Faith, Hope, and Charity

Author: James Montgomery

James Montgomery (b. Irvine, Ayrshire, Scotland, 1771; d. Sheffield, Yorkshire, England, 1854), the son of Moravian parents who died on a West Indies mission field while he was in boarding school, Montgomery inherited a strong religious bent, a passion for missions, and an independent mind. He was editor of the Sheffield Iris (1796-1827), a newspaper that sometimes espoused radical causes. Montgomery was imprisoned briefly when he printed a song that celebrated the fall of the Bastille and again when he described a riot in Sheffield that reflected unfavorably on a military commander. He also protested against slavery, the lot of boy chimney sweeps, and lotteries. Associated with Christians of various persuasions, Montgomery supported missio… Go to person page >

Faith, hope, and charity, these three. J. Montgomery. [Faith, Hope, and Charity.] In the Montgomery Manuscript this hymn is dated "Jan. 27, 1834." It was printed in his Original Hymns, 1853, No. 164, in 4 stanzas of 4 lines, and entitled "The Christian Graces.” It is given in a few hymn-books in Great Britain and America: as Dr. Martineau's Hymns of Praise and Prayer, 1873; the New York Hymns & Songs of Praise, 1874, and others.

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)