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<\/a>I bet that, for those of you attending church on Easter Sunday, at least half of you will sing \u201cChrist the Lord is Risen Today.\u201d<\/p>\n
Christ, the Lord, is risen today, Alleluia! Sons of men and angels say, Alleluia! Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia! Sing, ye heavens, and earth, reply, Alleluia! \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Vain the stone, the watch, the seal; Alleluia! Christ has burst the gates of hell: Alleluia! Death in vain forbids his rise; Alleluia! Christ has opened paradise. Alleluia!<\/em><\/p>\n Lives again our glorious King; Alleluia! Where, O death, is now thy sting? Alleluia! Once he died, our souls to save; Alleluia! Where thy victory, O grave? Alleluia!<\/em><\/p>\n Soar we now where Christ has led, Alleluia! Foll\u2019wing our exalted Head; Alleluia! Made like him, like him we rise: Alleluia! Ours the cross, the grave, the skies. Alleluia!<\/em><\/p>\n Hail, the Lord of earth and heavn\u2019n! Alleluia! Praise to thee by both be giv\u2019n; Alleluia!\u00a0Thee we greet triumphant now; Alleluia! Hail, the Resurrection, thou! Alleluia!<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em>This hymn was composed in 1739 by Charles Wesley, according to Hymnary.org<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0(\u201cthe most complete database of North American hymnody on the planet\u201d). A version of it first appeared as Hymn 716 \u201cHymn for Easter Day<\/a>\u201d\u00a0in John Wesley\u2019s 1780 hymnbook\u00a0A Collection of Hymns for the Use of People Called Methodists.<\/em><\/p>\n This is true.<\/p>\n But it is only some of the story. This famous Easter hymn has roots far deeper than 1739. It also once had a different focus.<\/p>\n Wesley\u2019s 1739 hymn is a version of a medieval hymn:\u201dJesus Christ is Risen Today\u201d or\u00a0\u201cSurrexit Christus hodie<\/em>.\u201d And, rather different from its modern manifestations, the medieval hymn highlighted women.<\/p>\n As the 1478 text sings (I give the English):<\/p>\n Surrexit Christus hodie.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Christ is risen today for the comfort of all people.<\/em><\/p>\n He suffered death yesterday. He suffered for us all.<\/em><\/p>\n Women to the tomb bring spices as gifts,<\/em><\/p>\n See a white angel announcing joy.<\/em><\/p>\n Women O trembling into Galilee proceed,<\/em><\/p>\n To disciples they declare, that the king of glory is risen.<\/em><\/p>\n In this Paschal joy bless the Lord.<\/em><\/p>\n Praise the Holy Trinity. We give thanks to God.<\/em><\/p>\n Women, as I recently wrote in\u00a0Fides et Historia,<\/em>\u00a0play a central role in this medieval praise song. They are the ones who first discover the resurrection of Christ, who learn the meaning of the empty tomb from the angel, who witness to the disciples, and who\u2013consequently\u2013spread knowledge of \u201cthis Paschal joy.\u201d Indeed, it is these women who bring the transformative good news about Christ\u2019s resurrection to the leaders of the early church.<\/p>\n In 1708 revised stanzas from \u201cSurrexit Christus hodie\u201d\u00a0<\/em>were printed in the\u00a0Lyra Davidica: A Collection of Hymns and Spiritual Songs<\/a><\/em>.\u00a0The stanzas were much more singable (at least according to our modern standards), but still clearly rooted in the fifteenth-century song.<\/p>\n Jesus Christ is risen to day, Halle-Halleluiah\u00a0Our triumphant Holyday, Halle-Halleluiah.\u00a0Who so lately on the Cross, Halle-Halleluiah. Suffer\u2019d to redeem our loss. Halle-Halleluiah.<\/em><\/p>\n Hast ye Females from your Fright, Halle-Halleluiah. &c.\u00a0Take to Galile your Flight: Halle-Halleluiah.\u00a0To his sad Disciples say, Halle-Halleluiah.\u00a0Jesus Christ is Risen to Day. Halle-Halleluiah.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n In our Paschal Joy and Feast. Halle-Halleluiah.\u00a0Let the Lord of Life be blest, Halle-Halleluiah. Let the Holy Trine be prais\u2019d, Halle-Halleluiah.\u00a0And thankful Hearts to Heaven be rais\u2019d. Halle-Halleluiah.