Orthodoxy and Experimentalism in William Gadsby's a Selection Of

Engaging the Heart: Orthodoxy and Experimentalism in William Gadsby’s A Selection of Hymns for Public Worship Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Deborah A. Ruhl, M.A., M.M. Graduate Program in Music The Ohio State University 2013 Dissertation Committee: Charles M. Atkinson, Advisor Udo Will Danielle Fosler-Lussier David Clampitt Copyright by Deborah A. Ruhl 2013 Abstract William Gadsby (1773-1844) stands out as an exceptional figure in the history of nineteenth-century English Particular Baptist churches: he is at once a defender of high orthodoxy, a radical separatist (as perceived by his Baptist peers), a popular preacher in the areas surrounding Manchester, and a vanguard of high Calvinistic, experimental hymnody. He is also the compiler of one of the oldest English hymnbooks still in current use, A Selection of Hymns for Public Worship (1814), known informally as “Gadsby’s Hymns.” During his lifetime Gadsby was criticized both for his anachronistic high orthodoxy and for his experimentalist modernity. To the men who argued with Gadsby, the relationship between his traditional orthodoxy and his experimentalism must have seemed bewildering, but seen from a more distanced perspective, his theological stance may be understood as a synthesis of two cultural movements: the Enlightenment and romanticism. Gadsby’s high Calvinistic orthodoxy was influenced by the Enlightenment teachings of eighteenth-century Baptist theologians John Brine and John Gill, but as the eighteenth century came to a close the influence of high Calvinism began to decline. At the same time, Andrew Fuller’s moderate Calvinism, which encouraged free evangelism, was sweeping through the Calvinistic Baptist churches, reaching the laity through the ii “Bristol Collection” and John Rippon’s Selection of Hymns . Gadsby sought to revitalize high Calvinistic orthodoxy through experimentalism, which he gleaned from the Protestant Reformers, the English Puritans, and in particular, the nascent romanticism evident in the teachings of William Huntington. Because Gadsby believed singing to be the duty of all men, he turned to hymnody as a means through which to communicate what might be called a romantic high Calvinistic theology, which I shall term “romantic orthodoxy.” Gadsby’s romantic orthodoxy led him to develop a distinct method of evangelism through his hymnbook: by combining his duty to preach with mankind’s duty to sing, Gadsby discovered a method of evangelism that accommodated his high Calvinistic theology. In this way, Gadsby’s publication may be understood as both a response to and a participation in the Evangelical Revival. Through his hymnbook, William Gadsby succeeded in defining (and essentially transforming) high Calvinistic Baptist theology for the romantic generation of English Baptists. iii Dedication “From Him and through Him and to Him are all things.” iv Acknowledgments I would like to thank my advisor, Dr. Charles M. Atkinson, for his assistance and suggestions in preparing this document. It has been an honor and a privilege to learn from you over these past eight years. I would also like to thank the Musicology faculty at the Ohio State University, including, but not limited to Dr. Lois Rosow, Dr. Danielle Fosler-Lussier, Dr. Udo Will, Dr. Graeme Boone, and Dr. Margarita Mazo. Thank you for your encouragement and support throughout this process. I would also like to thank my graduate colleagues at Ohio State: it has been a pleasure to learn and work beside you. To the Vocal and Choral Departments at Ohio State, particularly Dr. C. Patrick Woliver, Prof. Loretta Robinson, and Dr. Hilary Apfelstadt (who has since moved on to the University of Toronto): thank you for encouraging me to further develop the joy of singing. Finally, I would like to thank my friends, my family, and my husband for patiently seeing me through this long, and yet wonderful, process. There are truly no words to express adequately my gratitude and love. v Vita 2004…………………………………………...B.A. Vocal Performance and Mathematics, Covenant College 2005-2006……………………………………..Graduate Teaching Assistant, Department of Musicology, The Ohio State University 2008…………………………………………...Graduate Vocal Recital, The Ohio State University 2008…………………………………………...M.A. Musicology, M.M. Vocal Performance, The Ohio State University 2008-2010……………………………………..Graduate Teaching/Research Assistant, Department of Musicology, The Ohio State University 2010…………………………………………...Outstanding Graduate Teaching/Research Associate Award, The Ohio State University, Department of Musicology 2012…………………………………………...Torbet Prize, The American Baptist Historical Society Publications Deborah Ruhl. “Transforming the Heart of High Calvinism: William