If Christ had not been raised from death

This hymn is a straightforward ‘amplified version’ of 1 Corinthians 15:12–20—a text used 90 years earlier in 474. But it was written in response to a similar confusion or contradiction nearly 2000 years later than the disputes among ‘some of you’ at Corinth. Christopher Idle was moved to write it at Limehouse, E London, in May 1984, after what seemed a very public denial of the truth of Christ’s resurrection by the then Bishop of Durham, David Jenkins. Later that year the writer’s parents died within 2 months of each other. The next year it was published in The Church of England Newspaper of 29 March in time for Easter, and sung at the open-air ‘sunrise service’ in the garden of Christ Church Spitalfields, an event shared with Limehouse. The first hymnal to include it was the supplement Anglican Praise in 1987, since when several others have followed.

The words were written for John B Dykes’ tune VOX DILECTI, as they were first published and first sung, and are set here. For the Hymn Society’s 1988 ‘Act of Praise’ at Bristol, John W Wilson added a triple ‘Hallelujah’ as a coda to the whole. This minor Victorian classic, whose strong contrasts (‘a tune of two halves’) have had strong advocates and critics, was composed for Bonar’s similarly structured hymn I heard the voice of Jesus say, and published with it in the A&M Supplement of 1875. The evocative KINGSFOLD (38) has been set to both sets of words, but does not reflect the contrasts in either.

b Bromley, Kent 1938. Eltham Coll, St Peter’s Coll Oxford (BA, English), Clifton Theol Coll Bristol; ordained in 1965 to a Barrow-in-Furness curacy. He spent 30 years in CofE parish ministry, some in rural Suffolk, mainly in inner London (Peckham, Poplar and Limehouse). Author of over 300 hymn texts, mainly Scripture based, collected in Light upon the River (1998) and Walking by the River (2008), Trees along the River (2018), and now appearing in some 300 books and other publications; see also the dedication of EP1 (p3) to his late wife Marjorie. He served on 5 editorial groups from Psalm Praise (1973) to Praise!; his writing includes ‘Grove’ booklets Hymns in Today’s Language (1982) and Real Hymns, Real Hymn Books (2000), and The Word we preach, the words we sing (Reform, 1998). He edited the quarterly News of Hymnody for 10 years, and briefly the Bulletin of the Hymn Society, on whose committee he served at various times between 1984 and 2006; and addressed British and American Hymn Socs. Until 1996 he often exchanged draft texts with Michael Perry (qv) for mutual criticism and encouragement. From 1995 he was engaged in educational work and writing from home in Peckham, SE London, until retirement in 2003; following his return to Bromley after a gap of 40 years, he has attended Holy Trinity Ch Bromley Common and Hayes Lane Baptist Ch. Owing much to the Proclamation Trust, he also belongs to the Anglican societies Crosslinks and Reform, together with CND and the Christian pacifist Fellowship of Reconciliation. A former governor of 4 primary schools, he has also written songs for school assemblies set to familiar tunes, and (in 2004) Grandpa’s Amazing Poems and Awful Pictures. His bungalow is smoke-free, alcohol-free, car-free, gun-free and TV-free. Nos.13, 18, 21, 23A, 24B, 27B, 28, 31, 35, 36, 37, 48, 50, 68, 78, 79, 80, 81, 83, 85, 89, 92, 95, 102, 108, 109, 114, 118, 119A, 121A, 125, 128, 131, 145B, 157, 176, 177, 193*, 313*, 333, 339, 388, 392, 420, 428, 450, 451, 463, 478, 506, 514, 537, 548, 551, 572, 594, 597, 620, 621, 622, 636, 668, 669, 693, 747, 763, 819, 914, 917, 920, 945, 954, 956, 968, 976, 1003, 1012, 1084, 1098, 1138, 1151, 1158, 1159, 1178, 1179, 1181, 1201, 1203, 1204, 1205, 1209, 1210, 1211, 1212, 1221, 1227, 1236, 1237, 1244, 1247, 5017, 5018, 5019, 5020.