The best of the old and the new, all in one user-friendly collection! Loaded with timeless favorites. Makes a great gift.

The Complete Book of Hymns brings to life the stories behind more than 600 hymns and worship songs. With background on the composer, the inspiration behind the lyrics, scriptural references for devotional consideration, and a sampling of the song lyrics, this book brings forth the message of these great songs of the faith like never before!

Specially arranged for organ but playable on any keyboard instrument, this collection features such beloved hymns as A Mighty Fortress Is Our God, Amazing Grace, and more. Features lay-flat sewn binding.

"An easy piano edition of our popular collection featuring 116 hymns!" -- Publisher's website.

Providing literary analysis and historical background, Leland Ryken invites us to experience great hymns as powerful works of devotional poetrysavoring elements that we easily miss when singing them.

"Hymn singing reflects a congregation's spiritual vitality and their response to God's grace.

Hymns are more than beautiful musical compositions; they provide us with a heightened language for praising and speaking to God, all while teaching us theology that reflects both the depth and complexity of Our Lord. Sacred hymns in our day have given way to “fifth-rate poetry set to fourth-rate music,” as C.S. Lewis once remarked. At times, the music used in worship can make us feel as though the culture is usurping the Church rather than being transfigured by it. There is a clear and present need to resurrect those distinctively different songs with a distinctively different vocabulary for people who want to live distinctive lives as followers of Christ. In these pages, Fr. George William Rutler introduces and reflects upon dozens of the greatest hymns written from the earliest years of the Church through the Twentieth Century. The text and composition of each hymn is included, as well as inspiring accounts of their authors and composers, fascinating stories and historical events connected with them, and notes on the significant contributions each one made to theology and music. Fr. Rutler has recovered here a rich musical legacy that will help us to give glory to our God who is Lord of all.

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