Mrs Berry

Sweet, sweet irony

“And they shall become one flesh”

@chrisbreadon I would respectfully suggest that sacred music, poetry and art is a good way to become a Christian but not a good reason to continue being a Christian. Our identity is in Christ, not in the creations of man. His Word and Sacrament are more important than anything else.

I don’t think we as Anglicans talk enough about the huge contribution we’ve made to other churches’ hymnody. In a representative sample of “essential Roman Catholic hymns”, 36% were written by Anglicans and a further 19% were translated by Anglicans. Crazy when you think about it

@PhthalateSoup @Protestia I think the key word is “seem”. Not that Christianity is socialist, but that it might *seem* that way. All we have is from God and has to be used according to His laws: if you see God through the wrong lens, that can easily sound the same as “all we have is from the State” etc.

@Protestia Before anyone says it’s about charity, neo-conservatives don’t have a problem with charity. The context is that neo-conservatives would have a problem with it. This quote drips with the essence of someone who wants to appear enlightened by telling everyone they’re wrong.

"I think an underrated take about Christianity that goes unspoken a lot is that true Christianity will seem socialist to neo-conservatives, it will seem fascist to neo-liberals, it will seem feminist to red pill guys, it will seem misogynistic to feminists. All in all, the balance and perfect law and order of Christ is something that will be interpreted as 'too much' by those who are in disharmony with existence." A quote worth reflecting on by 'angelicasgrass' on Insta

@lagerandgospel2 I’m not dissing the Lutherans, you guys have many beautiful and meaningful hymns as well. In fact a lot of beloved English hymns are translations of German Lutheran originals by Anglican poets. 🌹🤝⚓️

@exceeding_love Sigh

@FrMartinFlatman Well, I wasn’t expecting them to sing in English, was I? I don’t think your point is really relevant, and I couldn’t have fit “(English-speaking)” into my post anyway.

@exceeding_love What you say is true, but only of English speaking Catholics. You seem to have forgotten all those millions of Catholics who speak other languages and have an almost completely different hymn repertoire.

@RhyminCarly @chrisbreadon I’m afraid so, e.g.: dn721905.ca.archive.org/0/items/Cathol…

@exceeding_love @chrisbreadon Unaccredited?

@brobertyyoung @WalkerMarcus You don’t want our cathedrals (they’d be too expensive to manage) and we are very happy for you to have our hymns, so I think the current arrangement works out fine.

@exceeding_love @WalkerMarcus You can have those hymns back if you return our cathedrals.

@chrisbreadon Either that person wasn’t very good at his job, or you misunderstood him. The medieval stained glass at Newcastle Cathedral wasn’t destroyed at the Reformation; it was by Scottish troops during the Civil War.

Interesting analysis over on Facebook.

@EuropaIneffable x.com/exceeding_love…

@exceeding_love Is that counting Charles Wesley as an Anglican?

@helena_horgan "Happy will be that reader whose mind is disposed, by his verses or his prose, to imitate him in all but his non-conformity, to copy his benevolence to men, and his reverence to God."

@exceeding_love Well you have John Newton and Charles Wesley. And they are great. But the greatest of them all was a non-conformist: Isaac Watts.

@jtheleast And why not. Good for them. "Every Country should use such Ceremonies as they shall think best to the setting forth of God's honour and glory", after all.

@exceeding_love Outside the echo-chambers that many of us inhabit here, it's totally normal in most of the world to go along for Eucharistic adoration while a priest in a cassock-alb leads everyone in translated Matt Redman songs youtube.com/watch?v=sJADxc…

@jtheleast The comments on this really touched me. Something quite special about hundreds of people unashamedly and trustfully writing their prayers in the comments of a YouTube video.

@exceeding_love Don't forget the more recent worship songs in continental Europe and the Americas, you'll find they're.... familiar. youtube.com/watch?v=s6F0Eg…

@CovenantReform2 I include Charles Wesley because he never broke away from the C of E (unlike Newman, Faber etc. whom I have excluded). Nonetheless, without Wesley the count is still respectable. Neale, Chatterton Dix, Newton, Heber, Lyte, Baring-Gould and Mrs Alexander feature strongly.

@exceeding_love I guess you're including the Wesleys because without them . . .

@JanetAlfie @ClarkeMicah Organs have been used since before even the Great Schism. There was a pipe organ in Charlemagne’s chapel in the ninth century AD.

@exceeding_love @ClarkeMicah So who first used the organ in Church, Catholics or non Catholics?

@BolonelSanders @JackKav0843 That is amusing but I’m not sure about the idea that God’s Mercy is wild. Maybe it appears wild to us, because we can’t conceive of a mercy so great as to include us sinners, but really I think it must be entirely orderly and coherent.

@exceeding_love @JackKav0843 One time I was at Sunday Mass and I guess the guy singing in the choir didn’t prep well beforehand because he decided to sing “There’s a WILDNESS in God’s Mercy.” It was simultaneously embarassing, funny, and accidentally theologically accurate

@lukeappleton From "History of the Translation of the English Bible" found in an 1881 Holy Bible printed by John S. Brown.

@JackKav0843 Well, that’s just flat-out not true. To begin with, “There’s a wideness in God’s mercy” was written by a Roman Catholic. 😳 “Lord of the Dance” is pretty bad, I’ll admit. But I think the good outweighs the bad. All of these absolute bangers were written by Anglicans:

@exceeding_love Anglican hymns are usually very dull "Theres a wudeness in Gods Mercy", or bizarre "Lord of the Dance".

@RexdaleOG Gregorian chant is great for Latin, but doesn’t work as well for English syllable and stress patterns.

@exceeding_love We prefer Gregorian chants