Engaging the Heart: Orthodoxy and Experimentalism in William Gadsby’s A Selection of Hymns for Public Worship
William Gadsby (1773-1844) stands out as an exceptional figure in the history of nineteenth-century English Particular Baptist churches: he is at once a defender of high orthodoxy, a radical separatist (as perceived by his Baptist peers), a popular preacher in the areas surrounding Manchester, and a vanguard of high Calvinistic, experimental hymnody. He is also the compiler of one of the oldest English hymnbooks still in current use, A Selection of Hymns for Public Worship (1814), known informally as “Gadsby&amp;#x2019;s Hymns.” During his lifetime Gadsby was criticized both for his anachronistic high orthodoxy and for his experimentalist modernity. To the men who argued with Gadsby, the relationship between his traditional orthodoxy and his experimentalism must have seemed bewildering, but seen from a more distanced perspective, his theological stance may be understood as a synthesis of two cultural movements: the Enlightenment and romanticism. Gadsby’s high Calvinistic orthodoxy was influenced by the Enlightenment teachings of eighteenth-century Baptist theologians John Brine and John Gill, but as the eighteenth century came to a close the influence of high Calvinism began to decline. At the same time, Andrew Fuller’s moderate Calvinism, which encouraged free evangelism, was sweeping through the Calvinistic Baptist churches, reaching the laity through the “Bristol Collection” and John Rippon’s Selection of Hymns. Gadsby sought to revitalize high Calvinistic orthodoxy through experimentalism, which he gleaned from the Protestant Reformers, the English Puritans, and in particular, the nascent romanticism evident in the teachings of William Huntington. Because Gadsby believed singing to be the duty of all men, he turned to hymnody as a means through which to communicate what might be called a romantic high Calvinistic theology, which I shall term “romantic orthodoxy.” Gadsby’s romantic orthodoxy led him to develop a distinct method of evangelism through his hymnbook: by combining his duty to preach with mankind’s duty to sing, Gadsby discovered a method of evangelism that accommodated his high Calvinistic theology. In this way, Gadsby’s publication may be understood as both a response to and a participation in the Evangelical Revival. Through his hymnbook, William Gadsby succeeded in defining (and essentially transforming) high Calvinistic Baptist theology for the romantic generation of English Baptists.
Music, History, Theology, hymnody, Baptist, Gadsby, Gospel Standard, hymn, experimentalism, orthodoxy, worship, Gill, Fuller, Huntington, romanticism, Enlightenment, Calvinistic, nineteenth-century, English Particular Baptist, high Calvism, hymnbook
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