Indeed, there is a difference between a hymn that expresses emotion and a hymn that centers upon emotion. Christianity is not devoid of feelings; indeed, faith rejoices, laments, hopes, and gives thanks. Yet these affections arise from Christ and His gifts—they are never the foundation of the Church’s song.

Lutheran hymnody has historically understood itself to be more than devotional poetry. It is sung doctrine. Every hymn confesses something about God, man, sin, grace, Christ, the Sacraments, or the Christian life. For this reason, the Lutheran Church has often called her hymns a confession set to music.

Therefore, it should concern us greatly when a hymn shifts from Christ’s objective work to the believer’s subjective experience.

This essay will argue four points:

  1. That “Amazing Grace” places its primary emphasis upon the believer’s experience of grace rather than upon Christ Himself.
  2. That “It Is Well with My Soul” largely emphasizes the believer’s response and inner state rather than the means by which Christ gives peace.
  3. That “On Eagle’s Wings” is an unsuitable hymn for Lutheran worship because its dominant emphasis is comfort detached from a clear proclamation of Christ crucified.
  4. That faithful Lutheran hymnody serves first as a confession of faith, proclaiming Christ and His saving work before it expresses the believer’s feelings.

This is not an argument against beauty or emotion in worship. The finest Lutheran hymns are deeply emotional. Paul Gerhardt, Martin Luther, Nicolaus Decius, Philipp Nicolai, and countless others wrote hymns filled with joy, sorrow, longing, and confidence. Yet these emotions always flow from Christ’s accomplished redemption. The Gospel creates the feeling—not the other way around.

Neither is this an argument that these hymns are false. The question is a narrower one: what ought to characterize the ordinary hymn of the Lutheran Church? Specifically, should congregational song ordinarily proclaim Christ’s saving work first and foremost, or should it chiefly recount the believer’s experience of that saving work?

A Hymn is a Confession

Lutherans have never regarded hymns as mere religious music. A hymn is not simply an expression of one’s personal devotion, nor is it intended to merely stir the affections of the listener. Rather, a hymn’s purpose reflects the purpose of the Church: to teach, proclaim, and confess the one true faith.

St. Paul exhorts the Church to let “the word of Christ dwell in you richly,” accomplishing this through “psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” (Col. 3:16). The emphasis is not upon creating an emotional experience but upon the Word of Christ dwelling among His people. Hymns teach. Hymns admonish. Hymns proclaim.

This understanding has characterized Lutheran hymnody since the Reformation. Martin Luther described music as a servant of theology and wrote hymns that preached Christ with remarkable clarity. The great Lutheran hymn writers who followed him likewise composed texts rich in biblical doctrine. Their hymns endure not because they are sentimental, but because they faithfully confess Christ.

This is not to deny the place of emotion in Christian hymnody. The Christian ought to rejoice, lament, repent, and hope. Yet these affections arise from hearing the Gospel. Faith does not begin with feelings; it begins with God’s Word. It then follows that the best hymns first proclaim what God has done for us in Christ, and only then give voice to the believer’s response.

When the emphasis is reversed—when the singer’s experience, decision, or emotional state becomes the chief subject—the hymn no longer reflects the classic Lutheran understanding of sacred song. It may still contain true statements, but it ceases to function chiefly as a confession of faith and instead becomes a testimony of personal experience.

Anthropocentric Theology

A formidable word, anthropocentric. Derived from the Greek words ἄνθρωπος (anthrōpos, “man”) and κέντρον (kentron, “center”), it simply means man-centered. When applied to theology, it describes teaching that places the human person—his experiences, feelings, decisions, or actions—at the center of the Christian message.

Lutheran theology has historically rejected such a focus. The Christian faith is not centered upon man, but upon Christ. We do not begin with our faithfulness, our emotions, or our conversion. We begin with God’s saving work in Jesus Christ. Faith itself is God’s gift, created through the proclamation of the Gospel.

This distinction is essential when evaluating hymnody. Every hymn has a subject. Does it chiefly proclaim Christ and His work for sinners, or does it chiefly focus on the believer’s feelings and actions? While the latter is not inherently false, it occupies a secondary place. A hymn that consistently places the singer at the center risks becoming anthropocentric rather than Christocentric.