Gadsby’s A Selection of Hymns for Public Worship . American Baptist Quarterly 30, no. 1 & 2 (2011/2012): 135-162. Fields of Study Major Field: Music vi Table of Contents Abstract………………………………………………………………………………...ii-iii Dedication………………………………………………………………………………...iv Acknowledgments………………………………………………………………………....v Vita………………………………………………………………………………………..vi List of Examples………………………………………………………………………...viii List of Tables……………………………………………………………………………..ix Introduction………………………………………………………………………………..1 Chapter 1: Hymnbook Development, Content, and Sources…………………………….36 Chapter 2: The Enlightenment and High Orthodoxy…………………………………….64 Chapter 3: Baptist Hymnody and the Decline of High Orthodoxy………………………83 Chapter 4: Gadsby the Orthodox……………………………………………………….103 Chapter 5: Toward A Romantic Orthodoxy………………………………………….....130 Chapter 6: An “Experimental” Hymnbook……………………………………………..147 Chapter 7: Conclusion and Critique…………………………………………………….176 Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………187 vii List of Examples Example 3.1. John Wesley, “Blow ye the trumpet,” in the Bristol Collection and Wesley’s Hymns for New-Year’s-Day …………………………………………………...94 Example 4.1. Comparison of Watts’s original text “Rise, rise my soul” to Gadsby’s altered text………………………………………………………………………………119 Example 4.2. Wesley’s “Blow ye the trumpet” as altered by Toplady and Gadsby...…120 Example 5.1. Excerpts from William Huntington’s “A Divine Poem on a Spiritual Birth.................................................................................................................................139 Example 6.1. John Stevens’s “The Lamb is exalted.”……………...……..……………151 Example 6.2. John Fawcett’s “With melting heart and weeping eyes.”…………..……152 Example 6.3. Joseph Hart’s “Come, all ye chosen saints of God,” Second Part……….166 Example 6.4. Daniel Herbert’s “Come boldly to the throne of grace.”………………...168 Example 6.5. John Newton’s “Pensive, doubting, fearful heart.”……………………...174 Example 7.1. Jehoida Brewer, “Hail, sovereign love, that first began.”………………178 Example 7.2. William Gadsby, “Come, whosoever will.”………………………….…181 viii List of Tables Table I.1. Table I.1. Summary of Arminian and Calvinistic Soteriology……………….5 Table 1.1. Table of Contents for modern edition of Gadsby’s Hymns …...……………..36 Table 1.2. Development of Gadsby’s Selection …………………………………………53 Table 1.3. Major Contributors for Gadsby’s Selection ………………………………….55 Table 4.1. Comparison of organizational schemes of Stevens’s and Gadsby’s hymnbooks (differences are italicized)………………………………………………………………125 ix Introduction Brief History of the English Baptists At a fundamental level, one might say that the “Baptist” churches of England developed from the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century. The theological and ecclesiastical initiatives of Martin Luther, John Calvin, Ulrich Zwingli, and King Henry VIII made way for reassessments of Biblical interpretation, Christian doctrine, and church order in general, and produced such differing groups as the radical Anabaptists of Switzerland, the Calvinists of Geneva, the Lutherans of Germany, and the Anglicans of England. The English Baptists emerged out of this period of theological reconsideration, but as historian Roger Hayden comments, “those churches that came to be known as Baptist evolved slowly and began with individual congregations, not a coherent group of churches called Baptist.” 1 The English congregations of the late sixteenth century that later came to be identified as Baptist were originally Anglican congregations with Puritan leanings, or in the most extreme cases, separatist congregations. Under England’s Catholic Queen, Mary I (reg. 1553-1558), the Protestants of the newly-formed Church of England were violently persecuted, resulting in a flight of pious Protestants to the Continent. Many of 1 Roger Hayden, English Baptist History and Heritage , 2nd ed. (Didcot, Oxfordshire, U. K: Baptist Union of Great Britain, 2005), 11. 1 these exiles fled to Geneva, where they learned the teachings of Swiss reformer John Calvin (1509-1564). With the ascension of Queen Elizabeth I (reg. 1558-1603), England once again became a “Protestant country,” and many of these exiles returned to England, bringing their new-found Calvinistic convictions with them. English Puritans and separatists of this period, however, considered the English Reformation to have been incomplete, particularly when compared to Protestant churches of the Continent. Many English Puritans hoped to change the Church of England from the inside; separatists, on the other hand, desired complete independence from the State Church.2 With the 1593 “Act for Retaining the Queen’s Subjects in Due Obedience,” Queen Elizabeth declared

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