Christian Hymns of the First Three Centuries Part 3

By thy blessing my spirit is illumined,

and a thanksgiving hymn,

Holy is G.o.d, the Father of all the universe.[52]

Summarizing the Greek influence, both h.e.l.lenic and Graeco-oriental, upon Christian hymnology, it is difficult, if not impossible, to trace any connection between the cla.s.sic Greek hymns or the hymns of mystery cults, and those of the new faith. If more sources were available, a valid conclusion might be reached. At present, a tentative conclusion involves the recognition of the vigorous protest and revolt against pagan ideas revealed in contemporary prose writings, in turn evoked by the actual pressure which was exerted upon Christianity by alien cults. The twentieth century has produced an impressive literature centered about the mystery religions and the problem of their influence upon Christianity; but in the field of hymnology there have been discovered only the faintest of traces. These are wholly stylistic. Christian hymns which reveal the characteristics of the repet.i.tion of direct address, or of relative clauses or predicates, previously mentioned, ill.u.s.trate poetic forms which are, in the final a.n.a.lysis, oriental rather than Greek.[53]

It is a satisfaction to the cla.s.sicist, who is interested in the history of this subject, that the cla.s.sical meters, ignored at this period, were destined to be revived at a later date. They were used to some extent from the fourth century. It was reserved for the court poets of the Carolingian circle of the ninth century to restore the old lyric meters.

The Sapphic meter in its Horatian form not only was a favorite among medieval Latin hymn writers, but also it has found an occasional imitator in the course of the centuries even to modern times.[54]

While hymn sources derived from oriental cults are extremely scanty, those originating in Gnosticism are much more numerous and suggestive in their relation to Christian hymnology. Gnosticism is not so much the name of a particular philosophy or definite system of belief, as it is a point of view, which sought to harmonize the speculative achievement of Greek thought with the oriental myths and with Christian teachings. The philosophical interpretation of pagan mythology was extended to Hebrew and Christian tradition. Thus, in accordance with the tenets of Neoplatonism, the primeval being has produced the universal mind and, in turn, mind has produced the soul which in contact with evil phases of matter has lost its original purity. Therefore, the soul must retrace its steps until it reaches the final stage of reunion with the origin of all being. It is easy to understand how a variety of meanings may be read into a simple statement like the above. It is also easy to understand that the possibilities of confusion arising in the first three centuries of Christian history were matters of the utmost concern to contemporary Christian writers and dogmatists. The period abounded in heresies and misunderstandings, to the discussion of which the ablest minds of the Church were devoted. Quotations from these authors furnish many of the extant hymns composed by Gnostics, either within or without the Christian fold. The range of literary excellence, of spiritual connotation and of intelligibility of subject matter in the so-called Gnostic hymns is so wide that it is difficult to evaluate them. To the modern reader they vary from the mere rigmarole to the genuinely inspiring hymn.

Perhaps the best known and certainly one of the loftiest expressions of Gnostic ideas is the _Hymn of the Soul_, which is found in the Apocryphal _Acts of Thomas_. Dating from the first half of the third century, the _Acts of Thomas_ recounts the missionary preaching of the Apostle Thomas in India. While in prison, he chants this hymn, beginning,

When I was an infant child in the palace of my father.[55]

It has no connection with the narrative but relates in allegorical fas.h.i.+on the return of the soul, which has been awakened from its preoccupation with earthly matters, to the higher state of heavenly existence. Here is a theme congenial to Christian thought and orthodox in its theology when extricated from the popular concepts of the times.[56]

The actual authors.h.i.+p of the _Hymn of the Soul_, which is found in the Syriac version of the _Acts_ alone, is unknown, but it has been attributed to some disciple of the Syrian Bardesanes, a Christian Gnostic who lived in the second half of the second century.[57] There seems to be no doubt that Bardesanes was himself influential as a hymn writer and that he was representative of a group of poets who were beginning to employ contemporary rhythms set to melodies familiar in daily secular life.[58]

The _Acts of Thomas_ contains a second hymn,

The damsel is the daughter of light,

a poem of oriental imagery, personifying the divine wisdom as a bride.[59]

The apocryphal _Acts of John_, dating from the middle of the second century, yields a third hymn, the _Hymn of Jesus_. In the Gospel narrative of the last supper, Jesus and his disciples, before going to the Mount of Olives, sing a hymn together. It is not identified but is generally believed to be a part of the _Hallel_ or group of Pa.s.sover Psalms, 113-118. The writer of the _Acts of John_ represents Jesus as using a new hymn which opens,

Glory be to Thee, Father.

It contains a long series of ant.i.theses, as follows:

I would be saved and I would save, I would be loosed and I would loose, I would be wounded and I would wound, I would be borne and I would bear, etc.

