A great video from the folks at Mars Hill Church about the writer of the hymn Joy to the World.
The King of glory sends his Son,
To make his entrance on this earth;
Behold the midnight bright as noon,
And heav’nly hosts declare his birth!
About the young Redeemer’s head,
What wonders, and what glories meet!
An unknown star arose, and led
The eastern sages to his feet.
Simeon and Anna both conspire
The infant Saviour to proclaim;
Inward they felt the sacred fire,
And bless’d the babe, and own’d his name.
Let pagan hordes blaspheme aloud,
And treat the holy child with scorn;
Our souls adore th’ eternal God
Who condescended to be born.
… Isaac Watts (1674-1748), Hymns and Spiritual Songs [1707], in Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs, ed. Samuel Melanchthon Worcester, Boston: Crocker & Brewster, 1834, Book II, hymn 136, p. 454
That’s great. I wonder what Christians get worked up about today that history will look back upon and say, “that was a silly thing to fight over.”