From the (London) Times:<\/p>\n
This year marks the 300th anniversary of the birth of Charles Wesley, whose hymns still remain a remarkable distillation of Christian faith and experience. It is Charles who prays \u201cHeavenly Adam, Life divine; Change my nature into thine\u201d\u009d, showing an understanding of the Christian life and the transforming grace of the Holy Spirit which is close to the Orthodox understanding that we are called to become \u201cpartakers of the divine nature\u201d\u009d. \u201cHark the herald angels sing!\u201d\u009d teaches the saving mystery of the Incarnation \u201d\u201c \u201cveiled in flesh the Godhead see! Hail the incarnate Deity!\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n
Charles longs for a heart to praise \u201d\u201c \u201ca humble, lowly, contrite heart, believing true and clean, which neither life nor death can part, from Him that dwells within.\u201d\u009d He prays, in a morning hymn, \u201cFill me, radiancy divine, scatter all my unbelief\u201d\u009d.<\/p>\n
Quite coincidentally, this is also the 200th anniversary of another great hymn-writer, Christopher Wordsworth, the nephew of William Wordsworth and Bishop of Lincoln. He taught the faith through his hymns. It was, he said, \u201cthe first duty of a hymn-writer to teach sound doctrine, and thus to save souls\u201d\u009d.
His hymns were drawn from Scripture and the ancient Fathers of the Church, as we can see in his hymns for Epiphany (\u201cSongs of thankfulness and praise\u201d\u009d); Easter (\u201cAlleluia, alleluia, hearts to heaven and voices raise\u201d\u009d); and Ascension (\u201cSee the conqueror mounts in triumph\u201d\u009d).<\/p>\n
In the end Charles Wesley is the greater poet and hymn writer, but both he and Christopher Wordsworth are above all teachers of the faith, reminding us that \u201corthodoxy\u201d\u009d does not mean right belief but right glory. Their hymns invite us to lift up our hearts, pointing us to the glory of heaven where we shall be \u201clost in wonder, love and praise\u201d\u009d.<\/p>\n