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James W. Alexander

1804 - 1859 Person Name: James W. Alexander Scripture: Psalm 22:25-31 Translator of "Psalm 22:1-18, 25-31" in The United Methodist Hymnal James W. Alexander (b. Hopewell, Louisa County, VA, 1804; d. Sweetsprings, VA, 1859) was often overshadowed by his father, the renowned Archibald Alexander, first professor at Princeton Theological Seminary. But James Alexander was also a fine preacher, teacher, and writer. He studied at New Jersey College (now Princeton University) and Princeton Seminary. Ordained in the Presbyterian Church, he alternated his career between teaching and pastoring; for two years (1849-1851) he was professor of ecclesiastical history and church government at Princeton Seminary. Alexander translated a number of hymns from Greek, Latin, and German but is mainly known today for his translation of "O Sacred Head." Bert Polman ===================== Alexander, James Waddell, D.D., son of Archibald Alexander, D.D., b. at Hopewell, Louisa, county of Virginia, 13 Mar., 1804, graduated at Princeton, 1820, and was successively Professor of Rhetoric at Princeton, 1833; Pastor of Duane Street Presbyterian Church, New York, 1844; Professor of Church History, Princeton, 1849; and Pastor of 5th Avenue Presbyterian Church, New York, 1851; d. at Sweetsprings, Virginia, July 31, 1859. His works include Gift to the Afflicted, Thoughts on Family Worship, and others. His Letters were published by the Rev. Dr. Hall, in 2 vols., some time after his death, and his translations were collected and published at New York in 1861, under the title, The Breaking Crucible and other Translations. Of these translations the following are in use: O Sacred Head, now wounded” a translation of "Salve Caput," through the German; "Near the cross was Mary weeping," a translation of "Stabat Mater"; and "Jesus, how sweet Thy memory is," a translation of "dulcis memoria." The annotations of these translations are given under their respective Latin first lines. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

