And arise from the dead,
And Christ shall give thee light.”
Equally plausible is the passage in 1 Timothy 3:16, although not formally quoted:
“God was manifested in the flesh,
Justified in the spirit,
Seen of angels,
Preached unto the Gentiles,
Believed on in the world,
Received up into glory.”
This is particularly true of such passages as have rhetorical warmth rather than inherent lyric quality. The extraordinary flight of the Spirit that has been called the “Hymn of Love” (1 Cor. 13) can be called a hymn only by stretching the limits of the definition beyond all reasonable bounds. Noble as it is, no composer has ever succeeded in setting it to worthy music. As well call Lincoln’s Gettysburg address a Memorial Day Hymn. The same may be said of the ecstatic passage which opens Paul’s letter to the Ephesians (1:2-12).