics mine)
Wesley uses similar language in Hymn XI. After enumerating God’s attributes (eternity, wisdom, power, and goodness), Wesley continues:
“Thou thy goodness hast display’d,
On thine every work imprest,
Lov’st whate’er thy hands have made,
But man thou lov’st the best.” (XI:2)
To conclude: a primary purpose for the Hymns for Children is to teach right doctrine.
The Hymns for Children Are Intended to Shape Spiritual Experience
A second purpose of these hymns is to shape the spiritual experience of children. In the introduction, I quoted Roberta King’s observation that our theology is shaped by our songs. She continues, “The singing of songs allows participants to internalize the message of the songs….”[9] What we believe must inform how we live.
Biblical and theological knowledge should lead to life transformation. In a hymn for the students at Kingswood, Charles warns of the danger of separating knowledge from spiritual experience.
“Rather than curing the disease (sin),
empty knowledge increases the disease:
Their knowledge makes them doubly blind,
The medicine for their sin-sick mind
But heightens their disease.” (XLIII:1)
The problem is that they are seeking education for selfish purposes rather than God’s glory.
“They do not at his glory aim,
Begin their work in Jesu’s name,
Or make his love their end.” (XLIII:2)
The result is an education that misses the “one thing needful.”
“By ten years’ siege the fort they take,
And learning’s shell their own they make,
With outward knowledge fraught;
But tutored for this world alone,
The one thing needful to be known
They and their guides forgot.” (XLIII:3)
In contrast to this false education, Wesley prayed that the Kingswood School would stamp children with humility, remove blindness from their hearts and minds, and give them true “wisdom from above.”
“Come Father, Son, and Holy-Ghost,
To whom we for our children cry,
The good desired and wanted most
Out of thy richest grace supply,
The sacred discipline be given
To train, and bring them up for heaven.”
“Error and ignorance remove,
Their blindness both of heart and mind,
Give them the wisdom from above,
Spotless, and peaceable, and kind,
In knowledge pure their mind renew,
And store with thoughts divinely true.” (XL:1,3)
Wesley expressed his goal for education in a beautiful stanza:
“Unite the pair so long disjoined
Knowledge and vital piety,
Learning and holiness combined,
And truth and love let all men see…” (XL:5)
Charles believed that right doctrine must result in changed lives. In the section of Hymns for Children based on John’s Instruction for Children this conviction is seen repeatedly. A hymn “On the Redemption of Man” ends with the application of the theology stated in the preceding stanzas. Earlier, he summarizes the doctrines of the incarnation and resurrection:
“Thou for our sake a man wast made,
The burden of a virgin’s womb,
Didst live, and suffer in our stead,
And rise triumphant from the tomb.” (III:2)
Wesley concludes with a statement of the practical import of the birth, death, and resurrection:
“Soon as our broken hearts repent,
Soon as I do in thee believe,
The power into my soul is sent,
And then my pardon I receive.” (III:4)
A hymn addressed to the “Author and End of my Desires” illustrates Wesley’s view of spiritual formation in children. He is not interested in what a contemporary writer calls moralistic therapeutic deism – living a good life for a God who is interested primarily in my happiness and nice behavior.[10] For Charles Wesley, right behavior is rooted in Christian theology. A hymn warns against a self-willed life:
“Eternal death must be the doom
Of all that follow their own will” (XVI:5).
However, this warning is rooted in God’s work in the life of the young singer. The power to “obey the will divine” comes not from self-discipline alone; it is the gift of God:
“Father, for Jesu’s sake alone,
Thine all sufficient grace impart,
Save us, in honour of thy Son,
And God-ward turn the selfish heart” (XVI:7).
As a committed evangelical, Wesley knew that good intentions are insufficient. It is only God’s grace that turns a selfish heart God-ward. Right behavior must be grounded in right theology.
In a letter describing the work of the Kingswood School, John Wesley wrote, “All our wisdom will not even make them understand, much less feel, the things of God. The ‘Instructions for Children’ contain the best matter that we can possibly teach them. But nothing less than the finger of God can write it on their hearts.”[11] In the same way, Charles recognized that lasting transformation comes only through God’s grace:
“Soon our best desires decay,
As a cloud they pass away,
Light receiv’d, the serious thought,
Soon, and easily forgot.”
