Thursday, August 10, 2023

It is the 10th of August, 2023. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org. I’m Dan van Voorhis.

A study through Hymnary.org- one of the largest online databases of hymnals places the hymn “What A Friend We Have In Jesus” as the 5th most popular of all hymns in terms of frequency appearing in hymnals.

[Ok, because you’re wondering- it goes:

5. What a Friend
6. Love Divine All Love excelling
7. Come Thou Font of Every Blessing
8. Rock of Ages
9. All Hail the power of Jesus Name]

And depending on your own tradition and predilection, “What A Friend We Have in Jesus” is beloved or perhaps seen as dated and perhaps a little trite. Regardless, the popularity of the song and the curious story (or stories) of its author deserves a recounting.

The author was one Joseph Scriven of Dublin, Ireland, born in 1820- the son of John, a Royal Marine, and his wife, Jane, the daughter of a preacher.

Joseph attended Trinity College Dublin and then a military academy. He was dismissed from, or left, on account of ill health. It’s worth noting that his story, like that of a medieval Saint, has various tellings, and his relative obscurity makes it hard to know which versions are correct.

He found work as a truer and, in 1843, planned to marry. The two were riding horses when she was thrown and drowned in a river. It is around this time that he also became more intensely connected to the Plymouth Brethren- a loose connection of independents and firebrands with an interest in end times and taking the Bible as literally as possible. Perhaps on account of his new religious zeal, he was ostracized from his family and, in 1845, sailed on the ship Providence to Woodstock, Ontario, in Canada. It seems he left soon after to head back home. He may have traveled in the Middle East but was back in Canada by 1847. He found work as a tutor in Woodstock near a Brethren congregation. In 1850 he was offered the job of a live-in tutor at the home of the Pengelleys in Bilieboro. He lived there for five years until he moved in with the Sackvilles- a beekeeping family he lived with and paid his board by doing chores.

In 1859 he was engaged to Catherine, a relative of the Pengelleys. She came to hold the beliefs of the Brethren and thus thought she needed to be re-baptized by full immersion. She was baptized in Rice Lake in April of 1860, reports were that the ice had just thawed. She would catch pneumonia and die before they could be married.

From here, he seems to have slipped into a kind of madness- he would preach in the streets and be arrested for it. He would give every last thing he had, down to items of clothing to the poor. He would be seen walking around town with a saw and tools to perform tasks for those he believed couldn’t afford them. He became something of a beloved, erratic saint with his wild white hair walking the streets of Port Hope.

The story of how he wrote “What A Friend We Have in Jesus” has a number of, perhaps, embellishments, but we do know that he wrote it as a poem called “Pray Without Ceasing.” He may have written it for his mother back home, who was sick. We know that while he published his own book of hymns, this was not included in it- it seems it was never meant for public consumption.

In 1886 his friends noted that he was not himself. One wrote, “His body was just worn down with toil, and his mind was wearied with failure and disappointment in his work during past years. In the end of his days, he failed to trust God to provide for his body's wants, to resign himself to the will of God, and to wait patiently till the Lord's time came to release him from the body and to take him home to Himself.”

On this, the 10th of August in 1886, he was brought home by friends after midnight and taken to a room to sleep. According to a contemporary report, “All search failed to find any trace of the missing one, until a little after noon, the body was discovered in a water nearby, lifeless and cold in death.”

Whether it was an accident or suicide has been debated. Joseph Scriven, author of “What A Friend We Have in Jesus,” was 66 years old.

The last word for today comes from the daily lectionary and Romans 13:

8 Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. 9 The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 10th of August 2023, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org. 

The show is produced by a man who knows the show isn’t linking to Twitter/X- we’re working on it! He is Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man who finally got a Bluesky invite- but is hanging around Twitter/X just to watch it die- I’m Dan van Voorhis.

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.