Overview

Each week, millions of English-speaking Christians sing hymns - songs that shape their understanding of and relationship with God. In Moving Toward Emancipatory Language, Robin Knowles Wallace considers the breadth of hymnic language and examines the extent to which that language can reflect contemporary theological concerns. She examines the history of hymns and emancipatory theology, and gives a careful analysis of recent hymns and their emancipatory potential.

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9780810836402

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Reviews

...the gracious tone with which Knowles Wallace presents her passion for emancipatory hymn texts is a welcome contribution to the immense task ahead of providing hymns to help emancipate Christians from androcentrism. The American Organist ...provides a way for students of hymnody to learn what may well be thought of in theological circles as hymn exegesis. Homiletic There is much food for thought in this book, and Robin Knowles Wallace has provided an outstanding study of both recent hymn texts and of the language issues that are facing the church and its hymnody today. This book is appropriate for pastors, ministers of music, and others who are concerned about the language the church uses in its worship. Worship In clear and lively prose, Wallace helps us trace how the great theological movements of the last thirty years are reshaping the poetic language of serious hymn writers...In an age when many churches are fractured by wars over worship and music, this book stands out for the depth and wisdom of its insight into the transformation of our corporate prayer. Theology Today [Knowles Wallace's] process is fascinating...unmistakable is the value of this work as a whole. Preachers and teachers of worship will find its methods of hymn analysis invaluable. Anyone who loves congregational song will profit also from its discussion of how hymn poems work linguistically. Doxology Using insights drawn from the fields of criticism in linguistics, rhetoric, theology, and scripture, Wallace constructs a compelling argument for the necessity of emancipatory language in congregational singing and Christian identity. Her theory of 'con-spiring,' singing praise of God within communities of faith and freedom, strikes a new note, yet this text draws on a classic understanding of the role of hymns in congregational life. -- Heather Murray Elkins

...the gracious tone with which Knowles Wallace presents her passion for emancipatory hymn texts is a welcome contribution to the immense task ahead of providing hymns to help emancipate Christians from androcentrism. The American Organist ...provides a way for students of hymnody to learn what may well be thought of in theological circles as hymn exegesis. Homiletic There is much food for thought in this book, and Robin Knowles Wallace has provided an outstanding study of both recent hymn texts and of the language issues that are facing the church and its hymnody today. This book is appropriate for pastors, ministers of music, and others who are concerned about the language the church uses in its worship. Worship In clear and lively prose, Wallace helps us trace how the great theological movements of the last thirty years are reshaping the poetic language of serious hymn writers...In an age when many churches are fractured by wars over worship and music, this book stands out for the depth and wisdom of its insight into the transformation of our corporate prayer. Theology Today [Knowles Wallace's] process is fascinating...unmistakable is the value of this work as a whole. Preachers and teachers of worship will find its methods of hymn analysis invaluable. Anyone who loves congregational song will profit also from its discussion of how hymn poems work linguistically. Doxology Using insights drawn from the fields of criticism in linguistics, rhetoric, theology, and scripture, Wallace constructs a compelling argument for the necessity of emancipatory language in congregational singing and Christian identity. Her theory of 'con-spiring,' singing praise of God within communities of faith and freedom, strikes a new note, yet this text draws on a classic understanding of the role of hymns in congregational life. -- Heather Murray Elkins, Academic Dean of Drew Theological School, From the Foreword

Using insights drawn from the fields of criticism in linguistics, rhetoric, theology, and scripture, Wallace constructs a compelling argument for the necessity of emancipatory language in congregational singing and Christian identity. Her theory of 'con-spiring, ' singing praise of God within communities of faith and freedom, strikes a new note, yet this text draws on a classic understanding of the role of hymns in congregational life.--Heather Murray Elkins

Author Information

Robin Knowles Wallace has been a Director of Music and/or Organist in churches since 1967. She is also Assistant Professor of Worship and Music at Methodist Theological School in Ohio.

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