(by Eric Phillips)<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a medieval hymn by Rabanus Maurus, Veni Creator Spiritus<\/em>, composed in Latin in the 9th century, which has been translated and set to music in many different ways so as to give us many different modern hymns. I counted 15 different versions of it in the list given for \u201cRabanus Maurus\u201d on Hymnary.org. In the Lutheran Service Book, it\u2019s given us hymns 498, 499, and 500. Now, 498 and 499 have the same translation, by one Edward Caswell (19th century)\u2014just different music. Hymn 500, though (\u201cCreator Spirit, By Whose Aid\u201d), has a different translation as well as different music. This translation is by the great 17th century poet John Dryden. He has a better pedigree than most hymn translators, obviously. Unfortunately, he also seems to have introduced a subtle Trinitarian heresy when he made his very free translation of the Latin original.*<\/strong><\/p>\n I\u2019ve sung this hymn before. It has a great tune, and when sung with many voices and a good organ, can really move the [small-s] spirit. Now as I\u2019m selecting hymns for next Sunday, I find that it\u2019s one of the options (there are two options, thankfully) for the \u201cHymn of the Day.\u201d But a little over a year ago, as I was about to include this hymn in the service for my Ordination, something struck me about the second stanza. Here is how it begins: \u201cO Source of uncreated light \/ The bearer of God\u2019s gracious might.\u201d Now, this is a hymn addressed to the Holy Spirit, as the title and all the lyrics make plain. But Who is the Uncreated Light? It\u2019s the Son of God:<\/p>\n \u201c[The Son] is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power\u201d (Heb. 1:3a).<\/p>\n \u201cThe true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world\u201d (John 1:9).<\/p>\n \u201cAnd the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb\u201d (Rev. 21:23).<\/p>\n \u201cWe believe\u2026 in One Lord Jesus Christ, the Only-Begotten Son of God, begotten of His Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, Very God of Very God, Begotten, not made, by Whom all things were made\u201d (from the Nicene Creed).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n \u2026and if the Son is the Uncreated Light, then the Source of Uncreated Light is not the Spirit, but the Father, who has begotten Him from all eternity.<\/p>\n This lyric, as it stands, can only be rescued if \u201csource\u201d is taken in an inexact sense (since the Father is the only Source in the Trinity) and the \u201cUncreated Light\u201d is taken to be an epiphenomenon of the Godhead. But then we end up with something that is uncreated, but is not God\u2014or worse, a divine Essence that can be known apart from the Persons, as a Fourth Divine Thing. So I don\u2019t think it really can be rescued. But I\u2019m putting it \u201cout there\u201d in case someone is able to make a point that I haven\u2019t thought of. Would anyone like to defend this hymn lyric?<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n *<\/strong> This line is purely Dryden\u2019s composition, not a translation at all. Here is the second stanza of Veni Creator Spiritus in its entirety: \u201cQui diceris Paraclitus \/ Altissimi donum Dei \/ Fons vivus, ignis, caritas \/ Et spiritalis unctio<\/em>\u201d (\u201cYou who are called the Paraclete, the Gift of highest God, the living Font, Fire, Love, and Spiritual Anointing\u201d). In the original hymn, the only mention of \u201clight\u201d is found in the fourth stanza: \u201cAccende lumen sensibus, infunde amorem cordibus, infirma nostri corporis, virtute firmans perpeti<\/em>\u201d (\u201cKindle light for [our] senses, pour love into [our] hearts, making sound the infirmities of [our] body with [Your] perpetual might\u201d).<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" (by Eric Phillips) There\u2019s a medieval hymn by Rabanus Maurus, Veni Creator Spiritus, composed in Latin in the 9th century, which has been translated and set to music in many different ways so as to give us many different modern hymns. I counted 15 different versions of it in the list given for \u201cRabanus Maurus\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2183,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2366","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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