February 2007

The names listed at the bottom of each hymn in Lutheran Service Book (LSB) provide a poignant reminder to singers of the church's song. These names remind us that the authors and composers of these hymns were real people living in real situations, often dealing with real adversities within their own environments. It's beneficial to explore the lives of these men and women to gain greater insight into circumstances that led them to write their texts and compose their tunes.

 In 2007, we have the opportunity to recognize one particular hymn text writer: Paul Gerhardt. This year marks the 400th anniversary of this Lutheran pastor's birth. Described as the greatest hymn writer in the German language, Gerhardt's influence extends far beyond Lutheran hymnals into hymnals of other Christian denominations.

Gerhardt and His Times

Born near Wittenberg, Germany, on March 12, 1607, Gerhardt attended Wittenberg University where he was mentored by professors who exposed him to the beauty of hymn writing. While attending Wittenberg University, the Thirty Years' War (1618-48) ravaged Germany. It appears that Gerhardt remained at Wittenberg until 1642. In fact, Gerhardt's family house and the family church were both destroyed during the war.

After leaving Wittenberg, Gerhardt lived the next nine years in Berlin. In Berlin, he began writing poetry. Soon after, his musician friend, Johann Crüger, published the first collection of Gerhardt's poems, poems now sung by worshipers. His poems gave worshipers a deep assurance of God's guidance in the war's aftermath as well as confidence in the life of the world to come. Later in life—at age 44—Gerhardt was ordained as a Lutheran minister and pledged his support of the Book of Concord. He first served as provost, a position which entailed supervising clergy in Mittenwalde. A few years later, Gerhardt married Anna Maria Barthold; the couple was blessed with many children.

Though the protracted conflict of the Thirty Years' War had ended, life was far from easy. Disease ravaged the continent. All of the Gerhardts' children died in infancy except for one son. In Berlin, where Gerhardt began service in 1657, the city was full of strife between Lutheran and Reformed clergy. Government officials favored Reformed theology. Tension between the two groups was so serious that in 1666 the local government official issued an edict mandating that Lutheran and Reformed clergy refrain from referring to doctrinal differences in their sermons. Gerhardt, being the steadfast Lutheran that he was, refused to abide by the terms of the edict. As a result, he was dismissed from his congregation. Sadly, two years later, his wife died. Eventually, he was called to a new congregation in Lübben, where for seven years he faithfully preached the Gospel until his death in 1676.

   Because of the many hardships in his life, Paul Gerhardt knew much persecution and suffering. Upon his death, the Lutheran congregation he was serving placed a portrait of their beloved pastor with the inscription: “Theologus in cribro Satane tentatus” (“A theologian tested in Satan's sieve”). Considered in this light, his hymn texts are all the more meaningful.

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