“Strong and fervent for an hour,
Then we cast away the power,
Lose insensibly our zeal,
Care for neither heaven nor hell” (XXXVII:3,5).
What is the answer to this problem of short-lived transformation? The mind of Christ and His perfect love.
“Plant in us thy constant mind,
To the cross our spirit bind,
That we may no longer rove,
Ground and stablish us in love.”
“Love that makes us creatures new,
Only love can keep us true,
Perfect love that casts out sin,
Perfect love is God within” (XXXVII:7-8).
Roberta King recognizes the role of our hymns in shaping our spiritual experience. She writes, “It is crucial… for theological students to recognize the influence of music in shaping a people’s theological understanding and to learn to employ it effectively for the Kingdom.”[12] Our songs shape our theology and our spiritual experience. The Wesley brothers believed that this process should begin with our children and with the songs our children sing.
The Hymns for Children Are Intended to Inspire Worship
A hymn “For the Lord’s Day” encourages Wesley’s young audience to join in worship:
“Come, let us join with one accord,
In hymns around the throne!
This is the day our rising Lord
Hath made and called his own” (LXII:1).
The theology expressed in the Hymns for Children was intended to inspire worship. Reflections on God’s nature should lead to praise. The first hymn provides an example. After teaching about God’s attributes, Wesley ends with worship:
“Wherefore let every creature give
To Thee the praise design’d;
But chiefly, Lord, the thanks receive,
The hearts of all mankind” (I:8).
In his hymns for adults, Wesley warned repeatedly of the danger of empty ritual.[13] Wesley was not opposed to ritual; he loved the liturgy of the Church of England. However, our ritual must reflect heart reality.
In the same way, children should reject meaningless routine. So, the young singer prays:
“Ah, never let me speak a word,
But what with all my soul I mean,
Or lie to Thee, Thou glorious Lord,
By whom my every thought is seen” (X:1-2).
In another hymn, Wesley asks:
“What matters it to pray
To God in Jesu’s name
Unless we feel the words we say,
And hang upon the Lamb?” (XXI:1)
True worship is empowered by God’s grace. Worship is not our work alone.
“We pray, but with our lips alone,
‘Till Thou infuse the pure desire,
‘Till Thou to flesh convert the stone,
The gracious principle inspire,
The supplicating Spirit impart,
And bless us with a praying heart” (XX:2)
As our children truly understand who God is and are shaped in His image, they will experience the reality of true worship.
II. Doctrinal Themes in Hymns for Children
The second section of this paper reviews some important themes in Hymns for Children. The first group of hymns follows the outline of John Wesley’s Instructions for Children: God, creation, and the Fall, redemption, the means of grace, hell, heaven. A few examples will illustrate Wesley’s model for instructing children through hymns.
Hymns on the Fall and Original Sin
The doctrine of original sin was important for the Wesley brothers. John counseled parents to “teach your children, as soon as possibly you can, that they are fallen spirits; that they are fallen short of that glorious image of God wherein they were at first created…. Show them that in pride, passion, and revenge, they are now like the devil. And that in foolish desires and groveling appetites, they are like beasts of the field.”[14]
This emphasis on original sin was equally important in Charles’ Hymns for Children. He contrasts God’s purpose for humankind with our corruption of that purpose.
“O all-creating God,
At whose supreme decree
Our body rose, a breathing clod,
Our soul sprang forth from thee;
For this thou hast designed,
And formed us man for this,
To know, and love thyself, and find
In thee our endless bliss” (II:1).
We were made for “endless bliss.” However, our sin brought anguish and death into the world.
“But O they rashly took
Of the forbidden tree,
Thine easy, sole commandment broke,
And sinned, and fell from thee:
Of their wide-spreading fault
The sad effects we find;
Anguish, and sin, and death it brought
On us, and all mankind.” (II:3)
Because of the Fall, all are born in sin:
“Infected by their stain
In sin we all are born,
And liable to grief and pain,
Till we to dust return:
To every sin inclined,
Selfish we are, and proud,
Our will perverse, our carnal mind
Is enmity to God” (II:4).