Moses Maimonides

1135 - 1204 Scripture: Psalm 22:23 Author of "The God of Abraham Praise" in Glory to God Moses Maimonides, original name Moses Ben Maimon, also called Rambam, Arabic name Abū ʿImran Mūsā ibn Maymūn ibn ʿUbayd Allāh (born March 30, 1135, Córdoba [Spain]—died Dec. 13, 1204, Egypt), Jewish philosopher, jurist, and physician, the foremost intellectual figure of medieval Judaism. His first major work, begun at age 23 and completed 10 years later, was a commentary on the Mishna, the collected Jewish oral laws. A monumental code of Jewish law followed in Hebrew, The Guide for the Perplexed in Arabic, and numerous other works, many of major importance. His contributions in religion, philosophy, and medicine have influenced Jewish and non-Jewish scholars alike. --www.britannica.com/ Maimonides's full name was Moses ben Maimon; in Hebrew he is known by the acronym of Rabbi Moses ben Maimon, Rambam. He was born in Spain shortly before the fanatical Muslim Almohades came to power there. To avoid persecution by the Muslim sect — which was wont to offer Jews and Christians the choice of conversion to Islam or death — Maimonides fled with his family, first to Morocco, later to Israel, and finally to Egypt. He apparently hoped to continue his studies for several years more, but when his brother David, a jewelry merchant, perished in the Indian Ocean with much of the family's fortune, he had to begin earning money. He probably started practicing medicine at this time. Maimonides's major contribution to Jewish life remains the Mishneh Torah, his code of Jewish law. His intention was to compose a book that would guide Jews on how to behave in all situations just by reading the Torah and his code, without having to expend large amounts of time searching through the Talmud. Needless to say, this provocative rationale did not endear Maimonides to many traditional Jews, who feared that people would rely on his code and no longer study the Talmud. Despite sometimes intense opposition, the Mishneh Torah became a standard guide to Jewish practice: It later served as the model for the Shulkhan Arukh, the sixteenthcentury code of Jewish law that is still regarded as authoritative by Orthodox Jews. Philosophically, Maimonides was a religious rationalist. His damning attacks on people who held ideas he regarded as primitive — those, for example, who understood literally such biblical expressions as “the finger of God” so infuriated his opponents that they proscribed parts of his code and all of The Guide to the Perplexed. Other, more liberal, spirits forbade study of the Guide to anyone not of mature years. An old joke has it that these rabbis feared that a Jew would start reading a section in the Guide in which Maimonides summarizes a rationalist attack on religion, and fall asleep before reading Maimonides's counterattack-thereby spending the night as a heretic. How Maimonides's opponents reacted to his works was no joke, however. Three leading rabbis in France denounced his books to the Dominicans, who headed the French Inquisition. The Inquisitors were only too happy to intervene and burn the books. Eight years later, when the Dominicans started burning the Talmud, one of the rabbis involved, Jonah Gerondi, concluded that God was punishing him and French Jewry for their unjust condemnation of Maimonides. He resolved to travel to Maimonides's grave in Tiberias, in Israel, to request forgiveness. Throughout most of the Jewish world, Maimonides remained a hero, of course. When he died, Egyptian Jews observed three full days of mourning, and applied to his death the biblical verse "The ark of the Lord has been taken" (I Samuel 4:11). To this day, Maimonides and the FrenchJewish sage Rashi are the most widely studied Jewish scholars. Contemporary yeshiva students generally focus on the Mishneh Torah, and his Book of Commandments (Sefer haMitzvot) a compilation of the Torah's 613 commandments. Maimonides also formulated a credo of Judaism expressed in thirteen articles of faith, a popular reworking of which (the Yigdal prayer) appears in most Jewish prayerbooks. Among other things, this credo affirms belief in the oneness of God, the divine origins of the Torah, and the afterlife. Its twelfth statement of faith — “I believe with a full heart in the coming of the Messiah, and even though he may tarry I will still wait for him” — was often among the last words said by Jews being marched into Nazi gas chambers. Maimonides was one of the few Jewish thinkers whose teachings also influenced the nonJewish world; much of his philosophical writings in the Guide were about God and other theological issues of general, not exclusively Jewish, interest. Thomas Aquinas refers in his writings to “Rabbi Moses,” and shows considerable familiarity with the Guide. In 1985, on the 850th anniversary of Maimonides's birth, Pakistan and Cuba — which do not recognize Israel — were among the cosponsors of a UNESCO conference in Paris on Maimonides. Vitali Naumkin, a Soviet scholar, observed on this occasion: “;Maimonides is perhaps the only philosopher in the Middle Ages, perhaps even now, who symbolizes a confluence of four cultures: GrecoRoman, Arab, Jewish, and Western.” More remarkably, Abderrahmane Badawi, a Muslim professor from Kuwait University, declared: “I regard him first and foremost as an Arab thinker.” This sentiment was echoed by Saudi Arabian professor Huseyin Atay, who claimed that “if you didn't know he was Jewish, you might easily make the mistake of saying that a Muslim was writing.” That is, if you didn't read any of his Jewish writings. Maimonides scholar Shlomo Pines delivered perhaps the most accurate assessment at the conference: “Maimonides is the most influential Jewish thinker of the Middle Ages, and quite possibly of all time” (Time magazine, December 23, 1985). As a popular Jewish expression of the Middle Ages declares: “From Moses [of the Torah] to Moses [Maimonides] there was none like Moses.” Source: Joseph Telushkin. Jewish Literacy. NY: William Morrow and Co., 1991. Reprinted by permission of the author. --www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/Maimonides.html

Daniel ben Judah

Person Name: Daniel ben Judah Dayan Scripture: Psalm 22:23 Versifier of "The God of Abraham Praise" in Glory to God Born in Italy, a Jewish liturgical poet who lived in Rome. One of his hymns, “Yigdal Elohim Hai” contains the 13 articles of belief of Maimonides. The poem forms part of the morning prayer of Ashkenazims, sung by the Sephardim on Sabbath eves and holy days, included in the Romaniot fritual for Saturday evenings. John Perry

