William Blake's "Jerusalem": a Christian hymn?

Posted on April 29, 2011 by Peter Kirk

One of the hymns at this morning’s Royal Wedding was “Jerusalem”, William Blake’s c. 1808 poem “And did those feet in ancient time” as set to music by Sir Hubert Parry in 1916. This is certainly magnificent music, all the more so when sung in a packed Westminster Abbey as part of a great state occasion. But is it a Christian hymn suitable for use in Christian worship?

The illustration shows the words as originally penned by Blake, followed by the interesting Bible verse

Would to God that all the Lord’s people were Prophets. (Numbers 11:29)

Here are the words as sung this morning, taken from Archbishop Cranmer’s posting of the Royal Wedding order of service:

AND did those feet in ancient time
walk upon England’s mountains green?
And was the holy Lamb of God
on England’s pleasant pastures seen?
And did the countenance divine
shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem builded here
among those dark satanic mills?

Bring me my bow of burning gold!
Bring me my arrows of desire!
Bring me my spear! O clouds, unfold!
Bring me my chariot of fire!
I will not cease from mental fight,
nor shall my sword sleep in my hand,
till we have built Jerusalem
in England’s green and pleasant land.

Now I think we have to agree that the first verse is based on an unhistorical legend. The historical Jesus never visited England, and certainly never established here anything like Jerusalem. Yet there is also a truth here: Jesus came to England by his Spirit through his church, and the church made a start on its task of building the city of God here.

This leads into the second verse, in which Blake seems to recognise that Jerusalem will be built “in England’s green and pleasant land” only by the efforts of Christian people like Blake himself. But for those efforts to be successful heavenly weapons are required.

Surely Blake was spot on here in sharing the Christian aspiration to build the new Jerusalem, the city of God, in England and in every other country. As I have been arguing in my recent posts on the last things like this one, the task of the church is not to wait around to be taken out of this world but rather to transform this world into God’s kingdom.

So, I would conclude, this is a wonderful poem and expression of Christian aspirations. The musical setting is magnificent. It is an appropriate part of a ceremony in which a Christian couple set out on a life together hopefully to serve God and build his kingdom in England.

But is it a hymn? No, strictly speaking, because a hymn is a song of praise. In fact by this definition many of the songs used in current Christian worship, traditional and modern, are not hymns. “Jerusalem” is not a song of praise, but a song of commitment to serving God’s purposes. We can only hope and pray that William and Catherine have genuinely committed themselves to this and will have the strength to live it out.

Gandhi and Rob Bell, newfrontiers and Hell

Posted on April 19, 2011 by Peter Kirk

Phil Whittall, who blogs as The Simple Pastor, is the leader of a newfrontiers church. But in many ways he is very different from the face of newfrontiers presented on the blogosphere by Adrian Warnock, lover of Puritans and scourge of egalitarians. For one thing, Phil is an Arminian. For another, he seems much more interested in simple living and treating the earth responsibly than in strident theological debate.

So it was something of a surprise to read the first part of what Phil wrote, in answer to a provocative question by Rob Bell, on Is Gandhi in hell?:

I guess the answer to that question depends on what you think should happen to racist, sexual pervert who believed in reincarnation. For that, according to a new biography of Gandhi is exactly what he was.

Phil continues with quotations giving evidence for these claims, although he was no more racist than anyone in his time, and I’m not convinced on the “sexual pervert” claim.

This sounds like what Adrian might have written, as a way of defusing the reaction to his probable “Yes” answer. After all, to many people, even many Christians, Gandhi is one of the greatest heroes of the 20th century, and it would be a real shock to be told he is in hell.

But then Phil turns the tables on Adrian and those who think like him, and gives a true Christian answer to the question:

as Rob Bell insists we don’t know for sure what has happened to Gandhi so be wary of definitive statements as if we are the ones who judge. … God’s grace can reach someone who is a racist, pervert and believes in reincarnation and save them to the uttermost. Whether it has or not, time will tell.

Reigning with Christ: the Millennium in Ephesians?

