The Significance of Hymns to Christ (Biblical)

New Testament hymns to Christ celebrate what he did before Creation, his mission of incarnation and reconciliation, and his present exalted position as Lord of the universe. In so doing, they counter heretical ideas that were influencing some segments of the early church. The Reason for Christological Hymns The teasing question asks what purpose was served by these Christological hymns. The examples we may point to in Paul's writing suggest that they were well known in the various churches, or why would Paul have taken them over, sometimes with slight-if important-adaptation? They were clearly fresh creations and not simply a reworking of ancient Jewish or messianic texts, though their imagery and idiom have identifiable echoes drawn from the biblical literature. They were also more extensive in length and scope than either the messianic psalms or the fragments of creedal statement that can be spotted very obviously in Paul's pastoral discussions in such places as Romans 10:9-10, 1…