вЂњPeople making a case to retain the text with the authorsвЂ™ original lines spoke of the fact that the words expressed one view of GodвЂ™s saving work in Christ that has been prevalent in Christian history: the view of Anselm and Calvin, among others, that GodвЂ™s honor was violated by human sin and that GodвЂ™s justice could only be satisfied by the atoning death of a sinless victim,вЂќ Bringle said. is cooperating fully and is taking steps to make the correction in all distributed copies of the song, including the Celebrating Grace Hymnal.вЂќ вЂњWe respect our songwriters and the integrity of their lyrics, and the intent of our request was to ensure the song retains the original lyrics as written by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend,вЂќ Capitol said in a prepared statement. Neither Getty nor the Celebrating Grace publisher was available for comment. When it asked for permission to use the song, the committee learned that the songвЂ™s authors hadnвЂ™t approved the change.Д¬apitol CMG Publishing, which manages rights for In Christ Alone, said it is working with the hymnalвЂ™s publisher to fix the problem. вЂњWe had every reason to think that this was an authorized text because it appeared in a recent hymnal,вЂќ Bringle said. They assumed the songwriters already had agreed to the change. It was complicated by a foul-up with the rights for the song.Д¬ommittee members had found a version of the hymn with the alternate text in the Celebrating Grace Hymnal, a Baptist hymnal published in 2010. The decision to drop the hymn wasnвЂ™t made lightly, said Bringle.

When the authors refused to authorize the change, which they considered too great a departure from their original words, the committee debated by e-mail whether to include the song with the original lyrics or remove it from the list.

The group had voted for In Christ Alone, a song from the contemporary Christian canon, but altered a lyric from вЂњas Jesus died/the wrath of God was satisfiedвЂќ to вЂњTill on that cross as Jesus died/the love of God was magnified.вЂќ GeorgeвЂ™s article came in response to an April Christian Century article describing вЂњcontroversial issuesвЂќ that confronted the Presbyterian Committee on Congregational Song as it worked on a new hymnal titled Glory to God due out this fall.Д¬ommittee chair Mary Louise Bringle, a hymn writer and professor at Brevard College in North Carolina, said the committee had concluded three-and-a-half years of quarterly meetings when an in-group disagreement arose in January 2012. It involves not only compassion, kindness, and mercy beyond measure (what the New Testament calls grace) but also indignation against injustice and unremitting opposition to all that is evil.вЂќ вЂњGod's love is not sentimental it is holy,вЂќ said George, dean of Samford UniversityвЂ™s Beeson Divinity School. The Irish-born Getty, who now lives in Nashville, Tenn., with his wife, Kristyn, endorsed a вЂњspot onвЂќ First Things article by Baptist theologian Timothy George contending that GodвЂ™s love is inseparable from GodвЂ™s wrath. Songwriter Keith Getty, shown with his wife Kristyn, is the co-author of In Christ Alone, a hymn dropped from a hymnal because he and another co-author objected to proposed changes in its wording.

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