Because of the fall, we are “dead to the things above” (II:5). We are “children of wrath…,” we “by nature hate” God. “Apart from Christ, we…die the miserable heirs, Of everlasting death (II:5).
However, Wesley’s “optimism of grace” will not leave his audience without hope. A hymn on the effects of the Fall is followed by a hymn on the power of redemption. The answer to the “anguish, sin and death” of Hymn II is salvation from sin, death, and hell in Hymn III.
“Savior from sin, from death, from hell,
Thee, Jesus Christ, with joy, we owe” (III:1).
The death brought by Adam’s disobedience is turned to life by the death and resurrection of:
“The Man who lov’d our souls so well,
The Father’s everlasting Son” (III:1).
Hymns on Hell and Heaven
The people of the eighteenth century knew that death was common among children. Wesley had no desire to hide this reality from the young. One important duty of the spiritual leader was to prepare young people to face death.
In what a modern reader might consider an almost ghoulish hymn, Wesley describes the fate of an eternally lost child.
“Terrible thought! Shall I alone,
Who may be saved, shall I
Of all alas, whom I have known,
Through sin forever die!”
“Abandoned to extreme despair,
Eternally undone,
My Father would not own me there
His hell-devoted son.”
“Dissolved are nature’s closest ties,
And bosom-friends forgot,
When God, the just avenger, cries,
‘Depart, I know you not.’”
“While they enjoy his heavenly love,
Must I in torments dwell,
And howl (while they sing hymns above)
And blow the flames of hell?” (LX:1,4,5,7)
However, consistent with his view of grace, Wesley ends by reminding the singing child that one who accepts God’s gracious offer of mercy will find “a kind reprieve.”
“Ah, no: I still may turn and live,
For still his wrath delays,
He now vouchsafes a kind reprieve,
And offers me his grace.” (LX:8)
Just as Wesley followed a hymn on the Fall with a hymn on Redemption, he pairs a hymn on Hell with a hymn on Heaven. First, Wesley gives a frightening picture of Hell using imagery reminiscent of Dante’s Inferno:
“Wretched souls, who live in sin,
Who their Lord by deeds deny!
Tophet (Hell) yawns to take them in,
Soon as their frail bodies die,
They their due reward shall feel,
Dreadfully thrust down to hell.”
“Dark and bottomless the pit
Which on them its mouth shall close:
Never shall they ’scape from it:
There they shall in endless woes
Weep, and wail, and gnash their teeth,
Die an everlasting death.”
“There their tortured bodies lie,
Scorched by the consuming fire,
There their souls in torments cry,
Racked with pride and fierce desire;
Fear, and grief their spirits tear,
Rage, and envy, and despair.”
“There they lie, alas, how long!
Never can they hope release;
Not a drop to cool their tongue,
Not an hour, a moment’s ease;
Damned they are, and still shall be,
Damned to all eternity!” (VII:1-5)
Wesley is convinced that no one is predestined to this awful fate. He follows this frightening hymn on hell with a beautiful hymn ‘Of Heaven.’
“Where shall true believers go,
When from the flesh they fly?
Glorious joys ordained to know
They mount above the sky,
To that bright celestial place;
There they shall in raptures live
More than tongue can e’er express,
Or heart can e’er conceive.”
Wesley describes the joy of heaven:
“When they once are entered there,
Their mourning days are o’er,
Pain, and sin, and want, and care,
And sighing is no more” (VIII:2).
The greatest thrill of heaven is the joy of knowing, loving, and seeing God.
