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The hymns of evangelical Protestantism are the most widely used spiritual texts in American history. Sacred lyrics like “All hail the power of Jesus' name,” “Jesus, lover of my soul,” “How firm a foundation,” and “When I survey the wondrous cross” have been sung, preached, and prayed by millions of Americans since the eighteenth century. At worship, revivals, youth services, conferences, conventions, and colleges, and in the family circle, these hymns have been ceaselessly repeated in an unending round of living oral tradition. Since the Great Awakening two and a half centuries ago, the churches of the evangelical tradition have published tens of thousands of hymn texts and tunes. This continuous popularity since colonial times establishes hymnody as a crucial expression of American evangelical religiousness.

This chapter examines the ways in which early American hymns provided texts and discourse for American history by employing computer-assisted statistical analysis. Evangelical hymns formed as repertories and canons as they passed from English Protestant traditions to the social and sacred practices that accompanied the settlement of the United States from the late 18th through the 19th century, particularly at moments such as the Great Awakening. At the beginning of the 21st century, many hymns from historically evangelical practices have become the favorite hymns (e.g., those by Isaac Watt, and Charles and John Wesley) shared by Protestant denominations and beyond. The chapter compares the ways meaning in hymn texts affords meaning to American religious experience. Hymnody itself is presented comparatively, as texts (ritual song, sacred medium) and contexts (belief, spirituality) for the lives of evangelicals and the formation of their churches and denominations.

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