What think ye of Christ?

What think you of Christ? is the test
To try both your state and your scheme;
You cannot be right in the rest,
Unless you think rightly of him.
As Jesus appears in your view,
As he is beloved or not,
So God is disposed to you,
And mercy or wrath are your lot.

Some take him a creature to be,
A man or an angel at most:
Sure these have not feelings like me,
Nor know themselves wretched and lost;
So guilty, so helpless am I,
I durst not confide in his blood,
Nor on his protection rely,
Unless I were sure he is God.

Some call him a Saviour, in word,
But mix their own works with his plan;
And hope he his help will afford,
When they have done all that they can:
If doings prove rather too light
(A little, they own, they may fail),
They purpose to make up full weight,
By casting his name in the scale.

Some style him the pearl of great price,
And say he's the fountain of joys;
Yet feed upon folly and vice,
And cleave to the world and its toys;
Like Judas, the Saviour they kiss,
And while they salute him, betray;
Ah! what shall profession like this
Avail in his terrible day?

If ask'd what of Jesus I think?
Though still my best thoughts are but poor,
I say, he's my meat and my drink,
My life, and my strength, and my store;
My Shepherd, my Husband, my Friend,
My Saviour from sin and from thrall;
My hope from beginning to end,
My portion, my Lord, and my All.

—John Newton, on Matt 22:42
From Olney Hymns, 1842.

About the Writer

John Newton (1725–1807) is best known today for his hymn "Amazing Grace." Originally a sailor and slave trader, the "old African blasphemer" ceased his blasphemy and embraced his creator as his saviour. He devoted the remainder of his life to the ministry as an Anglican priest, and was also an outspoken opponent of the slave trade.

Newton's hymnodic endeavors are contained in the collection Olney Hymns, co-authored by him and William Cowper. Newton, however, wrote most of the volume, penning a hymn a week until it was completed. The Anglican church then only allowing psalmody in corporate worship, Newton never lived to see his compositions sung in church.

Thoughts

I well recall the first time I encountered this hymn. We were driving to Houston on a Sunday morning, and we popped in a CD of John Newton's hymns (see below) that we had bought not long before. This was the first track. I remember being stunned at the sheer doctrine displayed in these stanzas and those that followed in later tracks. At the same time, I was impressed by the devotional quality of Newton's doctrine and hymnody; doctrine for him was not, as too often for me, a merely intellectual thing, but a thing that should spur us to praise our creator, sustainer, and redeemer. It was listening to this that I formalized my conclusion that the best hymns are lyrical sermons. It is from this realization that this blog takes its inspiration and its title.

There is no tune associated with this text. In terms of a recommended recording, however—a feature I would like to have for most or all hymns I post—I recommend Todd Murray's album Beyond Amazing Grace: The Forgotten Hymns of John Newton. Most of the fifteen are to tunes that Murray wrote himself, though a few are set to already-existing tunes. ("What Think You of Christ?" is one of the tunes Murray composed.) You can find it on BeyondAmazingGrace.com as a CD or as downloadable MP3s.