“But their greatest happiness,
Their highest joy, shall be
God their Saviour to possess,
To know, and love, and see:
With that beatific sight
Glorious ecstasy is given,
This is their supreme delight,
And makes an heaven of heaven.” (VIII:3)
Hymns on Christian Living
After the theological catechism in his Instructions for Children, John suggested principles to help children live the Christian life.[15]
This practical section of the Instructions begins with a lesson on the desires of the heart. “The Gate by which God and his holy Grace comes into us is the Desire of the Soul” (Instructions, III, I,1). Wesley contrasts our will and God’s will. “As the Will of God is the Spring of all Good, so our own Will is the Spring of all Evil.” In Hymns for Children, Charles puts this in poetic form:
“Spring of all good thy will I own,
The fountain of all evil mine;
Father, let mine no more be done,
Let all obey the will divine” (XVI:3).
The Wesleys were concerned to teach children to live a godly life. They agreed that a godly life requires submission of the will, first to parents and then to God. Children must learn to “subjugate their own desires to those of their parents in preparation for the adult Christian life, in which they would subjugate their desires to the will of God.”[16]
In a study of Charles Wesley’s family life, Philip Olleson contrasts two approaches to childhood education: an approach that demands unquestioning obedience and a modern “more liberal” attitude that stresses gentler approaches. Olleson grounds the first approach in Calvinistic theology that “stresses the essentially evil nature of the child, acquired through original sin.” He suggests that the theological underpinning for the modern view is the essential goodness and innocence of the child.[17] Olleson argues that the early Methodist approach was guided by the Calvinistic view of human nature.[18]
More recently, Colleen Derr identified three views of children in 18th-century England. Derr recognizes the influence of Puritan philosophy with its emphasis on original sin. Then, she notes that Wesley read and rejected Rousseau’s view that children are born innately good. Finally, she observes that Wesley read and included John Locke in the curriculum of Kingswood School. Locke saw the young mind as a tabula rasa; Wesley wanted to properly instruct children before other influences had “written” on this blank slate.[19] While Wesley did not fully subscribe to Locke’s philosophy, he was influenced by Locke’s emphasis on early education.
Of course, the greatest influence on Wesley’s view of education was his mother. His view of human nature and of education was strongly influenced by Susannah’s model of instruction. While the Wesleys might accept Locke’s practices regarding education, neither Susannah nor her two most influential sons regarded children as morally good or even morally neutral. The Wesleys recognized the reality of original sin and its effect on children. There is nothing in Wesley of a modern philosophy that “man is basically good.”
In his sermon at the opening of the Kingswood School on June 24, 1749, Wesley warned parents about praising their children (even for what is praiseworthy) because it fans the flame of pride.[20] In his Instructions for Children, John Wesley taught his young students:
“No one can do any Thing good of himself, without the Help of God.
All our own Desires are only evil continually.
Therefore no Man should desire to be esteemed, honored or praised by any Man.
And no one ought to praise or esteem himself.
Rather we ought to despise ourselves.
And we ought to desire to be thought by others, what we really are, that is, poor, weak, foolish, sinful creatures.
Then should we find Help from God. For he resisteth the Proud, but giveth Grace to the Humble” (Instructions, III, III, 1-7).
Charles Wesley put this in poetic form:
“Shall I, his creature I,
By sinful robbery,
Take the honour and esteem
To my glorious Maker due?
No; I leave it all to him,
Him from whom my life I drew.” (XXVIII:1-2)
Pride was a constant danger for the young. Another ever-present danger was self-indulgence. The structure of the Kingswood School was designed to stamp out any temptation to sloth and ease. No play was allowed, meals were meager, and work was grueling.
What was the explanation for this almost monastic approach to education? Practically, it reflects the model Susannah Wesley provided her children as well as the example he saw at Hernnhut.[21] Theologically, it reflects Wesley’s conviction that children are inherently sinful and must be shaped for godly living. Wesley believed that children who played would become adults who play.[22] Life was too serious to be wasted in play.
This conviction is seen in Hymns for Children. In a hymn written “Against Idleness,” Charles Wesley warned:
“Sloth is the accursed root,
Whence ten thousand evils shoot,
Every vice and every sin
Doth with idleness begin.”
“We by idleness expose
Our own souls to endless woes,
We, whenever loitering thus,
Tempt the devil to tempt us.” (Hymn LV,6-7)
In Hymn XXX, Charles warned of the many dangers facing young Christians. Because there are “divers ways” in which we may fall from grace, we must “stand forever on our guard” (XXX:1). How do we respond?