<\/em><\/p>\n Like the medieval song, this 1708 version heralded the women at the tomb as \u201cas apostle(s) to the apostles\u201d\u2013the medieval name for Mary Magdalene who first brought the resurrection news\u2013\u201cTo his sad Disciples say\u2026Jesus Christ is Risen to Day\u201d.<\/p>\n \u00a0Another version of the hymn was written shortly after, \u00a0in 1749, by John Arnold. Although it kept the first stanza of the 1708 hymn virtually the same, it replaced the second and third stanzas with completely different text.<\/p>\n Jesus Christ is risen today, Alleluia! Our triumphant holy day, Alleluia! Who did once upon the cross, Alleluia! Suffer to redeem our loss. Alleluia!<\/em><\/p>\n Hymns of praise then let us sing, Alleluia! Unto Christ, our heavenly King, Alleluia! Who endured the cross and grave, Alleluia! Sinners to redeem and save. Alleuia!<\/em><\/p>\n But the pains which He endured, Alleluia! Our salvation hath procured. Alleluia! Now about the sky he\u2019s King, Alleluia! Where the angels ever sing. Alleluia!<\/em><\/p>\n It is this version of the hymn<\/a> which exploded in popularity\u2013versions of it appearing in almost every hymnal published between 1775 and 1800. Perhaps the most famous variation (which became its own separate song) was penned by Charles Wesley as \u201cChrist the Lord is Risen Today\u201d and has been printed in more than 1000 hymnals.<\/p>\n So did you see what just happened?\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>If you missed it, go back and compare the 1708 text with the 1749 text.<\/p>\n The 1478 and 1708 lyrics highlight women as the first witnesses of the resurrection and messengers to the apostles. After 1708, however, the women simply disappear.\u00a0Where once women pervaded the hymn, even driving the direction of the narrative, they are gone\u2013completely gone\u2013by 1749.<\/p>\n Why did these women disappear? <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Well, I don\u2019t know for sure. But I do know that the\u00a0Lyra Davidica<\/em> intentionally called the women at the tomb the \u201cSacred Embassy\u201d and included the female-friendly version of \u201cJesus Christ is Risen Today\u201d to emphasize women as prophets and preachers. The editor of the text, Richard Roach, was a member of the Philadelphian Society which advocated female preaching. Roach wanted to raise awareness about how God worked through women. As Sarah Apetrei wrote in her\u00a0Women, Feminism and Religion in Early Enlightenment England<\/em>: \u201cthe hymn\u2019s emphasis on the role of women in proclaiming the resurrection must have appealed to Roach. Indeed, the editor of the collection added a meditation, to be sung to the same tune, on Mary\u2019s encounter with the angel at the empty tomb. The angel charges her to preach to the disciples, describing her as a \u2018Sacred Embassy\u2019: an unusual expression which Roach commonly used to refer to female prophets\u201d (205).<\/p>\n Of course, just because Richard Roach intentionally included the women at the tomb in \u201cJesus Christ is Risen Today\u201d to highlight women\u2019s spiritual authority doesn\u2019t necessarily mean that verses about women were intentionally excluded to obscure\u00a0women\u2019s spiritual authority\u2026.<\/p>\n Or does it?<\/p>\n Just something to think about\u2026\u2026.<\/p>\n For full citations, please see my article, \u201cWhat did the Reformation Mean for Women?\u201d in Fides et Historia: Journal of the Conference on Faith and History 48:2<\/a><\/em>, 80-88<\/a>.<\/p>\n \n<\/p><\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I bet that, for those of you attending church on Easter Sunday, at least half of you will sing \u201cChrist the Lord is Risen Today.\u201d Christ, the Lord, is risen today, Alleluia! Sons of men and angels say, Alleluia! Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia! Sing, ye heavens, and earth, reply, Alleluia! \u00a0 \u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2389,"featured_media":22331,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1828,2624],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23484","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beth-allison-barr","category-medieval-christianity-2"],"yoast_head":"\n<\/a>