The Best Church Hymns


Read by David Wales

(2.8 stars; 2 reviews)

This 1898 book is the result of a survey of 107 hymn-books. The thirty-two hymns are ranked in order of popularity. The texts in this recording are said only, not sung, along with a few explanatory notes for each hymn (some footnotes, not all, here recorded). The texts are preceded by two essays concerning hymns and their standards. Benson (1855-1930) was an American Presbyterian minister who edited several hymnals. - Summary by David Wales (1 hr 37 min)

Chapters

Preface 2:29 Read by David Wales
Introduction 1: What Are The Best Hymns? 13:47 Read by David Wales
Introduction 2: What Is Today The Standard Of The Best Church Hymns? 15:49 Read by David Wales
1 – Rock of ages, cleft for me; 2 – When I survey the wondrous cross; 3 – Jesus, lover of my soul. 8:03 Read by David Wales
4- All praise to thee, my God this night; 5 – Jesus, I my cross have taken; 6 – Sun of my soul, thou Saviour dear. 6:24 Read by David Wales
7 – Awake, my soul, and with the sun; 8 – Hark the herald angels sing; 9 – Abide with me, fast falls the eventide. 7:27 Read by David Wales
10 – Jerusalem, my happy home; 11 – How sweet the name of Jesus sounds; 12 – Nearer, my God, to thee. 6:15 Read by David Wales
13 – From Greenland’s icy mountains; 14 – Our God, our help in ages past; 15 – Jerusalem the golden 6:30 Read by David Wales
16 – Lo, he comes with clouds descending; 17 – Jesus shall reign where’er the sun; 18 – Glorious things of thee are spoken. 6:43 Read by David Wales
19 – Hark, the glad sound, the Saviour comes; 20 – Come, let us join our cheerful songs; 21 – All hail the power of Jesus’ name. 5:19 Read by David Wales
22 – Hail to the Lord’s anointed; 23 – O worship the King all glorious above; 24 – Christ the Lord is risen today. 5:30 Read by David Wales
25 – Guide me, O thou great Jehovah; 26 – Just as I am, without one plea; 27 – God moves in a mysterious way. 5:03 Read by David Wales
28 – Jesus, the very thought of thee; 29 – Children of the heavenly King; 30 – There is a land of pure delight. 5:17 Read by David Wales
31 – Thou, whose almighty word; 32 – Brief life is here our portion. 3:20 Read by David Wales

Reviews

Could have been better


(3 stars)

I hate to give a book of hymns three stars, but this volume didn’t quite rise to the occasion. The compiler states that he intended the book to be a textbook, which might explain the dry nature of the introduction. The brief biographies about the hymn writers were interesting, but not something I was looking for. The compiler had a novel method for deciding which hymns should be included in his book. He collected about 100 hymnals, picked through each one and calculated which hymns were the most common. He considered therefore that these were the best hymns and hence deserving of inclusion in his book. Personally I think this is not an indication of which hymns were best, rather which were most popular. But I guess in his reasoning, to be popular meant it must be the best. Whereas I have a slightly more jaded opinion on popularity versus quality. The narrator was good, though I wished at times he read a little slower so I could more fully absorb the words.