''The God of Abraham Praise'' is a
Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
adaptation of the well known
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
hymn "
Yigdal
Yigdal ( he, יִגְדָּל; ''yighdāl'', or ;''yighdal''; means "Magnify Living God) is a Jewish hymn which in various rituals shares with Adon 'Olam the place of honor at the opening of the morning and the close of the evening service. It i ...
", loosely translated and Christianised by the
evangelist
Evangelist may refer to:
Religion
* Four Evangelists, the authors of the canonical Christian Gospels
* Evangelism, publicly preaching the Gospel with the intention of spreading the teachings of Jesus Christ
* Evangelist (Anglican Church), a c ...
Thomas Olivers
Thomas Olivers (1725–1799) was a Methodist preacher and hymn-writer from Tregynon, Montgomeryshire, Wales. He was also author of the ''Arminian Magazine'' from 1775 to 1789, when he was dropped from the position by John Wesley for numerous pri ...
after a visit to the
Great Synagogue of London
The Great Synagogue of London was, for centuries, the centre of Ashkenazi synagogue and Jewish life in London. Built north of Aldgate in the 17th century, it was destroyed during World War II, in the Blitz.
History
The earliest Ashkenazi synagog ...
in 1770.
[ It was first published in 1772.][ The title of the hymn was based on a verse in the ]Book of Exodus
The Book of Exodus (from grc, Ἔξοδος, translit=Éxodos; he, שְׁמוֹת ''Šəmōṯ'', "Names") is the second book of the Bible. It narrates the story of the Exodus, in which the Israelites leave slavery in Biblical Egypt through t ...
: "I am the God of thy Father, the God of Abraham".
History
Olivers worked with John Wesley
John Wesley (; 2 March 1791) was an English people, English cleric, Christian theology, theologian, and Evangelism, evangelist who was a leader of a Christian revival, revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism. The soci ...
during the time that "The God of Abraham Praise" was written. During the time, he often met with members of London's Jewish community. In 1772, Olivers was attending The Great Synagogue in London and heard Cantor
A cantor or chanter is a person who leads people in singing or sometimes in prayer. In formal Jewish worship, a cantor is a person who sings solo verses or passages to which the choir or congregation responds.
In Judaism, a cantor sings and lead ...
Myer Lyon
Myer Lyon (, Germany – 1797, Kingston, Jamaica), better known by his stage name Michael Leoni, was a hazzan at the Great Synagogue of London who achieved fame as a tenor opera singer in London and Dublin, and as the mentor of the singer John Br ...
sing "Yigdal" in Hebrew during a service. Olivers then paraphrased and translated "Yigdal" into English and gave the hymn more of a Christian focus.The Bible
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...
.Methodist
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...
hymnal "Sacred Harmony". The hymn later made it to the United States after being published in Joshua Leavitt
Rev. Joshua Leavitt (September 8, 1794, Heath, Massachusetts – January 16, 1873, Brooklyn, New York) was an American Congregationalist minister and former lawyer who became a prominent writer, editor and publisher of abolitionist literature. ...
's "The Christian Lyre".Presbyterian
Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...
, Baptist
Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...
and UCC The initialism UCC may stand for:
Law
* Uniform civil code of India, referring to proposed Civil code in the legal system of India, which would apply equally to all irrespective of their religion
* Uniform Commercial Code, a 1952 uniform act to ...
hymnals misattributed "The God of Abraham Praise" to them instead of Olivers due to William Gannett recasting the work to change the title from "Praise to the Living God" to "The God of Abraham Praise". A number of versions of Methodist hymnals also made the same error until the 1980s.
Interfaith dialogue
The Judeo-Christian context of "The God of Abraham Praise" has caused the hymn to be used in interfaith services between Jews and Christians. It has been referred to as "the hymn born in a synagogue".
Text and score
\relative c'
\addlyrics
[ First published in ''Sacred Harmony'' (1790), included in ]
See also
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:God of Abraham Praise
British Christian hymns
1772 songs
18th-century hymns
Hymns in The New English Hymnal