Thomas Olivers

1725 - 1799 Scripture: Psalm 22:23 Translator (Stanzas 1, 3) of "The God of Abraham Praise" in Glory to God Thomas Olivers was born in Tregonan, Montgomeryshire, in 1725. His youth was one of profligacy, but under the ministry of Whitefield, he was led to a change of life. He was for a time apprenticed to a shoemaker, and followed his trade in several places. In 1763, John Wesley engaged him as an assistant; and for twenty-five years he performed the duties of an itinerant ministry. During the latter portion of his life he was dependent on a pension granted him by the Wesleyan Conference. He died in 1799. --Annotations of the Hymnal, Charles Hutchins, M.A., 1872. ================== Olivers, Thomas, was born at Tregynon, near Newtown, Montgomeryshire, in 1725. His father's death, when the son was only four years of age, followed by that of the mother shortly afterwards, caused him to be passed on to the care of one relative after another, by whom he was brought up in a somewhat careless manner, and with little education. He was apprenticed to a shoemaker. His youth was one of great ungodliness, through which at the age of 18 he was compelled to leave his native place. He journeyed to Shrewsbury, Wrexham, and Bristol, miserably poor and very wretched. At Bristol he heard G. Whitefield preach from the text "Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?" That sermon turned the whole current of his life, and he became a decided Christian. His intention at the first was to join the followers of Whitefield, but being discouraged from doing so by one of Whitefield's preachers, he subsequently joined the Methodist Society at Bradford-on-Avon. At that town, where he purposed carrying on his business of shoemaking, he met John Wesley, who, recognising in him both ability and zeal, engaged him as one of his preachers. Olivers joined Wesley at once, and proceeded as an evangelist to Cornwall. This was on Oct. 1, 1753. He continued his work till his death, which took place suddenly in London, in March 1799. He was buried in Wesley's tomb in the City Road Chapel burying ground, London. Olivers was for some time co-editor with J. Wesley of the Arminian Magazine, but his lack of education unfitted him for the work. As the author of the tune Helmsley, and of the hymn “The God of Abraham praise," he is widely known. He also wrote “Come Immortal King of glory;" and "O Thou God of my salvation," whilst residing at Chester; and an Elegy on the death of John Wesley. His hymns and the Elegy were reprinted (with a Memoir by the Rev. J. Kirk) by D. Sedgwick, in 1868. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

Max Landsberg

1845 - 1927 Scripture: Psalm 22:23 Translator (stanzas 2, 4) of "The God of Abraham Praise" in Glory to God Max Landsberg was born in Berlin as the eldest son of a long-established Jewish family, shortly before his father, Meyer Landsberg, in Hildesheim took a job as a rabbi. First, Landsberg was privately educated, but then went to the high school Josephinum in Hildesheim . After graduation he studied in Göttingen, Breslau and Berlin. The training to become a rabbi he received from Lazarus eagle at the University of Kassel, Samuel Ephraim Meyer at the University of Hanover and of Abraham Geiger in Wroclaw. On 7 November 1866 he was codd at the University of Halle with his work Vita sultani Muradi "a Mohammed Amyn Mohibby, e. Mss. Bibliothecae regiae Berolinensis, addita versione latina atque adjectis adnotationibus Dr. phil. Doctorate. Since 1866, he was pin Rabbi and teachers at the seminar for Jewish teachers in Hanover. rabbi he was to his Semicha 1870. Shortly before his departure to the U.S. married Landsberg on 26 February 1871 in Hanover Miriam Isengarten (* 1847, † April 16, 1912 in Baltimore) In the fall of 1869, as in 1848 decided orthodox founded community in Rochester, hire a rabbi who could preach both in German and in English and should be a "gentleman of advanced ideas and reformed religious views". This quote is an excerpt from the ad for the position of rabbi in Rochester in the weekly magazine "The American Israelite", the public forum of the American Reform Judaism. After they found no suitable person in the country, they turned to Abraham Geiger, a pioneer of Reform Judaism in Europe. Geiger encouraged his former