Lutheran theology recognizes that the fallen man is always tempted to turn inward upon himself. This temptation appears not only in overt works righteousness but also whenever the Christian life is viewed chiefly through the lens of our own experiences, feelings, or decisions. The Gospel, however, directs our eyes toward Christ crucified, His promises, and His gifts. Even hymns that rightly confess salvation by grace should be examined to see whether their primary emphasis is on Christ’s work or upon the believer’s experience of that work.

With this in mind, we now turn to the most beloved hymn in the English language.

Amazing Grace

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Sung over 10 million times annually, Amazing Grace has comforted countless Christians, and its confession of salvation by grace alone should not be dismissed. Nevertheless, the question before us is not whether the hymn contains the Gospel, but where it places its emphasis. Does it chiefly proclaim Christ and His saving work, or does it chiefly recount the believer’s experience of that work?

Amazing Grace was published in 1779 by John Newton, an English clergyman. Caught in a violent storm, John Newton prayed for God’s grace and penned this hymn, a testament to his conversion. The first stanza is thus:

Amazing grace! (how sweet the sound)
That sav’d a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see. — John Newton, Olney Hymns, 1779

The opening stanza immediately establishes the hymn’s perspective. Rather than beginning with Christ and His saving work, Newton begins with the sinner’s experience of that work. The repeated first-person pronouns emphasize Newton’s own experience: I was a wretch; I was lost; I was found; I was blind; I now see. These are all true confessions of the Christian life, yet they are not themselves the Gospel. They describe what grace has accomplished in the believer, not how God accomplished it in Christ.

More striking still is the treatment of grace itself. Grace is praised as “amazing,” yet its source remains implicit. The hymn names neither Jesus Christ nor His atoning death, resurrection, or the forgiveness won upon the cross. Grace appears almost as an abstract power acting upon the sinner rather than as the unmerited favor of God bestowed through the crucified and risen Christ. The singer learns that he has been saved by grace, but not yet by whom that grace has been secured.

Amazing Grace is a testimony, rather than a proclamation. What happens when the focus moves to my peace?

Pax Domini

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. (John 14:27)

It Is Well with My Soul was written by Horatio Spafford after a series of profound personal tragedies. Like Amazing Grace, it has brought genuine comfort to countless Christians. Unlike Amazing Grace, however, it contains far more explicit references to Christ’s saving work.

The third stanza illustrates this point well:

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to His cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

This stanza is the strongest part of the hymn. Christ’s cross is explicitly mentioned, forgiveness is objective, and comfort rests on the cross. This stanza is indeed Christocentric.

Yet the refrain remains the governing thought of the hymn: “It is well with my soul.” Why is it well? What is the repeated emphasis? Most of the hymn ultimately returns to the believer’s inward assurance of peace. Even where Christ is clearly proclaimed, the recurring refrain invites the singer to dwell upon his own condition rather than continually upon Christ’s objective gifts. The Gospel is present, but the refrain directs the singer back to his own assurance.

The liturgy does not ask, “Is it well with your soul?” Rather, Christ Himself declares, “Peace be with you.” The peace comes from Christ, not from introspection. We can confidently say, “It is well with my soul” only because Christ has first spoken.

The difference becomes clearer when compared with the Lutheran chorale Built on the Rock. Rather than beginning with the believer’s peace, it concludes with Christ Himself speaking His peace to His Church.

Grant then, O God, your will be done,
That when the church bells are ringing,
Many in saving faith may come
Where Christ his message is bringing:
“I know mine own, mine own know me,
You, not the world, my face shall see:
My peace I leave with you always.”— Built on the Rock, Stanza 4

It Is Well with My Soul stands closer to the Lutheran ideal than Amazing Grace because it explicitly proclaims Christ crucified. Nevertheless, its enduring refrain reminds us that even a faithful hymn may place greater emphasis upon the believer’s experience than upon the continual proclamation of Christ’s saving work. Lutheran hymnody ordinarily reverses that order, returning again and again to Christ before inviting the believer to confess the peace that His Gospel creates.