“Dangers and snares abound,
And ever close us round,
Numberless, malicious powers
Fight against us night and day,
Satan as a lion roars,
Watching to devour his prey” (XXX:3).
Fortunately, we do not face Satan’s attacks in our own power. Yes, Wesley’s “ontology included a belief in the depravity of humanity and the impact of sin on the Imago Dei, which created a bent to sin. However, Wesley saw God’s grace as greater than the impact of the sinful nature….”[23]
“But our Almighty Lord
Shall still his help afford,
Arm us with his patient mind,
’Till we see our conflicts past,
Perfect joy and safety find,
More than conquerors at last” (XXX:4).
Hymns on Assurance
If Christian Perfection was the hallmark of John’s preaching (the “grand depositum of Methodism”), the doctrine of assurance was the hallmark of Charles’s singing. From his great “And Can It Be” to his final hymns, Charles testified to this assurance. From his deathbead, Charles dictated his final poem:
“In age and feebleness extreme,
What shall a sinful worm redeem?
Jesus, my only hope thou art,
Strength of my failing flesh and heart,
O could I catch a smile from thee,
And drop into Eternity.”
Wesley wanted children to know the joy of the assurance of faith. Hymn IV is one of many prayers in Hymns for Children.
“Come, Holy Ghost, the grace impart,
Reveal the dying Deity,
And feelingly convince my heart
He lov’d, and gave himself for me” (IV:3).
It has been noted often that “for me” is a key phrase for Charles Wesley. Used scores of times in his hymns, this phrase expresses Wesley’s confidence that the atonement is more than a theological construct; it is an existential reality. Perhaps the most famous use of this phrase is in his anniversary hymn:
“And can it be, that I should gain
An interest in the Saviour’s blood?
Died he for me, who caused his pain?
For me? Who him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be
That thou, my God, shouldst die for me?”[24]
In Hymns for Children, a child prays that he will know the assurance that Jesus “gave himself for me.” As a result,
“…all my new-born soul shall feel
That holiness is present heaven” (IV:4).
Later, in a hymn “For the Scholars” of Kingswood, Wesley writes:
“Now, Lord, the gracious work begin,
His blood to every soul apply,
Assure me of my pardoned sin,
Confirm, and th’roughly sanctify,
Prepare us for that endless rest,
And take thy children to thy breast” (XLIV:4).
Conclusion: Implications from the Hymns for Children
Let me conclude with some implications for today to be drawn from Wesley’s Hymns for Children.
First, Wesley shows us the value of hymns for teaching doctrine and encouraging discipleship in the young. John Witvliet has argued that the most significant divide regarding worship in the church is not the divide between “traditional” and “contemporary” styles. More important is the divide between expressive worship, i.e. “worship which articulates what a congregation is already experiencing” and formative worship, i.e. “worship which does acknowledge where a congregation is at, but is also eager for a congregation to grow beyond where it is into something deeper.”[25]
Formative worship focuses on discipleship and sanctification. Wesley’s hymns show his strong preference for this approach to worship. In his theological language and his demands for authentic spiritual experience, Wesley shows that he is not satisfied with speaking to his young singers “where they are.” He intends to move them to a new level of theological and spiritual understanding.
Second, the popularity of these hymns during the late eighteen century suggests that children are capable of understanding profound doctrinal concepts.[26] Of course, the language of 18th century children’s hymns must be adapted to our day in the same way that the language of Wesley’s hymns for adults must often be adapted for 21st-century singers. Few of the hymns mentioned in this paper could be sung in children’s worship today without significant editing. However, the principles that guided Wesley’s writing can guide hymn writers today.
Today’s children can understand great theology and be inspired to live it out.[27] Harry Eskew suggests that even if children do not fully comprehend the meaning of the hymns they sing, learning great hymns in childhood influences their future appreciation of hymns. “… children can grow into a fuller understanding of hymns they only partially comprehend during their early years of school.”[28]
I began with a list of popular children’s songs in evangelical churches. A review of that list suggests that we have abandoned Wesley’s pursuit of songs that encourage theological and spiritual development in our children. Is the fruit of this abandonment seen in the shallow spiritual commitment of the children who come through our Christian education programs.
