Greek And Latin Hymnody

The very word hymn comes from the Greek hymnos, which means a song of praise to a god or hero. Adapting this pagan practice for their own use, early Christians wrote many hymns that have become models for hymn writers over the centuries. The hymns of both early Greek and Latin Christians are represented in the most recent American hymnals by the inclusion of five to eighty selections. These hymns reflect the faith and thought of many of the most well-known early Christian leaders and theologians. Early Greek Hymnody The Christian hymn of the New Testament church and the early church was distinctively a song of praise to Christ as God. This fact has been verified in the well known letter of Pliny the Younger to Emperor Trajan in which Pliny, speaking of the Christ followers, states that "they were accustomed to come together on a regular day before dawn and to sing a song alternately to Christ as a god" (M. Alfred Bishsel,"Greek and Latin Hymnody," in Hymnal Companion to the Lutheran…