Our God stands like a fortress rock

The continued ‘Rock’ theme from the previous hymn comes in many styles. Behind this contemporary English text which Stephen Orchard wrote in 1991, in preparing for the URC book Rejoice and Sing, lie two languages and cultures, and two current thoughts by the author. The Hebrew of the 46th Psalm, also represented in Praise! by 46A and 46B, is captured by Martin Luther’s German in Ein’ feste Burg, published by Klug in 1529 (at Wittenberg; see below) and famously dubbed by Heine ‘the Marseillaise of the Reformation’. The present writer’s considerations included ‘the actual fortresses in Germany where Luther may have taken refuge when he had been condemned’; but also ‘the sufferings of 20th century Christians, especially in S America, whose faith brought them into mortal danger from violent opponents.’

His working text is surely the greatest hymn by the greatest German hymnwriter, and has itself prompted perhaps a hundred further translations into many other languages. Of these, Miles Coverdale was first in the field in 1539 with Our God is a defence and tower; Thomas Carlyle’s A safe stronghold our God is still has held a kind of rugged pre-eminence since 1831; in America, Frederick H Hedge’s A mighty fortress is our God (1852) is an equally worthy favourite; A fortress sure is God our King was penned by Godfrey Thring in only 3 stzs in 1882; and Michael Perry’s God is our fortress and our rock (also 3) from 1981, with help from Annamarie von Rad, is a 20th-c rendering which bears comparison with the others. Each of these has something the others lack; some pay more attention to the biblical Psalm and others to Luther’s German.

The present editors looked at these among other approaches, and finally selected the 1991 hymn as here. Unlike the 5 referred to above, Stephen Orchard begins with simile (‘… like a fortress’) but soon moves like the rest into metaphor. Unlike Carlyle’s bold paraphrase, his has the merit of inclusive language in stz 4, and fresh expressions with greater intelligibility throughout; ‘hath risen with purpose fell’ often proved a stumbling block. In the authentic spirit of Luther as of Scripture, the word of God is given due significance at all points. This text was first published in R&S, but had been used in a supplementary hymn-book at Palmer’s Green URC, N London, in the 1980s.

Luther’s tune EIN’ FESTE BURG is vital to the effect of the words, though it sounded livelier and less monolithic as first arranged. It was published with the words in Joseph Klug’s Geistliche Lieder (‘Spiritual Songs’) in 1535, and almost certainly in the (lost) 1529 edn. The composer probably incorporated phrases from known folk-tunes (cf 750, last line of music), but from them has produced something new. The familiar arrangement, smoother than the older rhythms, is by J S Bach. The Companion to R&S suggests a slight pause at the end of lines 2 and 4 of the tune, in view of the ‘massive treatment … that both words and tune demand.’ Among many appreciations of the original (German) text and music, Friedrich Blume called the hymn ‘one of the most magnificent examples of the perfect unity of word and tone and of compactness, achievement of an effect, and significance of melodic form’.