Comfort in Christ

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28)

The Christian finds comfort not in himself, but in Christ. Our feelings fluctuate, our faith is weak, and our consciences accuse us. Christ does not change. His promises remain certain because they rest upon His finished work.

On Eagle’s Wings is among the best-known hymns of the twentieth century. Its imagery is largely drawn from Psalm 91 and Exodus 19. To many, it is a comforting hymn; however, the source of Christian comfort must always be examined. Is our comfort found merely in the assurance that God protects us, or is it found in the promise that Christ has redeemed us?

The distinction is important. Scripture certainly speaks of God’s protection and care for His people. Yet the deepest comfort of the Christian is not simply that God will preserve us through earthly trials. The deepest comfort is that, through the death and resurrection of Christ, our sins are forgiven, and we belong to Him forever.

In On Eagle’s Wings, the dominant image is one of divine protection: being lifted, sheltered, and carried safely through suffering. These images are biblical. However, the hymn gives comparatively little attention to the means by which Christ delivers this comfort to His people—the cross, the forgiveness of sins, Baptism, Absolution, and the Lord’s Supper.

A troubled conscience does not ultimately need only reassurance that God is near. It needs to hear what God has done. The sinner does not find peace merely by knowing that God watches over him; he finds peace by knowing that Christ has died for him.

Lutheran Chorales

Lutheran chorales model what hymnody ought to be. They do not begin with man searching for God, but with God coming to man. In Lutheran hymnody, Christ is always the actor, doctrine precedes devotion, objective gifts are proclaimed, and the believer responds only after Christ has acted.

The great Lutheran chorales follow the pattern of the Gospel itself: God acts first, and man responds. The Christian’s faith, love, repentance, and praise are not the foundation of the hymn; they are the fruit produced by what God has already accomplished in Christ.

Consider Martin Luther’s hymn Dear Christians, One and All, Rejoice. It does not begin with the believer’s feelings or spiritual journey. It begins with mankind’s bondage under sin and God’s gracious intervention:

Fast bound in Satan’s chains I lay;
Death brooded darkly o’er me.

The hymn then moves immediately to Christ:

But God had seen my wretched state
Before the world’s foundation.

The believer’s joy comes only after Christ has acted. The hymn does not ask the Christian to look inward and discover peace; it directs the Christian outward to the Savior who has accomplished salvation.

Perhaps no hymn better demonstrates this Christ-centered pattern than O Sacred Head, Now Wounded. Rather than beginning with the believer’s emotions, the hymn begins by beholding the suffering Savior:

O sacred Head, now wounded,
With grief and shame weighed down,
Now scornfully surrounded
With thorns, Thine only crown.

The subject of the hymn is not first the believer’s experience, but Christ Himself. The singer is directed outside himself to the crucified Lord. The hymn does not ask the Christian to find comfort by examining his own faith, sincerity, or emotions; it places before him the objective reality of Christ’s suffering for sinners.

Only after the cross has been proclaimed does the believer respond:

What Thou, my Lord, hast suffered
Was all for sinners’ gain;
Mine, mine was the transgression,
But Thine the deadly pain.

Here the distinction becomes clear. The hymn contains deep emotion—sorrow, gratitude, love, and devotion—but those emotions are not the foundation of the hymn. They are the response to Christ’s finished work. The believer does not create comfort by looking within himself; he receives comfort by looking upon Christ crucified.

This is the heart of Lutheran hymnody. It does not primarily proclaim the believer’s experience of God’s work, but God’s work itself. The Christian’s feelings may rise and fall, but Christ’s atoning sacrifice remains certain. The believer responds with confidence because the Gospel has first been declared.

This is the defining characteristic of Lutheran hymnody. It does not deny emotion; rather, it gives emotion its proper foundation. Joy comes because Christ has risen. Peace comes because Christ has forgiven. Hope comes because Christ has promised resurrection.

The finest hymns of the Church do not merely tell us how we feel about God. They tell us what God has done for us in Christ.

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