In satisfaction alone

Boy, "In Christ Alone" just will not stay out of the churchy news. A few weeks ago it was standing in for all hymnody ever in the face of the chorus-singing horde; now it's standing in for confessional evangelicals' valiant defense against the liberal horde. Coming soon: "In Christ Alone" as a symbol of resistance to common-cup communion, or missional-everything fervor, or preaching from your iPad.

But about that liberal horde. Mary Louise Bringle, chair of the committee that put together the new PCUSA hymnal, mentioned months ago in the Century that the song was voted down because the songwriters wouldn't approve changing "the wrath of God was satisfied" to "the love of God was magnified." Much chatter ensued, a lot of it suggesting that this little tidbit reveals that the Presbyterians in question don't give a damn about traditional orthodoxy anymore. Never mind all the other songs they did include, or the fact that they only sought to change one phrase of a song packed to the gills with doctrine, or the fact that "the love of God was magnified" is also orthodox. 

Then last week Timothy George wrote about it at First Things, and around we went again. I appreciate this statement from the committee, this post by committee member (and CCblogger) Adam Copeland, and Bob Smietana's news story.