3/29/2014
I strongly disagree that this song is in any way a failure on the part of its writer. Nor do I believe that this song should be needlessly and perversely linked to panentheism.
Does God not possess power and authority to make, destroy or intervene whenever, wherever, and however He so pleases? Of course He does. Does God not proclaim Himself to be intimately acquainted with each sparrow, aware even of each and every hair upon a man’s head? Of course. He is omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent. To the reflective believer, aware that every part of creation is the very handiwork of God Himself, there is nothing remotely strange about the notion of sensing the presence of God whenever the wonders which He has made are brought to our attention. This song is not teaching that God is IN the grass “Rustling” in the breeze. This casual assertion is frankly insulting…
Moreover, songs meant for the worship of God through appreciation of what He has created, done or promised aren’t required to be doctrinally specific or instructive. In fact, the notion that such a thing should be necessary reveals a failure to fully realize that songs of worship exist primarily to please God. That’s why the songs believers sing are “Worship Songs”, rather than learning songs or teaching songs.
Note that I’m not declaring that worship songs can’t be or shouldn’t be either instructive, doctrinally specific or even composed entirely of scriptural quotations… but it shouldn’t be treated as a measure of eligibility or worthiness.
Additionally, the statement that one has to come to the hymn with an assumption of the gospel in order to be able to see the reference to “My Father” as God, is somewhat laughable. When you understand that the song (Being a song for worship and thanksgiving to God) is meant for God’s own ears… Can anyone really believe that He(God) will fail to understand?… Ludicrous.
And another thing, who on earth is so misguided as to be sitting back, and judging the worthiness of songs on the basis of an expectation of instant biblical clarity? First of all, you wouldn’t expect someone who doesn’t already want to worship God to sing or listen to such a song in the first place, so who cares whether or not they immediately see a clear outline of the gospel in any given song…
Honestly, whoever expects non-believers or baby Christians to walk into a church service, hear this song(Or any other) and suddenly convert or become spiritually mature users of sound, well-founded doctrine is being quite, frustratingly unrealistic… Teaching and study are the primary methods for the development of understanding, and God Himself can certainly be trusted to draw close to those who seek Him… Only afterward could you reasonably expect anyone to understand or care about the specific details of what is being expressed in a song crediting God as the one who owns the world, its precise wording, or clarity of teaching…
…”For example, a devout follower of Islam can just as easily assume the “father” in the hymn text refers to his god Allah.”
No. This is patently ridiculous. A “Devout follower of Islam” knows that his god Allah has no “Fatherly” relationship with any man. He(Allah) is a tyrannical liar, murderer, and thief; and he’s proud of it. He passes these things onto his followers and they, like he have been like a scourge upon the earth for 1500 years… A Muslim would know better than to speak with such casual familiarity about their god, and would never mistake the words of this song as being about Allah… Then again they are taught to engage in deception in order to pull the wool over the eyes of “Infidels”, so they might very well make such a claim, even though it would be a lie.
…”Prior to the rebellion, God gave Satan and his demon assistants power over the earth which includes its people.”
Again. This is false. God never gave power over the earth to Lucifer. He(Satan/The Adversary) stole the authority and dominion over the earth given to mankind by God. Satan is a Liar and his crown is only maintained through layers and layers of foolish men, continually giving over their natural, God-given dominion over the earth to their master the devil, because he has convinced them that his many lies are their truths and that darkness and rebellion against God are preferrable to submission and obedience…
Finally… “However, this hymn falls short of the instruction found in Ephesians 5 and Colossians 3.” Sounds like nitpicking to me… Combined with the use of lots of big words and officious quotes from oh-so-important people, I’m put in mind of nitpickers from Jesus’ day; they were called Pharisees, Sadducees, scribes, and “Teachers of the Law”. Jesus didn’t have a lot of complimentary things to say about them and their judicious hairsplitting… Mentioning “My Father” in the context of this song, is essentially the same as using Jesus’ name. If you don’t think so, take it up with Jesus. After all, He is
It’s huge that it falls short of Ephesians 2:2. That’s a huge doctrinal error in the hymn-not nitpicking. Very contradictory & could be confusing if someone didn’t research further. Once you know to think about everything spiritually and that Satan is on the prowl bc this is his world, it changes everything.
I appreciate how this hymn highlights our connection with God’s creation.
Caleb Phelps
Linda Phelps
Chad Phelps
Daniel Phelps
Grandpa Phelps
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What Does the Song “This is My Father’s World” Really Teach?
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This is my Father’s world, and to my listening ears
All nature sings, and round me rings the music of the spheres.