The hymn concludes,

A way am I to thee, a wayfarer.[60]

Variants of the _Hymn of Jesus_ are extant, one of which has been preserved by Augustine, the Hymn of the Priscillianists, which came to him from a correspondent in Spain.[61]

Hippolytus, whose _Refutation of all Heresies_ has been mentioned in another connection, discusses the Gnostic sect of the Naasenes. He quotes one of their hymns, beginning,

The world's producing law was Primal Mind,

in which Jesus is represented as the guide of mankind to the attainment of celestial knowledge.[62] The system of Valentinus, a Gnostic leader, is also discussed and a psalm of his authors.h.i.+p is quoted:

I behold all things suspended in air by spirit,

a didactic presentation of Gnostic thought.[63] It is composed in dactylic meter, affording another ill.u.s.tration of the adoption of popular rhythms in the hymnology of the heretical sects. A Gnostic hymn to the Highest G.o.d from a third century Coptic source may be cited:

Thou art alone the eternal and thou art alone the deep and thou art alone the unknowable, etc.[64]

Whatever impression may be created upon the modern mind by the perusal of Gnostic poetry, its influence was admitted by contemporary Christians and combatted by every means in their power. The Gnostic leaders, unhampered by Hebrew traditions of religious poetry, were able to make use of popular forms and popular concepts. They met the trend of the times more than halfway. Heretical groups of all varieties of opinion were using hymns as a means of expressing their beliefs and persuading possible adherents. At the opening of the fourth century, Arius appeared, the leader of the group whose theology was rejected at the Council of Nicaea, 325, and whose hymns were met and overcome by the verses of Ambrose. Such was the influence of heretical upon orthodox hymnody.

VI. Early Christian Hymns

Turning once more to the authentic Christian hymns of the first three centuries and this time omitting those which appear in liturgical sources, we observe three distinct linguistic groups, the Syriac, the Greek and the Latin.

The most familiar of the Syriac hymns were written by Ephraem Syrus (b.

307), who strove to counteract the influence of the Gnostic poets, especially that of his countryman, Bardesanes. Strictly speaking, he belongs to the first half of the fourth century but should be considered by the student who is tracing the continuity of this subject. His hymns are metrical in the sense of having lines with a fixed number of syllables and strophic divisions. An Easter hymn opens thus:

Blessed be the Messiah Who has given us a hope That the dead shall rise again.

A hymn for the Lord's Day begins,

Glory be to the good Who hath honoured and exalted The first day of the week.[65]

It is possible that the hymns of Ephraem were influenced by the Syriac Odes of Solomon, discovered in 1909, which were produced in the first century. Whether the _Odes_ themselves are of Gnostic or Christian origin cannot be definitely a.s.serted but the probability of the latter is strong. For a full discussion of this most interesting but highly controversial topic the work of special commentators must be consulted.[66] The intrinsic interest of the collection demands more than a pa.s.sing comment. _Ode VI_ opens,

As the hand moves over the harp and the strings speak, So speaks in my members the Spirit of the Lord, and I speak by His love.[67]

_Ode IX_,

Open your ears And I will speak to you, Give me your souls, That I may also give you my soul.[68]

_Ode XXIX_,

The Lord is my hope: In Him I shall not be confounded For according to His praise He made me, And according to His goodness even so He gave unto me.[69]

_Ode x.x.xI_, in which Jesus speaks,

6. Come forth, ye that have been afflicted and receive joy 7. And possess your souls by grace; and take to you immortal life.

8. And they condemned me when I rose up, me who had not been condemned.

9. And they divided my spoil though nothing was due to them.[70]

Forty-two in number, the _Odes_ reveal a true inspiration, novel and significant from the religious and the literary standpoint. They preserve the tradition of the Old Testament hymns, yet breathe the spiritual life of the new revelation. Their chief interest lies in the possibility that they ill.u.s.trate a valid Christian poetry of a very early date. If it is true, as the editors suggest, that the _Odes_ emanate from Antioch,[71]

we have further evidence of the spirit of wors.h.i.+p in that city with which early Christian liturgical forms are so closely a.s.sociated.

The tradition of Syriac hymnody, of which these ill.u.s.trations alone may be given from the early period, did not come to an end as Christianity moved westward. It was continued through thirteen centuries and is preserved in the Nestorian and other branches of the Syrian Christian Church.

Before the main stream of hymnody in the Greek language is traced, two sources from the second century will serve as an introduction. The first of these is the _Epistle to Diognetus_, by an unknown author, possibly a catechumen of the Pauline group.[72] It contains four selections, biblical in their phraseology, the first three of which express the redemptive mission of the Son of G.o.d:

As a king sends his son who is also a king, so sent He Him, He did not regard us with hatred nor thrust us away, He, being despised by the people.

The fourth admonishes the Christian to union with the mind of G.o.d,