Posted on April 18, 2011 by Peter Kirk

A comment on my post Left Behind Preachers led me to an interesting discovery about the Millennium. I put forward some tentative ideas about what this was in my post The Marriage of the Millennium: not William and Kate. In clarifying my thoughts about this I was led to look at Ephesians 2, and find in there what looks like teaching about the Millennium.

The main Bible passage about the Millennium is found in Revelation chapter 20. Here is part of it:

I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

Revelation 20:4 (NIV 2011)

Compare this with what Paul wrote to the Ephesians:

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus …

Ephesians 2:4-6 (NIV 2011)

Note the clear parallels here. Believers who were dead are then raised up to life and seated with Christ. In Revelation they are explicitly seated on thrones and reign with Christ. In Ephesians this is only implicit, but the implication should be clear: in biblical times to be seated implied some kind of throne as there were no chairs for common use; and in Ephesians 1:20-22 the risen Christ, seated at God’s right hand, is reigning, and so the ones enthroned with him are reigning with him.

The Ephesians passage is clearly intended to apply to us Christian believers in the current church age. It teaches that we live in two realms at the same time: our visible lives on earth; and our hidden spiritual lives with Christ “in the heavenly realms”.

The passage in Revelation is commonly taken, at least by the more literal-minded evangelicals, to refer to a literal period of 1000 years, after the return of Jesus, when he will reign as king on earth, and believers will reign with him. But the passage doesn’t actually say that. In fact there is no mention in it of the earth. It is only after this, in chapter 21, that we read of the Lamb having his throne on the new earth. Also the thousand year timescale should not be taken too literally, as

With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.

2 Peter 3:8 (NIV 2011)

So, given the close parallels, I don’t see any clear reason to take these two passages as referring to different situations and periods. And if they do refer to the same period, the Millennium is the same as the current church age.

Maybe my discovery is not actually new, and in fact what I am saying is a standard part of amillennialist thinking, i.e. the idea that there is no literal Millennium. But it is new to me.

Now the idea that Christians are reigning with Christ now, in the church age, is a controversial one. Indeed it has been ever since New Testament times when Paul ironically wrote to the Corinthians

Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! You have begun to reign—and that without us! How I wish that you really had begun to reign so that we also might reign with you!

1 Corinthians 4:8 (NIV 2011)

Breakthrough The problem for the Corinthians was that they were only grasping one side of the Christian life. They wrongly thought that they were living in the fullness of the life of the kingdom of God. But as it is, in some words which I quoted in a 2006 post here from the book Breakthrough: Discovering the Kingdom by Derek Morphew,

Christians are people who have met Jesus, and to meet Jesus is to meet the end. We have been taken out of this present world and already live by the powers of the age to come. Yet at the same time we live in this world. We are caught in the tension between two worlds, but the power, reality and values of the kingdom determine our lives rather than the standards of this world …

If we could escape from this world and live completely in the kingdom, it would be great. If we could forget about the kingdom and live only in this world, things would be safe. But neither is possible. We will continue to be part of both kingdoms at the same time. Our lives are disturbed in a most wonderfully upsetting way so that we can never see anything in quite the same way again.

Royal wedding day rapture?

Posted on April 18, 2011 by Peter Kirk

Prince William and Kate Middleton It’s not yet eleven o’clock in the morning, and already today six people have found my post The Marriage of the Millennium: not William and Kate with the search string

rapture of jesus’ bride is same day of marriage of prince william and kate middleton.

Does someone know something I don’t? Have we got just a few days to prepare ourselves for the Rapture? No, I don’t think so, although we should be ready just in case:

So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

Matthew 24:44 (NIV 2011)

I hope William and Kate will be rapturously happy on their wedding day. No doubt many others will be in raptures of excitement at the spectacle. But I will not be waiting around for any more literal rapture.

Left Behind Preachers

Posted on April 17, 2011 by Peter Kirk

The Rapture If there is a Rapture, who will preach to those left behind? Surely not many churches will be empty the following Sunday. Few congregations will have been 100% raptured, and others will very likely join them to find out what is happening.