students to apply to this job. Because of its application in December 1870 Landsberg was invited and settled for Passover 1871 (early April 1871) to Rochester. By 1915, he stayed on as chief rabbi. What the liturgical reforms were concerned in the community, so Landsberg based on that of David Einhorn in 1858 published prayer book Olat Tamid. It contained the majority of prayers in German and was printed according to and read from left to right. However, there were already 10 days after launch on 27th April 1873 in the town of B'rith Kodesh to controversy. Then the parish council withdrew this prayer book and replaced it with a more tradition-setting, but also reforming the liturgy, which from Temple Emanu El was published in New York City. Despite the shortcomings Landsberg used this prayer book over a decade. On the other hand, it prompted him to contribute their own ideas of liturgical revision. The result was that in 1880, along with Sol[omon] Wile (1853-1931) published book Hymn Book for Jewish Worship. For two-thirds of it contained English-language songs, and the remaining were in German. Sol Wile at the time was president of the Temple B'rith Kodesh and in his preface to the hymnal, which was more intended for the community, as for the rabbi and the choir, he wrote that he is a "inbrünstigeren" of these songs worship hoped. But only the ritual prayer book for Jewish Worship by Max Landsberg itself, introduced in 1884, the community took to the center of the radical Jewish reform movement. It was the result of Landsberg efforts, in accordance with the ideas of community members to create a new liturgy, which "conform to the sentiments of the living generation" was. Landsberg not only received praise, but also harsh criticism, including by Isaac Mayer Wise. Even in our own community Landsberg faced a opposition, but this did not change in a takeover of the liturgy. It Landsberg, despite all the criticism has managed to create a completely appropriate in the English language and the Reform movement liturgy. An outstanding event for Max Landsberg in 1895 was the focus of the annual meeting of the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR). He himself was in this movement since its founding in 1889 active. At this meeting there was a full agreement in the views of Isaac Mayer Wise and Landsberg that the greatest achievements of American Reform Judaism was to have freed the Jews from the ceremonial constraints. Another special feature of this period was the increased involvement of women in the community and especially in community work. There were just the women who took part in the worship and wanted to have more influence on the fortunes of the community. Here, Max Landsberg did show, by advocating openly for the rights of women. In his essay The Position of Women Among the Jews he grappled with the theological implications of women's emancipation. But Max Landsberg himself alienated since that time increasingly of the community. Maybe because it a lifelong Office guidance was issued never, but he had to extend from the council's term of office again and again. Already in July 1910, adjusted for the community Horace J. Wolf as an assistant. His contract was also extended several times. They tried to limit Landsberg's influence on the community. Particularly hard hit Landsberg his wife Miriam's death in 1912. This event was marked by bitterness his last years, so it took every joy of life. When, in March 1913, a committee at Landsberg "the lack of interest in the religious life of the congregation" found and published recommendations in October, Max Landsberg offered his resignation. Well with regard to the posted position of Landsberg gave you his resignation until December 1914 known, but he stepped into force on 1 März 1915. In the United States, Max Landsberg sat for a reform of Jewish worship one. So he held his services in English and not in Hebrew. Also published by him prayer books passed to two-thirds of English songs and the rest in German language. He also pushed for the marriage of Jews and non-Jews. As part of the American Reform Judaism Landsberg was among the rabbis, which began in the municipality for exemption from the ceremonial constraints, to use appropriate liturgies and thereafter led worship. --de.wikipedia.org/wiki (excerpts)

