God's Word Is Our Great Heritage, is the title of a popular hymn sung in many churches, especially the Lutheran Church. This hymn was inspired by Psalm 16:6: ''"...yea, I have a goodly heritage."''

KJV The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and published in 1611, by sponsorship of K ...

''The Holy Bible'' (King James Version). London: Thomas Nelson Publishers.

History

God's Word Is Our Great Heritage was written in 1817 by

N. F. S. Grundtvig Nikolaj Frederik Severin Grundtvig (; 8 September 1783 – 2 September 1872), most often referred to as N. F. S. Grundtvig, was a Danish pastor, author, poet, philosopher, historian, teacher and politician. He was one of the most influential pe ...

, a Danish Lutheran Pastor. Gruntvig wrote the hymn as the 5th verse to

Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation and the namesake of Lutherani ...

Ein feste Burg "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God" (originally written in the German language with the title ) is one of the best known hymns by the Protestant Reformer Martin Luther, a prolific hymnwriter. Luther wrote the words and composed the hymn tune between ...

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The hymn was translated into English by Ole Gulbrand Belsheim in 1909. In 1916, Friedrich Otto Reuter, then a professor at Dr. Martin Luther College, put the hymn to
tune of his creation.
Many hymnals use this arrangement, including ''

The Lutheran Hymnal ''The Lutheran Hymnal'' (''TLH'') is one of the official hymnals of the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS). Published in 1941 by Concordia Publishing House in St. Louis, Missouri, it was the denomination's second official English-langua ...

'', '' Lutheran Service Book'' ( LCMS) and ''Christian Worship: A Lutheran Hymnal'' (

WELS Wels (; Central Bavarian: ''Wös'') is a city in Upper Austria, on the Traun River near Linz. It is the county seat of Wels-Land, and with a population of approximately 60,000, the eighth largest city in Austria. Geography Wels is in the ...

), though the ''Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary'' ( ELS) has retained the original melody to the hymn. The hymn is also the school hymn of Michigan Lutheran Seminary.

Text

References

Cyber Hymnal

External links

God's Word Is Our Great Heritage
sung by the Michigan Lutheran Seminary Choir {{Lutheran hymns Danish Christian hymns Lutheran hymns 19th-century hymns