It has been reported that
in 1962 Karl Barth, a Swiss theologian and opponent to Adolph Hitler’s Third
Reich, was touring the United States and was asked to summarize his view of the
Christian faith which he did with these words “Jesus loves me, this I know, for
the Bible tells me so.” Pretty succinct
for the author of a 13-volume set of over 6 million words called Church Dogmatics!
It is interesting that hymnbook
Sacred Selections for the Church has
a subtitle to the song “The favorite hymn of China”. That subtitle was dropped, but before then it
was not uncommon for the tune to be called CHINA although the composer never
did. This was apparently a favorite song
used by missionaries to China in the 19th century. In 1949, Mao Tse Tung founded the People’s
Republic of China and the communists began a widespread persecution of
Christians in China. In 1972, a message
came out of China with the phrase “The this
I know people are well” that escaped the notice of communist censors
showing here were still missionary efforts within the country.
The song has had several
revision and various versions by people over the years. Perhaps this is due to not only the song’s simplicity
but the profound message that has warmed the hearts of children throughout
their years.
Anna Bartlett Warner (1827–1915), Lyricist
Anna Bartlett Warner was
born August 31, 1827 on Long Island, NY.
Her father was a wealthy New York lawyer who lost his fortune in the
market crash of 1937. Her mother died
during Anna’s birth. She had a sister
named Susan and they would sometimes be known as the “Warner Sisters”. The daughters were avid writers seeking to
alleviate the financial burden of the family by writing novels. They wrote works together and
separately. Anna also wrote under the
pen name Amy Lothrop.
She was a Presbyterian
and her uncle served as the military chaplain from 1828 to 1838. The Warner sisters also conducted regular
Bible studies for over 40 years for cadets at West Point which was where they
resided on Constitution Island. Their
home is still preserved and open for tours.
Anna Bartlett Warner died
on January 22, 1915 in Highland Falls, NY.
She is buried in the United States Military Academy at West Point in NY. Anna, and her sister Susan, are the only two
civilians buried in West Point Military Cemetery. The words of the first stanza of “Jesus Loves
Me” appear on her tombstone. Some
sources stated that included among her afternoon Bible Studies was a future
President, Dwight D. Eisenhower.
The song was based on a
novel by her sister, Susan Warner, called Say
and Seal. Anna Bartlett Warmer wrote
the lyrics for her sister’s book in 1860.
The words were written to comfort a dying child named Johnny Fax in the
story. The song “Jesus Loves Me” is by
far her most popular hymn; however, she did write other hymns.
William Batchelder Bradbury (1816–1868), Composer
Born October 6, 1816 in
York, Maine, William Batchelder Bradbury’s father was leader of a church
choir. His family moved to Boston when
he was 12 years old where he became acquainted with the famous musician Lowell
Mason. Bradbury would go onto study music and voice even
traveling to Germany for further education.
His brother, Edward G. Bradbury, and he founded the Bradbury Piano
Company in New York City.
He wrote and published
numerous songs and hymnals. He did a lot
of work with young people and would compose tunes with them in mind. This would result in the publication of a
hymn book for children in 1841. For a
time, Lowell Mason, George F. Root and William Bradbury made a very popular
trio.
Bradbury wrote the tune
for the song “Jesus Loves Me” and included the words of the chorus in
1862. We sing several hymns to the tunes
he composed. The tune for Jesus Loves
Me, according to the statistics of Hymnary.org is not his most popular based on
inclusion of hymnals. According to
Hymnary.org, his top tunes for hymns: WOODWORTH (167), HE LEADETH ME (110), SOLID
ROCK (102), BRADBURY (87), SWEET HOUR (84) and then JESUS LOVES ME (79). We sing several songs he composed the music
to including: “Just As I Am”, “He
Leadeth Me”, “My Hope Is Built On Nothing Less”, “How Sweet, How Heavenly, Is
The Sight”, “Tis Midnight, and on Olive’s Brow”, “Sweet Hour of Prayer” and
others.
William Batchelder
Bradbury died on January 7, 1868 in Montclair, NJ and is buried in Bloomfield
Cemetery, Bloomfield, NJ.
Jesus Loves Me
It is sad when people
have had circumstances that have crowded out their view of God’s love for
them. Have you ever noticed that some
seem rather quick to doubt God’s love for them but are reluctant to deny that
Jesus loves them? Why would that be?
Could it be that Jesus
said “This is
My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to
lay down one’s life for his friends” (John 15:12-13, NKJV.) Perhaps they have a difficult time turning
their back on the fact that Jesus loves them when He said “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd
gives His life for the sheep. But a
hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the
wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and
scatters them. The hireling flees
because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep,
and am known by My own. As the Father
knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.” (John 10:11-15, NKJV.)
Sometimes the observation
is made that saying you love someone is one thing, but showing or demonstrating your love for them is a different
matter. Did God not demonstrate His love
for us? Recall what Paul wrote “For when we
were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one
die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us,
in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:6-8, NKJV.) Be sure to notice that God is the one that
demonstrated this love too!
When we sing “Jesus Loves
Me”, we are also singing “God Loves Me” too.
Remember what John wrote “He who does not love does not know God, for God is love” (1 John 4:8, NKJV.)
Why does God love us
so? I do not have a satisfactory
explanation to that question outside of what the text states. I do know this—I am thankful that He does!
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SOURCES:
http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1801-1900/jesus-loves-me-11630449.html
http://www.constitutionisland.org
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_Loves_Me
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Bartlett_Warner
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Batchelder_Bradbury
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=5655
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=20128
V. E. Howard, Editor, and
Broadus E. Smith, Associate Editor, Church
Gospel Songs & Hymns, Texarkana, TX: Central Printers & Publishers, 1983.
http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/j/e/s/jesuslme.htm
http://www.hymnary.org/person/Warner_Anna
http://www.hymnary.org/person/Bradbury_William
http://www.lectionary.org/HymnStories/Jesus%20Loves%20Me.htm
Joseph L. Mangina, Karl Barth: Theologian of Christian Witness,
Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox
Press, 2004, p. 9.
Robert Guy McCutchan, Our Hymnody, Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1937.
John P. Wiegand, Editor, Praise for the Lord, Nashville, TN: Praise Press, 1997.
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