Newton Mann

1836 - 1926 Person Name: Newton M. Mann Scripture: Psalm 22:23 Translator (stanzas 2, 4) of "The God of Abraham Praise" in Glory to God Mann, Rev. Newton. (Cazenovia, New York, January 16, 1836--July 25, 1926, Chicago, Illinois). He graduated from Cazenovia Academy, and during the Civil War served as head of the Western Sanitary Commission. He then entered the Unitarian ministry and was ordained as pastor of the church in Kenosha, Wisconsin, which he organized and served for three years. He later served churches in Troy, New York, 1868-1870; Rochester, N.Y., 1870-1888; and Omaha, Nebraska, 1888-1908, after which he retired to Chicago. His only connection with hymnody was his versification of an English translation of the Jewish creedal statement known as the Yigdal. His verse, which has not survived, was later recast by Rev. W.C. Gannett. In its present form the hymn is probably mostly the work of Gannett, but Mann should be credited with having drafted its earlier form. See also Foote, Three Centuries of American Hymnody, pp.339-340. --Henry Wilder Foote, DNAH Archives

William Channing Gannett

1840 - 1923 Person Name: William C. Gannett Scripture: Psalm 22:23 Translator (stanzas 2, 4) of "The God of Abraham Praise" in Glory to God Gannett, William Channing, M.A., s. of Dr. Ezra Stiles Gannett, was b. at Boston, March 13, 1840, and educated at Harvard College, 1860, and the Divinity School, Cambridge. Entered the Unitarian Ministry in 1868, and after filling several pastorates he became Pastor of the Unitarian Church at Rochester, N.Y., 1889. Mr. Gannett's hymns, mainly written for special occasions, were included in great part in The Thought of God in Hymns and Poems, Boston, 1st Series 1885,2nd Series 1894, the combined production of F. L. Hosmer (q.v.) and himself. Of Mr. Gannett's hymns the following are in common use:— 1. Bring, 0 morn, thy music [God Everlasting.] Written in 1893, and printed in A Chorus of Faith, being an account and resume of the Parliament of Religions, held in Chicago, 1893. Included in The Thought of God, 2nd Series, 1894, and again in several hymnals. 2. Clear in memory's silent reaches. [Memory.] Written in 1877 for a Free Religious Assoc. Festival, and published in The Thought of God, 1st Series, 1885. 3. Prom heart to heart, from creed to creed. [Faith.] Written in 1875 for the 150th anniversary of the First Religious Society in Newburyport, and given in The Thought of God, 1ist Series, 1885. Usually st. ii. is omitted. 4. He hides within the lily. [Divine Providence.] "Consider the lilies, how they grow." Written in 1873, and printed for use at the Free Religious Assoc. Festival, May 30th, 1873. Published in The Thought of God, &c, 1st Series, 1885, in 4 stanzas of 8 lines. The most widely used of the author's hymns. 5. I hear it often in the dark. [The Voice of God.] Written at Milwaukee, in 1870, and published in The Thought of God, &c, 1st Series, 1885. Sometimes it begins with st. iii., "0 God within, so close to me," as in Hymns for Church and Home, Boston, 1895. 6. Praise to God and thanksgiving. [ Harvest.] Written in 1872 for a Harvest Festival at St. Paul's, Minn., of which he was then Pastor, and included in The Thought of God &c, 1st Series, 1885. in the Boston Pilgrim Hymnal, 1904, it begins "Praise to God, and thanks we bring." 7. Sleep, my little Jesus. [ Christmas Carol.] Written for the Sunday School, St. Paul's, Minn., in 1882, and given in The Thought of God, 2nd Series, 1894, as "Mary's Manger Song." 8. The Lord is in His holy place. [Dedication of a Place of Worship.] Written for the Dedication of the Rev. C. W. Wendte's Church, Chicago, April 24, 1873, and pub. in The Thought of God, &c, 1st Series, 1885. It is one of the most popular and widely used of the author's hymns. 9. The morning hangs its signal. [Morning.] This is dated by the author "Chicago, July 30, 1886," and printed in Love to God and Love to Man, being No. 28 ot the Chicago "Unity Mission" series of hymns (N.D.). Also included in The Thought of God, &c, 2nd Series, 1894. Although in some sense a Morning hymn, it is adapted for use in Advent. It is usually known as “The Crowning Day." 10. The Truth is the Voice of God. In the "Unity Mission" Series, No. 28 (see above), this is given as No. 33, with the title "Truth and Righteousness and Love," in 4 stanzas of 4 lines and a refrain of 4 lines. These annotations are based upon manuscript notes kindly supplied by the author. The use made of Mr. Gannett's hymns shows that their poetic beauty and loving sympathy with all things beautiful and pure, are widely appreciated in America and to a limited extent in Great Britain also. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, New Supplement (1907)

Meyer Lyon

1751 - 1797 Scripture: Psalm 22:23 Adapter of "LEONI" in Glory to God Died: 1797, Kingston, Jamaica. Pseudonym: Leoni. Lyon was a chorister at the Great Synagogue, Duke’s Place, London, and a public singer either at Drury Lane or Covent Garden. Subsequently he became the first qualified chazan of the English and German Synagogue in Jamaica. Sources: Julian, p. 1151 McCutchan, pp. 27-28 Music: LEONI http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/l/y/o/lyon_m.htm ================ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myer_Lyon

A. Williams

1731 - 1776 Person Name: Aaron Williams Scripture: Psalm 22:23 Composer of "ST. THOMAS" in Moravian Book of Worship Aaron Williams (b. London, England, 1731; d. London, 1776) was a singing teacher, music engraver, and clerk at the Scottish Church, London Wall. He published various church music collections, some intended for rural church choirs. Representative of his compilations are The Universal Psalmodist (1763)— published in the United States as The American Harmony (1769)—The Royal Harmony (1766), The New Universal Psalmodist (1770), and Psalmody in Miniature (1778). His Harmonia Coelestis (1775) included anthems by noted composers. Bert Polman

Emily R. Brink

b. 1940 Person Name: Emily R. Brink, b. 1940 Scripture: Psalm 22 Arranger of "WONDROUS LOVE" in Sing! A New Creation Emily R. Brink is a Senior Research Fellow of the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship and Adjunct Professor of Church Music and Worship at Calvin Theological Seminary, Grand Rapids, Michigan. Her main areas of responsibility are conference planning and global resources. She is program manager of the annual Calvin Symposium on Worship, which draws more than 70 presenters and 1600 participants from around the world. She also travels widely to lecture and to learn about worship in different parts of the world, especially in Asia, where she has lectured in Bangladesh, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, and Taiwan. Her areas of interest include congregational song from all times and places; psalmody; hymnal editing. She was editor of four hymnals and consults with a wide range of churches on worship renewal issues. Dr. Brink is active in the American Guild of Organists, serving in both local and national offices, as well as in the Hymn Society in the United States and Canada (president from 1990 1992) and named a Fellow of the Hymn Society in 2004 in recognition of distinguished services to hymnody and hymnology. --internal.calvinseminary.edu/