The words for “Holy, Holy, Holy” were originally a poem entitled “Trinity Sunday” the words of which were adapted from the Sanctus of the Latin Mass. The Sanctus, translated from Latin, reads: “HOLY, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts. Heaven and earth are full of Thy glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.” The name for the tune for “Holy, Holy, Holy” was called NICAEA, and the hymn appeared with this arrangement in Hymns, Ancient and Modern in 1861. The name NICAEA was from the church council which met in 325 BCE in Nicaea in Asia Minor and the Nicaea Creed which affirmed the doctrine of the Trinity. We do not recognize creeds of men as authoritative; however, this does not mean that the lyrics do not have scriptural support (cf. Isaiah 6:1–4; Revelation 4:1–11).
Reginald Heber (1783-1826), Lyricist
Reginald Heber was born in Malpas, Cheshire, England on April 21, 1783. He was poetically gifted as show by his awards for poetry at Brasenose College in Oxford. He wrote a very celebrated poem called “Palestine” that was well received. He also wrote “The Death of A Christian”. He was an Anglican. His wife’s name was Amelia (whom he married in 1809), and they had two daughters. He wrote at least two other hymns among our songbooks: “Bread of the World” and “From Greenland’s Icy Mountains”, but only “Holy, Holy, Holy” appears in Church Gospel Songs & Hymns. He was appointed to the position of Bishop in Calcutta, India in 1823. He served in India for three years when he was found dead in his home in Trichinopoloy, India on April 3, 1826. He was 42 years of age and was buried in Trichinopoly at St. John’s Church. Among his papers, his wife found his poem “Trinity Sunday” which eventually were given to a publisher who had this poem set to music. It would be one of the more famous hymns of the era.
John Bacchus Dykes (1823-1876), Composer
John Bacchus Dykes was born March 10, 1823 in Hull, England to William Hey Dykes and Elizabeth Huntington Dykes. His father was a banker and a respected amateur musician. He trained his son to play the violin and piano. He was an accomplished organ player, having received a gold watch for his ten years of playing at St. Johns in Hull when the family relocated. His father used to get grief for naming his son after the pagan god Bacchus, but he explained that it actually was his wife’s father’s name. who was also a famous mayor of Hull. He graduated from Cambridge where he studied music. He composed most of his hymns while he worked at Durham Cathedral. On July 25, 1850 he married Susannah Kingston, and they had three sons and five daughters. In 1861 he was presented the Doctor of Music by the University of Durham. He had a serious dispute when he was appointed vicar of St. Oswald’s with the Bishop of the Diocese. The prolonged incident is said to precipitate his death in Ticehurst, England on January 22, 1876 at the age of 53. He was buried next to his ten-year-old daughter who died of scarlet fever at St. Oswald Churchyard in Durham, England. One source stated of his abilities: “Doctor Dykes was one of the leading English hymn-tune writers of the last half of the nineteenth century who have so greatly influenced American hymn music.” (McCutchan, Our Hymnody, 19). Another one of his tunes we may recognize is under the title of “Father, Hear the Prayer We Offer”. It is estimated that he composed over 300 hymn tunes.
Holy, Holy, Holy
Holy is what some refer to as one of God’s communicable attributes. The term communicable means that He shares them with other beings, or they should have these attributes in common. Communicable attributes include: love, knowledge, wisdom, justice, mercy, holy, and others. Incommunicable attributes are the ones that only God possesses: omnipotence, omnipresence, eternality, immutability, omnipotence, etc.
Defining holy can be a rather difficult task. Norman Geisler noted: “God’s attribute of holiness defies simple categorization, for it combines both metaphysical and moral dimensions” and “It refers to His absolute moral uniqueness as well as His total separateness from all creatures. In one sense, holiness is an overall attribute of God that distinguishes Him from everything else that exists” (Geisler, Systematic Theology, Vol. 2, 313, 314). Some suggest the following terms in description of the word “holy”: moral , purity, transcendence, consecrated, and devoted. Sometimes I like to think the antonyms of the term aids our understanding of the meaning of term: unholy, ungodly, pagan, worldly, irreligious, impure, irreverent, sacrilegious, unsacred, etc.
Not only is God holy, but He called the Israelites to be holy too— “For I am the Lord your God. You shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy. Neither shall you defile yourselves with any creeping thing that creeps on the earth. For I am the Lord who brings you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy” (Leviticus 11:44–45 NKJV). God expects His people to be holy, and that includes Christians. Peter quotes the passage from Lev 11:44–45): “as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, ‘Be holy, for I am holy’” (1 Peter 1:14-16 NKJV).
The process by which we are holy before God is sometimes called sanctification. The instructions for this process are found in His word—“Sanctify them by your truth. Your word is truth” (John 17:17 NKJV). God calls us to be holy in word, thought, and action. Some readily acknowledge the holiness of God, but will God recognize holiness in us?
SOURCES:
“Holy, Holy, Holy.” No Pages. Cited 12 April 2018. Online: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy,_Holy,_Holy.
“John Bacchus Dykes.” No Pages. Cited 12 April 2018. Online: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Bacchus_Dykes.
“John Bacchus Dykes.” No Pages. Cited 12 April 2018. Online: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/116002467/john-bacchus-dykes
Bonner, George. Memoir of the Life of the Right Reverend Reginald Heber, D.D., Lord Bishop of Calcutta. London: Cheltenham,1833.
Howard, V. E. and Smith, Broadus E. Church Gospel Songs & Hymns. Editors. Texarkana, TX: Central Printers & Publishers, 1983.
McCutchan, Robert Guy. Our Hymnody, Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1937.
“Reginald Heber.” No Pages. Cited 12 April 2018. Online: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reginald_Heber.
“Reginald Heber.” No Pages. Cited 12 April 2018. Online: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/42395665/reginald-heber.
Wiegand, John. P. Praise for the Lord, Editor. Nashville, TN: Praise Press, 1997.
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