In 1982, Wayne McCown, the President of the Wesleyan Theological Society, warned that Wesleyans were suffering “excessive losses” among our youth. Among contributing factors, McCown noted our reliance on revival rather than on discipling. He wrote, “It is not question of Christian nurture vs. spiritual revival. What is needed is not one rather than the other, but both.”[29]
In the same volume of the Wesleyan Theological Journal, Wesley Tracy pointed to the Kingswood School and other early Wesleyan initiatives as models of early Methodist Christian education. Tracy noted that John Wesley had no time for prospective Methodist preachers who refused to devote regular time to the spiritual instruction of children.[30] The Wesleys understood that revival must be accompanied by careful spiritual nurture.
The problems noted more than thirty years ago remain; we still suffer excessive losses among our youth. While there is no single cure, I conclude this paper with the suggestion that Wesleyan hymnody provides a valuable tool for the spiritual nurture of our children. By reclaiming great hymns of the past as well as encouraging the composition of great new hymns (and in spite of the list I read above, there are some wonderful new hymns appropriate for children), we can use music to teach doctrine, to shape spiritual experience, and to inspire worship among our most precious treasure, our children.
Sources
Benzie, Peter Benzie. As a Little Child: Children in the Theology of John Wesley. M.Th. Thesis, Laidlaw-Carey Graduate School, 2010.
Buckroyd, E. Ann. “A Consideration of the Undated Hymns for Children” in Proceedings of the Charles Wesley Society 6 (1999-2000): 61-80.
Byars, Ronald P. What Language Shall I Borrow? The Bible and Christian Worship. MI: William B. Eerdmans, 2008.
Doggett, William Jordan. Bright and Beautiful: Images of Nature in English Language Hymns and Hymnals for Children. Ph.D. dissertation, Graduate Theological Union, 2005.
King, Roberta. “The Role of Music in Theological Education.” Africa Journal of Evangelical Theology 9 (1): 37-40 (1990).
Newport, Kenneth G.C. The Sermons of Charles Wesley: A Critical Edition, with Introduction and Notes. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001.
Olleson, Philip. “Charles Wesley and his Children” in Charles Wesley: Life, Literature and Legacy, edited by Kenneth G.C. Newport & Ted A. Campbell, 124-140. Great Britain: Epworth Press, 2007.
Wesley, Charles. Hymns for Children. Bristol: E. Farley, 1763. (Reprinted by Gale Eighteenth Century Collections Online Print Editions).
Wesley, John (ed.). A Collection of Hymns, for the Use of the People Called Methodists. (Ed. Franz Hildebrandt and Oliver A. Beckerlegge with James Dale). Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1983. (Abbreviated C
[1] Roberta King, “The Role of Music in Theological Education,” Africa Journal of Evangelical Theology (9:1, 1990), 37.
[2] King, 38.
[3] W. Reginald Ward (ed.), The Works of John Wesley, Vol 18, Journal and Diaries, Vol 1 (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1988), 296.
[4] Throughout this paper, I will use this format (LXIV:3) to identify the Hymn # and Stanza # of examples from Hymns for Children.
[5] Kenneth G.C. Newport, The Sermons of Charles Wesley: A Critical Edition, with Introduction and Notes (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001), 49. Unfortunately, Newport ignores the deep theological content of Charles’ hymns, arguing that the sermons were Wesley’s primary expression of theology.
[6] John Wesley’s 1745 Instructions for Children was based on the work of Claude Fleury and Pierre Poiret and used at the Kingswood School. (Randy Maddox, “Editorial Introduction” in Hymns for Children, Modernized Edition. Duke Center for Studies in the Wesleyan Tradition, 2010.) (E. Ann Buckroyd, “A Consideration of the Undated Hymns for Children,” in Proceedings of the Charles Wesley Society, 6, (1999-2000): 61-80, 62-63).
