And Can It Be
"And Can It Be That I Should Gain?" is a Christian hymn written by Charles Wesley. Diarmaid MacCulloch suggests that the hymn is one of the best-loved of Wesley's six thousand hymns.[1] It is also the source for the 2003 song "You Are My King (Amazing Love)" which reached No. 1 on the Billboard Christian songs chart.
| And Can It Be | |
|---|---|
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| Genre | Hymn |
| Written | 1738 |
| Text | Charles Wesley |
| Based on | Psalm 145 |
| Meter | 8.8.8.8 (L.M.) |
| Melody | "Sagina" by Thomas Campbell |
"And Can It Be" was written in 1738 to celebrate Wesley's conversion, which he regarded as having taken place on 21 May of that year.[2] The lines "My chains fell off, my heart was free/I rose, went forth, and followed thee" are based on the story of the Liberation of Saint Peter in the New Testament.[3]
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References
- Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years, p. 754.
- Kenneth C. Kinghorn, Wesley: A Heart Transformed Can Change the World, p. 33.
- Blair Gilmer Meeks, Expecting the Unexpected: An Advent Devotional Guide (Upper Room Books, 2006), p. 38.
External links
- And Can It Be, That I Should Gain? entry at Hymnary.org
- Clarke, Martin (2016). “And can it be”: analysing the words, music and contexts of an iconic Methodist hymn. Yale Journal of Music and Religion, 2(1), article no. 2.
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