The law of Christ we would fulfil,
And walk according to His will,
His Word our rule of living.
Jesper Swedberg (1653-1735).
A HYMN-BOOK THAT FAILED
When the Swedish colonists along the Delaware gathered in their temples to worship God in the latter part of the 17th century, they sang songs from a hymn-book the use of which had been prohibited in Sweden. It was the much-mooted hymn-book of Jesper Swedberg. Originally published by the author in 1694 and intended for the Church of Sweden, it immediately came under suspicion on the ground that it contained unorthodox teachings and was promptly confiscated. This, however, did not hinder the authorities from sending the book in large quantities to America, and it was used on this side of the Atlantic for many years.
Swedberg, who was born near Falun, Sweden, in the year 1653, was the first important hymnist of his native land. From the days of the Reformation no noteworthy advance had been made in Swedish hymnody until Swedberg began to tune his lyre. The official “Psalm-book” had been revised on several occasions, but the Upsala edition of 1645 contained only 182 hymns, far too few to meet the needs of church worship and private devotion.
It was in 1691 that Swedberg received the royal commission to prepare a new hymn-book. He was fortunate in having the aid of such gifted poets as Haqvin Spegel, Petrus Lagerlöf, Israel Kolmodin and Jacob Boethius in the execution of his task.
The new book, containing 482 Swedish hymns and a few in Latin, made its appearance in 1694. A large edition was printed, the financial cost of which was borne largely by Swedberg himself. It met with immediate opposition, particularly from Bishop Carl Carlsson, who charged that the hymn-book contained “innumerable heresies of a theological, anthropological, Christological, soteriological and eschatological nature.”
It was enough. King Karl XI immediately appointed a new commission to revise Swedberg’s work, with the result that 75 hymns were omitted and six new hymns added. It was printed in 1696 and remained in use as the “Psalm-book” of the Church of Sweden for more than a century, until it was succeeded in 1819 by Wallin’s masterpiece.