Hymnar or Hymnal is the name by which is designated a Church book containing hjinns. Such a hymnar, according to Gennadius, was compiled by Pau- liiuis of Nola (q. v.). — Walcott, Sacred Ai-chaol. p. 320; Augusti, Christl. Archaol. iii, 710 sq.
Hymnarium. See Hymnak.
Hymnology. " Poetry and its twin sister music are tlie most sublime and spiritual arts, and are much more akin to the genius of Christianity, and minister far more copiously to the purposes of devotion and edifi- cation than architecture, painting, and sculpture. They employ word and tone, and can speak thereby more di- rectly to the spirit than the plastic arts by stone and color, and give more adequate expression to the whole wealth of the world of thought and feeling. In the Old Testament, as is well known, they were essential parts of divine worship ; and so they have been in all ages, and almost all branches of the Christian Church. Of the various species of religious poetrj', the hymn is the earliest and most important. It has a rich history, in which the deepest experiences of Christian life arc stored. But it attained fidl bloom (as we will notice be- low) in the evangelical Church of the German and Eng- lish tongue, where it, like the Bible, became for the first time truly the possession of the people, instead of being restricted to priest or choir" (Schaff, Ch. Ilistori/). '"A hymn is a lyrical discourse to the feelings. It shoidtl either excite or express feeling. The recitation of his» torical facts, descriptions of scenerj^, narrations of e\ents, meditations, may all tend to inspire feeling. Hymns are not to be excluded, therefore, because they are deficient in Ivrical form or in feeling, if experience shows that they have power to excite pious emotions. Not many of Newton's hymns can be called poetical, yet few hymns in the English language arc more usefid" (Beecher, Preface to the Plymouth Collection). The hymn, as such, is not intended to be didactic, and yet it is one of the surest means of conveying "sound doctrine," and
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of perpetuating it in the Church. The Greek-and Latin fatliers well understood this. Bardesanes (see below) " iliffused his Gnostic errors in Syriac hymns ; and till that language ceased to be tlie living organ of thought, the Syrian fathers adopted this mode of incidcating truth "in metrical compositions. The hymns of Arias were great favorites, and contributed to spread his pe- culiar doctrines. Chrj'sostom found the hymns of Arian worship so attractive that he took care to counteract the effect of them as much as possible by providing the Catholic Church with metrical compositions. Augus- tine also composed a hymn in order to check the errors of the Donatists, whom he represents as making great use of newlj'-composed hymns for the propagation of their opinions. The writings of Ephraem Svtus, of the 4th century, contain hymns on various topics, relating chiefly to the religious questions of the day which agi- tated the Church." Yet a mere setting forth of Chris- tian doctrine in verse does not constitute a hymn ; the thoughts and the language of the Scriptures must be re- produced in a IjTical wa}^ in order to serve the needs of song. The most popular and lasting hymns are those which are most lyrical in form, and at the same time most deeply penetrated with Christian life and feeling. Nor can fii/mns, in the proper sense of the word, be other than popular. The Romish Church discourages congre- gational worship, and therefore she produces few hjmins, notwithstanding the number of beautiful religious com- positions wl^ch are to be found in her offices, and the fine metrical productions of the ]Middle Ages, of which more in a later portion of this article. Hymns for Prot- estants, being " composed for congregational use, must express all the varieties of emotion common to the Christian. Thej' must include in their wide range the trembling of the sinner, the hope and joy of the believer; they must sound the alarm to the impenitent, and cheer the afllicted ; they must summon the Church to an ear- nest following of her Redeemer, go down with tlie dying to the vale of death, and make it vocal with the notes of triumph ; they must attend the Christian in every step of his life as a heavenly melody. There can be nothing esoteric in the hymn. Besides this, the hymn, skUfully linked with music, becomes the companion of a Chris- tian's solitary hours. It is the property of a good lyric to exist in the mind as a spiritual presence ; and thus, as a ' hidden soul of harmony,' it dwells, a soul in the soul, and rises, often unsought, into distinct conscious- ness. The worldly Giithe adxised, as a means of mak- ing life less commonplace, that one shoidd ' every day, at least, hear a little song or read a good poem.' Hap- pier he who, from his abundant acquaintance with Christian IjtIcs, has the song Avithin him ; who can fol- low the purer comisel of Paul, and ' speak to himself in hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in his heart to the Lord' (Eph. v, 19)" {Methodist Quar- terbj, Jidy, 1849). For the vocal execution of hymns CA a part of Church service, see Singing; and for their instrumental accompaniments, see jMusic.