Archdruid Eileen offers a preview of that situation in at least one church this Sunday, where the pastor is away at Spring Harvest:

Take the people at Drayton’s chapel. In his absence, his deacon – Mr Obadiah Zebulun – is preaching. He doesn’t often get the chance, and he’s made the most of it.

The pastor of my old church in Essex is currently leading a mission trip to Israel, so the church’s Facebook page announced last night that

Next week is Holy Week and we’re kicking things off tomorrow with a sermon from our very own Easter Bunny

– followed by the name of the lady in question. I give no links here to spare her blushes.

Now I wouldn’t suggest that that godly lady would not qualify for the Rapture. I’m not so sure about the fictional (I presume) Deacon Obadiah Zebulun. But, if there were to be a Rapture, it would surely be most unfortunate if the left behind congregation members, who would be in serious need of spiritual guidance, were instead forced to suffer the lengthy rants and bad exegesis of second rate preachers who were not even born again.

I still wouldn’t want to be raptured – I would prefer to be left behind. Or, more to the point, I hope that when difficult times come none of God’s people are raptured, but all are left behind to minister to unbelievers at the time of their greatest need. We can rely on God to be with us through the worst of times, although that might not protect all of us from suffering and martyrdom. Surely there will be faithful witness to the truth about God right up to the end.

How to quit smoking, in the Name of Jesus

Posted on April 11, 2011 by Peter Kirk

I came across an interesting snippet about how to quit smoking through the name of Jesus, – or perhaps more accurately, how to get others to quit through this name. These words are from a report written in 1915 by the famous Pentecostal evangelist and healer Smith Wigglesworth, on his 1914 ministry trip all around the USA and Canada. The snippet is interesting partly because it reveals an understanding of evil smoking is, from long before it was recognised as a major cause of cancer.

Wigglesworth writes:

A young man came to me to be delivered from nicotine poisoning through cigarettes which was wrecking his nerves, and he had tried all means to be free. By faith I cast out this evil power in the Name of Jesus. Oh, if we knew the power of the Name, what it means, and how God intends to honour the simple faith in the Name.

Millions around the world are still trapped by smoking, knowing that it is ruining their health and wanting to give up, but unable to do so. Neither human willpower nor chemical remedies can help many of these people. But Wigglesworth named this trap for what it is, an evil power, and invoked the name of Jesus. He alone has the power to deliver anyone from this and every other power of evil and bring them into the freedom of new life following him.

Smith Wigglesworth's own picture: leaving New York

It was many years later that this same Smith Wigglesworth gave the prophecy which I previously discussed on this blog.

Woman bishop murdered in Oxford

Posted on April 11, 2011 by Peter Kirk

A visiting American woman bishop was found dead at a picnic spot by the river Cherwell in Oxford. Beside her was an empty bottle of wine which had been poisoned. Passing punters had seen her there with a mysterious hooded figure, believed to be a friar. She had been at a colloquium in a college run by these friars, some of whom were traditionalist Roman Catholics. Could this have been direct action against women in ministry?

This was the first part of the plot of last night’s episode of the TV show Lewis, a spin-off from the Inspector Morse series also set in Oxford. Matters then got much more complicated, with more deaths. I won’t give away more of the plot because the programme can be viewed on ITV Player (maybe only in the UK, but for 29 more days – more generous than BBC iPlayer). Don’t worry about the over 18 classification for late evening content as this only

Contains one moderate scene of threat and some mild images of crime aftermath.

It was tame compared with CSI. And it was a good Sunday evening’s viewing, although not an in depth exploration of the issues about women bishops.

Cathedral promotes nudism, newspaper claims

Posted on April 10, 2011 by Peter Kirk

I’m not sure I believe a word that I read in The Mail on Sunday. There is perhaps a little more truth in what they write than there was in the recently defunct, but little lamented, Sunday Sport. At least their rival The News of the World made some attempts to uncover the truth, although by illegal means that they have been forced to apologise for.

So it is with a pinch of salt that I take the following story. The Church Mouse alerted me to this on his twitter stream, but perhaps wisely tweeted

Good grief. Not sure I can be bothered to take this apart.