[7] https://divinity.duke.edu/sites/divinity.duke.edu/files/documents/cswt/34_Hymns_for_Children_%281787%29_mod.pdf
[8] http://wesley.nnu.edu/john-wesley/a-christian-library/a-christian-library-volume-14/the-assemblys-shorter- catechism/
[9] King, 38.
[10] This term is first used by sociologists Christian Smith and Melinda Lundquist Denton in Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers (2005) to describe the religious beliefs common among American youth. Their research found a common core of beliefs among many young people: 1) there is a God who created the world; 2) this God asks people to be nice to each other; 3) He wants people to feel good about themselves; 4) He is uninvolved in one’s life unless there is a particular problem to be resolved; 5) if a person is good, they will go to heaven when they die.
[11] John Wesley, “Letters to a Young Disciple,” The Miscellaneous Works of John Wesley, Vol. III, (New York: Harper, 1828), 450.
[12] King, 38.
[13] See especially Hymns 88-91 in A Collection of Hymns for the Use of the People Called Methodists.
[14] John Wesley, “On the Education of Children” in Albert C. Outler (ed.), The Works of John Wesley, Vol 13, Sermons, Vol 3 (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1986), 356.
[15] For this section, I am using James Reuteler’s modernized edition of the Instructions. Reuteler helpfully numbers each items and gives titles to each section. This edition is available at www.Jim.Reuteler.org. Reuteler retains Wesley’s capitalization. References to specific lines in the Instructions will be abbreviated in the text as follows: Instructions, III,I,1 indicates Section III, Lesson I, Sentence 1).
[16] Philip Olleson, “Charles Wesley and his Children,” in Kenneth G.C. Newport & Ted A. Campbell (ed.), Charles Wesley: Life, Literature and Legacy (Great Britain: Epworth Press, 2007), 126.
[17] Olleson, 124-140, 125.
[18] Although Olleson’s article is helpful in understanding an early Methodist perspective on children, I think he errs in identifying this view solely with Calvinist theology. Calvinist theology had nothing on early Wesleyan theology in its respect for the effects of the Fall.
[19] Colleen R. Derr, “The Role of Obedience in Child Faith Formation: Insights from the Teachings and Practices of John Wesley” in Christian Education Journal, Series 3, 11/2, (2014), 367-382. 368-370.
[20] John Wesley, “On the Education of Children” in Albert C. Outler (ed.), The Works of John Wesley, Vol 13, Sermons, Vol 3 (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1986), 355.
[21] W. Reginald Ward (ed.), The Works of John Wesley, Vol 18, Journal and Diaries, Vol 1 (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1988), 293.
[22] John Wesley, “A Short Account of Kingswood School” cited in Peter Benzie, As a Little Child: Children in the Theology of John Wesley” (M.Th. Thesis, Laidlaw-Carey Graduate School, 2010), 125.
[23] Derr, 379.
[24] Collection, 193.
[25] John D. Witvliet, “Preface” in What Language Shall I Borrow? The Bible and Christian Worship by Ronald P. Byars, (MI: William B. Eerdmans, 2008), xi-xii.
[26] Hymns for Children were published in four editions between 1763 and 1790.
[27] For a recent attempt to put this into practice in a church setting, see Rebecca Nelson Abbott, Developing a Curriculum of Spiritual Formation for Children through the Hymns of Charles Wesley at First United Methodist Church, Georgetown, Kentucky, (D.W.S. Diss., Robert Webber Institute for Worship Studies, 2009).
[28] Harry Eskew, “Hymns in the Church’s Teaching Ministry,” The Theological Educator (Spring, 1978), 8.
[29] Wayne McCown, “Believing in the (Contemporary) Wesleyan Mode: The Faith of Our Children.” Wesleyan Theological Journal 17:1 (Spring, 1982, 7-14), 9.
[30] Wesley Tracey, “Christian Education in the Wesleyan Mode.” Wesleyan Theological Journal 17:1 (Spring, 1982, 30-53), 33.
[This article was taken with permission from Mark K. Olson’s website where the original version can be found.]
