10 Hymns We Should Stop Singing

7. How Great Thou Art

Actually, I haven’t really cut this one out completely, but two problems arise for me. First, the nebulous rhythm at the end of the refrain, coupled with the seemingly obligatory rubato can cause a train wreck. Second, the beginning of the fourth stanza, “When Christ shall come with shout of acclimation / and take me home, what joy shall fill my heart.” This line reeks of escapist theology. Christ isn’t coming to “take us home,” but to renew and restore this world. N.T. Wright suggests changing it to, “…and heal this world.” That might just fix it enough for me.