b Eisleben, Saxony (Thuringia) 1483, d Eisleben 1546. Latin schools at Magdeburg and Eisenach; Univ of Erfurt (bachelor’s and master’s degrees 1502, 1505); he then took up the study of law. A summer thunderstorm in 1505, in which he called on St Ann for help, led him against family and friends’ advice to fulfil a vow made in fear and become a monk. He was admitted to the Observant Augustinian Friars in Erfurt and at first was a model ‘religious’. But all his outward observances gave him no peace of mind and he longed to know the God of grace, not just his terrible power. Ordained in 1507, he nearly fainted at the awesomeness of his first mass; even more troubled by his conscience, he was advised by Johann von Staupitz simply to love God. ‘But I hate him!’ said ML. Long study of the Bible led him to dwell on the Pss and the phrase ‘the righteousness of God’ in Rom 1:17. But he struggled to find its meaning; eventually, and possibly alone in his monastery tower, he realised that this was secured by Christ, and that he was justified by faith alone. This, he said, was like a new birth, and took place somewhere between 1512 and 1519. Meanwhile he had lectured on the standard medieval textbooks, completed his doctorate, and succeeded Staupitz as Bible lecturer in the Univ of Wittenberg. His lectures on Psalms (twice), Rom, Gal and Heb (1513–19) led him increasingly to question the theory and practice of the RC church: ‘In the course of this teaching the papacy slipped away from me’—ML. In Oct 1517 he posted 95 ‘theses’ for debate on the door of Wittenberg’s Castle Ch, beginning with the suggested replacement of ‘penance’ with a life-changing and lifetime repentance, and implicitly undermining the ‘indulgence’ industry promoted by the Dominican monk Johann Tetzel which promised forgiveness for cash. The theses made Luther a figure of major controversy. Cardinal Cajetan was sent by the pope to correct Luther, who clarified and expanded his views at the 1518 Heidelberg Disputation, winning over Martin Bucer in the process. In 1519 he likewise confronted John Eck at Leipzig, enunciating the ‘sola Scriptura’ (Bible only) slogan, quoting the protestant martyr John Hus with approval, and denying the infallibility of church pronouncements and the primacy of the pope. In 1520 he wrote 3 major works, An Appeal to the Nobility, On the Babylonian Captivity of the Church, and The Freedom of a Christian Man. He was excommunicated but publicly burned the relevant document (or ‘bull’) and a volume of canon law. Then at the 1521 Diet of Worms he was required to retract, a demand producing his watchword: ‘My conscience is captive to the word of God…Here I stand, I can do no other; so help me, God, Amen’.

Luther was then virtually hidden in the Wartburg Castle nr Eisenach by the friendly Elector, prince Frederick III. There he translated the NT into German (1522); his OT appeared in 1534, and together they became for German-speakers what the 1611 AV was soon to be for English ones. In 1525 The Bondage of the Will was Luther’s classic reply to the liberal reformer Erasmus. That year also saw the radical breakaway from Luther by the violent Thomas Müntzer; more happily, ML’s marriage to the runaway nun Catherine de Bora gave him a more balanced way of life, and a Wittenberg household full of both children and student boarders. The Reformation prospered through his numerous sermons, letters, commentaries (notably favouring Galatians which he dubbed ‘my Katie!’) and some 37 hymns; even his eagerly noted table-talk. His later years, beset by many health problems, also produced more aggressive polemics against the pope; and even against his fellow-reformer Ulrich Zwingli and against the Jewish people. Of a great many biographies, Roland Bainton’s Here I stand (reprinted 1990) became a 20th-c classic; of a selection of 21st-c Christian writers asked which books had influenced them most, several mentioned one or another of Luther’s works; see Indelible Ink, ed Scott Larsen 2003.

ML was a skilled musician, and although his use of congregational singing was not new (Hus and his followers sang hymns), he developed vernacular hymnody, with doctrinal and intelligible words sung to user-friendly tunes, as none had done before him and no major Reformation figure did afterwards. His influence on English hymnody, however, was delayed until the 18th c since these islands had taken a more Calvinist path, as reinterpreted by Watts and his followers. British enthusiasm for Luther as a hymnwriter probably reached its peak in the 19th c, with many fine translators, notably women, providing the way in to his texts: see especially the notes on Borthwick, Cox, Massie and Winkworth. While some of Luther’s distinctive (even wayward) views on the canon of Scripture and on sacramental and social issues remain problematic, his crucial role in clarifying justification by faith (‘the article of a standing church’) remain pivotal for all Protestant Christians. So does his pioneering work for intelligible, intelligent and Christ-centred hymn-singing. Nos.456, 888. 29*?, 750*.

b Derby 1942. Trinity Coll Cambridge (MA, PhD). Ordained in 1968 as a Congregational (later, URC) minister, he pastored churches at Abercarn (Caerphilly, nr Cwmbran), Sutton (Surrey, cf notes for Fred Pratt Green) and Welwyn Garden City; he is a gifted linguist, and after Welwyn he worked in ecumenical posts until becoming Principal of Westminster Coll Cambridge. He is a leading opponent of the extending of alcohol licensing—‘for the sake of the victims’—and has chaired the UK Alliance against alcohol abuse. Nos.582, 689, 888.