But I am trying to follow David Ker’s advice, at least the part about blogging controversy, so I will jump straight in.

What then is the story? The headline in The Mail on Sunday is

It’s wholesome and liberating … how cathedral landed in row over nudism

The cathedral in question is Manchester Cathedral, in the Church of England. This cathedral seems to hit the news quite regularly, most recently over its planned Spirit of Life Festival, which allegedly included tarot card readings. The newspaper reports the following as having been on the Spirit of Life website:

naturism is a liberating lifestyle and belief which encourages self-respect, respect for others and for the environment, and embodies freedom and a unique sense of communion with nature.

Christian naturists see this as God’s design for living. It is purposefully non-erotic and non-sexual and engenders a wholesome appreciation of self and others.

The article also mentions the Christian Naturist Fellowship, an apparently genuine organisation which promotes a similar positive view of naturism.

The story is not really news because

The item was posted by Manchester Cathedral several weeks ago

but has apparently only just come to the attention of the press. However, as the newspaper reports,

all references to nudity suddenly disappeared from the site last week,

so I can’t give any links or even confirm that there ever were any. How convenient for a newspaper that the only evidence for its report disappeared before publication! There is however some kind of confirmation in an earlier article by Charles Raven in the Church of England Newspaper – but this could simply be based on a previous report in the Mail.

Is this really so shocking? I wouldn’t think so. Here in the generally cool and wet north west of England I doubt if nudism, or naturism, will ever become popular. But it does have its attractions on a warm weekend like this one. And, as a page at the Christian Naturist Fellowship site shows, there is no good biblical reason for insisting that Christians wear clothes, as long as they don’t cause offence by their nakedness. As the Fellowship’s tagline reads,

If God wanted us to be naked … we’d be born that way

Is God our Systems Architect?

Posted on April 10, 2011 by Peter Kirk

Archdruid Eileen of the Beaker Folk proclaims today Dodgy Analogies Sunday. In her celebratory message she discusses how our life is like a computer program (that’s the correct spelling even in the UK, Eileen) with God as our Systems Architect. In the way she presents it, the analogy is indeed dodgy, and very funny.

Is this analogy in fact necessarily dodgy? I think I could redeem it into something really useful. But I won’t ruin today’s celebrations by trying to do so here.

Meanwhile a message to any cyclists who might take advantage of this glorious weather and venture on the road anywhere near Husborne Crawley (yes, it’s a real place, a village near Milton Keynes): watch out for a homicidal lycra-hating Archdruid! I have already warned long-distance cyclist blogger Dave Warnock, whose route home from London might well take him nearby.

The Marriage of the Millennium: not William and Kate

Posted on April 9, 2011 by Peter Kirk

It is good to see ElShaddai Edwards blogging again, at He is Sufficient. And he has written an excellent post on the marriage of the millennium.

Now the marriage of the month is, I suppose, going to be the royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, on 29th April. Here in the UK we are having a public holiday to celebrate – but I will be working, because it is a good day for my current temporary work. I can imagine that some would want to bill this royal event as the marriage of the millennium so far, although I would put forward a different suggestion.

But the wedding ElShaddai is writing about is not that of William and Kate, and it will have no rival in the next thousand years, or indeed forever. It has its similarities: a royal prince marrying a commoner. It is the marriage of Jesus Christ with his church, as described mainly in the Book of Revelation.

ElShaddai links the wedding of the Lamb with teaching on the millennium. For him, the millennium is the time between the announcement of the wedding and the actual ceremony, when the guests are invited and the bride is made ready. For the details read his post.

ElShaddai avoids tying this in with events in the real world. But I suppose this is most easily interpreted with the millennium as the church age, the current age, at the end of which Jesus will return to be with his bride. This would then be a kind of postmillennialism, but without the triumphalism sometimes associated with this teaching.

There is certainly a lot to think about here – but we shouldn’t allow it to distract us too much from our primary task of proclaiming the kingdom of God and inviting people to take their part in the marriage of the millennium.

Gentle Wisdom

Thoughts on life from Peter Kirk

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