Hello Dulcimer World!
This week we are going to look at a familiar Wesley hymn, "Soldiers of Christ, Arise". I am a reformed believer, but this hymn helped strengthen the persecuted Methodist community in England during the mid eighteenth century. Below is this hymn's history found at "songsandhymns.org".
Charles Wesley wrote "Soldiers of Christ, Arise" in 1747, originally calling it "The Whole Armor of God, Ephesians VI." With its bold and stirring message, the hymn was designed to confirm new believers. At the time, Charles and his brother, John Wesley, had become leaders of the movement known as Methodism. The Church of England did not approve of the Methodists, however, and those associated with Methodism were persecuted. Their houses were vandalized. And even worse, Methodists were sometimes threatened, stoned, mauled, and dragged through the streets.
Given the threatening environment that most Methodists faced, Wesley no doubt thought of very real battles as he wrote "Soldiers of Christ, Arise." Yet the hymn refers to more than just physical warfare: Its more important theme refers to the spiritual warfare that all Christians face. As followers of Christ, we must put on the full armor of God, described in Ephesians 6:10–11, and always be ready to battle Satan’s forces.
Calling on Christians to fight these spiritual battles, the original version of "Soldiers of Christ, Arise" appeared in the 1749 publication Hymns and Sacred Poems. The lengthy hymn contained sixteen verses, each with eight lines. In John Wesley’s Collection of Hymns for the People Called Methodists, published in 1780, only twelve stanzas appeared, divided into three separate hymns. The three-stanza version commonly used today dates from 1847.
I hope you all enjoy this week's dulcimer hymn arrangement. I'll see you all next week!
God bless,
-Ben
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