Bernard Lord Manning (1892–1941)

I had been forewarned that the contents of this book would be a bit 'dated' -- and so I found them, especially in terms of the author's writing style and the assumptions of previous knowledge on the part of his readers that he could make. The first three essays -- "Hymns for the use of the people called Methodists," "The recall to religion in the hymns of Charles Wesley," and "Wesley's hymns reconsidered" -- I also discovered to be exceptionally dry (especially the extensive discussion of Wesley's use of meter). The last two essays, however -- "The hymns of Dr. Isaac Watts" and "Some hymns and hymn-books" -- were most interesting...and personally valuable. I especially appreciated Manning's reminder, in his comparison of Watts with Wesley, that Watts was basically a man formed in the seventeenth century; hence many of his hymns do not stand up quite so well as those of the eighteenth-century Wesley. The final essay is full of sparkling wit -- and the helpful insight that hymns are for the worshippers, not the antiquarian; hence, alterations are permissible (perhaps even mandatory) and dropping hymns is preferable to diluting their theological content beyond recognition. I also had not previously considered the seismic shift the nineteenth century -- with its emphasis on The Individual -- wrought upon hymnody: no longer was God the primary focus of the content of hymns; instead, the focus was upon the experience of the individual worshipper/believer. -- 2/5 of the book, then, is well worth reading; the remainder, however fleetingly interesting, is less so.… (meer)