There have been few music forms that have come in for so large a share of both support and criticism as has the gospel song. Let us not forget that Time, the impartial judge, has left his path down through the years strewn with hymns unworthy of service measured by centuries or of lesser duration. The gospel song is a mere babe compared to the hymns of the ages. Shall we not give to this young sacred-music form as charitable judgment as the years have given to the hymn form? Of the mass of gospel songs some are good, some not so good, and some just plain worthless. But this was also the testimony of the hymns in the course of time. The old gentleman with the scythe and the hourglass shakes the sifter, and much of the bulk of gospel songs goes on through and is lost to view. As this process continues others will slip through. As with hymns, so with gospel songs—the good, the worthy, will live.
Let us examine some reasons for the birth of the gospel song—the time of its appearance, its musical opponents, and its worthy supporters. The Oxford Movement was initiated with its main ambition of turning the faces of men back to Roman ideals in worship—to counter act the influence of the Reformation, which they chose to call the great rebellion. The Church of Rome recognized an effective approach to her accomplishments in the use of hymns—hymns tinctured slightly with Roman doctrine, with the uppermost thought of gradually leading the Evangelicals and Nonconformists ultimately away from their original beliefs —born through the Reformation. Her efforts were not without liberal reward. Her studied plan bore, and still bears, abundant fruit. Was this not patterned after Luther's successful efforts. Why not turn the tables?
Does it not seem strange that the Oxford Movement should have had its beginning in 1833? And that the gospel song should have its ancestry dating back to 1844? And that the purely objective hymn of the Roman Catholic Church should find the subjective hymn, in the form of what later came to be called the gospel song, to balance its influence? Is there not a note of fitness to these things?
The strange part to me is that there are some who are antagonistic to the use of the gospel song in its proper place. Who is it that dares raise his hand against one of the instruments God has so effectively used during a century of evangelism?
Let us not be too ready to despise the gospel song. That position, it seems, is dangerous to the evangelistic ideals always held by us. One author states, "If the gospel song dies, so will the sermon."—CHARLES GABRIEL. Church Music of Yesterday, Today and for Tomorrow, p. 15. Only those who have a testimony to bear to others should sing" the gospel song. "No One Ever Cared for Me Like Jesus" will not sound genuine if it is sung in a droning manner. It must be fired with the emotion growing out of appreciation of the glorious fact, flowing with sincerity and persuasiveness for those who listen to claim such a friend as Jesus. There must be a deep longing in the heart that is genuinely revealed in the voice to enable one to sing effectively "To See Thy Face." It is no easy task to sing a gospel song properly. The simpler the form, the greater the need of interpretation.
Points of Contrast Between Hymns of die Oxford Movement and the Gospel Song
Hymns of the Oxford Movement
1. Began in 1833 (England)
2. Hymns in literary style
3. Objective in character
4. Cool as a lunar rainbow
5. Movement toward Catholicism
6. Of Catholic flavor
7. Ancient Latin translations
8. The church — altar
9. The priests and choir
10. Born through studied intent to dilute the influence of the Reformation and subsequent revivals
The Gospel Song
1. Initiated in 1844 (early beginnings in England)
2. Songs with "emotional verse"
3. Subjective in character
4. Warm as the sunlight
5. Movement away from Catholicism
6. Of Protestant character
7. Of modern English composition
8. The individual — pulpit
9. The minister and congregation
10. A product of revival and personal consecration — contacting God directly
Thus, with the character of the hymns of the Oxford Movement contrasted with that of the gospel song, it is evident, as one author says, that "later came the gospel song, somewhat in protest against the Oxford Movement, and emphasizing the individual soul as distinct from the institutional consciousness of the former." — MARKS, Rise and Growth of English Hymnody, p. 118.
