Thursday, July 22, 2010

Who was William Cowper?

Faith was playing this Hymn yesterday out of a very ancient Hymnal, and it got me to thinking about the person who wrote it.  It's interesting to note that William was a person filled with doubt at times, suffered from severe manic depression, and worried about his salvation.  But yet he wrote Hymns filled with hope and encouragement. 
I love the line: "Redeeming love has been my theme."


"William Cowper (26 November 1731 – 25 April 1800) was an English poet and hymnodist. One of the most popular poets of his time, Cowper changed the direction of 18th century nature poetry by writing of everyday life and scenes of the English countryside.
Cowper suffered from severe manic depression, and although he found refuge in a fervent evangelical Christianity, the inspiration behind his much-loved hymns, he often experienced doubt and feared that he was doomed to eternal damnation. His religious sentiment and association with John Newton (who wrote the hymn "Amazing Grace") led to much of the poetry for which he is best remembered." (Quoted from an online encyclopedia.)

1 comment:

  1. Wes was recently telling me about this hymn writer. He also wrote "God moves in mysterious ways"....beautiful!

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