This is my Father’s world: I rest me in the thought
Of rocks and trees, of skies and seas;
His hand the wonders wrought.
This is my Father’s world, the birds their carols raise,
The morning light, the lily white, declare their Maker’s praise.
This is my Father’s world: He shines in all that’s fair;
In the rustling grass I hear Him pass;
He speaks to me everywhere.
This is my Father’s world. O let me ne’er forget
That though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the ruler yet.
This is my Father’s world: the battle is not done:
Jesus who died shall be satisfied,
And earth and Heav’n be one.
This is my Father’s world, dreaming, I see His face.
I ope my eyes, and in glad surprise cry, “The Lord is in this place.”
This is my Father’s world, from the shining courts above,
The Beloved One, His Only Son,
Came—a pledge of deathless love.
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When looking for a hymn that extols the glory of God and His handiwork, one must look no further than Maltbie Babcock’s hymn This Is My Father’s World. The song presents the Creator not merely as a “First Cause” but as “our Father” because of His personal interest in man. In one stanza Babcock listens to the sounds of God’s creation and concludes that he can rest in this creator. Another stanza reflects the beautiful sights of God’s creation and demonstrates Babcock’s profound touch with nature.
The Psalter Hymnal Handbook states that This is My Father’s World fits with “many worship settings but especially those that focus on creation, providence, and stewardship of nature.” Careful study of the text denotes that Babcock is saying that “if the Father’s children of this chaotic day could catch a glimpse of the eternal verity . . . they would feel more deeply their obligation to make our world more nearer what the Father purposed in the making of it” (Washburn 22). In this hymn Babcock joins with the trees, skies, rocks, and other elements of nature in praise to God (Young 653). By referring to his “father’s world” Babcock seems to understand God and the world to be unified with God being in the world and the world in God, a belief system that aligns itself with the teachings of Panentheism. Panentheism believes “God and the world to be interrelated with the world being in God and God being in the world” (Culp) . According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy panentheism “offers an increasingly popular alternative to traditional theism and pantheism” (Culp). In contrast to panentheism pantheism is the view that the universe and God are identical while theism refers to the doctrine of a monotheistic God and God’s relationship to the universe that without his interaction. Panentheism presents an inadequate view of God’s transcendence by failing to distinguish God from the world. This is a major charge against the text that Babcock lays out in his hymn This is My Father’s World. One illustration of panentheism in Babcock’s hymn is demonstrated in the line that reads, “In the rustling grass I hear him pass, he speaks to me everywhere.” Here Babcock fails to distinguish God from the world aligning his beliefs with panentheism. There appears to be a disconnect between Babcock’s thinking of the what he calls “his father’s world” and the one referred to in Ephesians 2:2 which says, “Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.” This verse reveals to us that every human being who has ever lived has been enslaved to a way of thinking generated by the prince of the power of the air (Satan). In Ephesians 2 Paul demonstrates that once saved believers are freed from the power of sin’s domain which is referred to in scripture as “the world”. Prior to the rebellion, God gave Satan and his demon assistants power over the earth which includes its people. As people on earth, the Bible says, “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do” (John 8:44). We must never forget that in large part our struggle, as Paul terms it, is with these spirits. We inhabit the same space they inhabit. Babcock seems to address this world as most beautiful while leaving out the fact that the world is fallen and true beauty will be beheld beyond the gates of eternity. Babcock’s hymn fails to clearly articulate the gospel. The only reference is “Jesus who died.” That statement alone is better said than not said, but in a poem that was originally 16 stanzas long it definitely cannot be called “gospel-centered”. One must assume the gospel when coming to the text of the hymn. Without knowledge of the Scriptures one cannot easily come to the conclusion that the “Father” referred to in Babcock’s text is actually the God who created the universe and sent forth the Savior to die for sinners. For example, a devout follower of Islam can just as easily assume the “father” in the hymn text refers to his god Allah. While a careful study of the man who wrote the hymn would reveal that the “father” in the text refers to God, a congregational song leader cannot assume that everyone understands this truth. Furthermore, though the song is ornately worded its lack of deep Biblical text causes many hymnologists to refer to it more as a song for children. While this may be a pleasant song for some, in truth it appears to be a song that is best characterized by a feel-good text rather than one that is doctrinally based. It cannot be called an enriching hymn. In Truth there can be no criticizing of the motives of Maltbie D. Babcock. He was used of God in many ways. Even his motivation for writing the original poem was no doubt meant to bring glory to God. However, this hymn falls short of the instruction found in Ephesians 5 and Colossians 3. Works Cited: |
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