Hymns & Songs ¢ Bishop Emeritus Dr Robert Solomon served as Bishop of The Methodist Church in Singapore from 2000-2012.
Trinitarian hymns in the Wesleyan tradition
T
he bedrock of Christian faith is our belief in
the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. This is still the
the triune God—the Father, the Son, and the
basic structure of our baptismal rituals today.
Holy Spirit, as revealed in Scripture and in the
Incarnation. This is the God we worship, the One God in
In addition, we use in our worship services the biblical
Three Persons, whose actions lead to our redemption
benediction in 2 Corinthians 13:14 that brings the
and hope for eternal life.
blessings of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to God’s people. In the historical liturgical tradition, Christians
Our Trinitarian faith is enshrined in our historical
have also regularly sung the Gloria Patri, again
creeds. The wonderful Trinitarian passage in Ephesians
reminding us of the heart of our faith.
1:3-14 is, in the opinion of many biblical scholars, an ancient doxology used in the worship of the early
There are, in the treasure chest of the church, many
church. It is evidence that in the New Testament church,
Trinitarian hymns, most of which have been largely
God was already worshipped as a triune Being. Other
forgotten. There is a need to sing more songs in our
passages such as Philippians 2:5-11 and 1 Timothy
worship of the triune God. Many Methodists and even
3:16 are also examples of the earliest songs in praise
non-Methodists may know that the Methodist revival
of the triune God.
in the 18th century was “born in song” and sustained and propagated by song.
Following
the
baptismal
formula
that
the
Lord
Jesus included as part of his Great Commission to
The first hymnal published by John and Charles Wesley,
his disciples, the church has baptised people in the
Gloria Patri… or Hymns on the Trinity in 1746 contained
single name of the three Persons of the Trinity. In
24 hymns. Subsequently, they published another
the earliest post-New Testament writings such as the
hymnal, Hymns on the Trinity in 1767 containing another
Didache (Teachings of the Twelve Apostles) and The
188 Trinitarian hymns. These hymns were published
Apostolic Tradition of Hippolytus, instructions can be
as an intentional rebuttal against Unitarianism (which
found regarding baptism. Baptismal candidates are to
rejects the doctrine of the Trinity, claiming that God is
be asked three main questions related to each Person
one Person) and also as a didactic tool to teach Nicene
of the Trinity. They are to be baptised in the name of
Trinitarianism and metrical theology to the Methodist
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METHODIST MESSAGE May 2022
