View source for Love Divine, All Loves Excelling

{{Use British English|date=September 2023}}
{{Short description|Christian hymn written by Charles Wesley}}
{{Infobox musical composition
| name                = Love Divine, All Loves Excelling
| type                =
| image               = Charles Wesley.jpg
| alt                 =
| caption             = Charles Wesley
| translation         = <!-- to English, if hymn name is a different language -->
| native_name         = <!-- if hymn name is the translation -->
| native_name_lang    = <!-- two-letter code -->
| composer            =
| genre               = [[Hymn]]
| occasion            =
| text                = [[Charles Wesley]]
| language            =
| written             = 1747
| based_on            = {{Sourcetext|source=Bible|version=King James|book=1 John|chapter=4|verse=16}}
| meter               = 8.7.8.7 D
| melody              = {{plainlist|
* “Love Divine” by [[John Stainer]]
* "Beecher" by [[John Zundel]]
* "[[Hyfrydol]]" by [[Rowland Prichard]]
* "[[Blaenwern]]" by [[William Penfro Rowlands]]
}}
| composed            = <!-- {{Timeline-event|date={{Start date|YYYY|MM|DD|df=y}}|end_date={{End date|YYYY|MM|DD|df=y}}|location=}} -->
| published           =
| misc                = {{Audio sample
| file               = Love Divine All Loves Excelling.oga
| title              = Love Divine, All Loves Excelling
| description        = Sung to the melody "Blaenwern"
}}
}}
"'''Love Divine, All Loves Excelling'''" is a Christian [[hymn]] by [[Charles Wesley]] on [[Christian perfection]].<ref>This is the rubric for the hymn in the 1935 (U.S.) Methodist hymn book.</ref> Judging by general repute, it is among Wesley's finest.  Judging by its distribution, it is also among his most successful.
==Background==
It first appeared in Wesley's ''Hymns for those that Seek, and those that Have Redemption'' (Bristol, 1747),<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UqNhAAAAcAAJ&q=Hymns+for+those+that+Seek,+and+those+that+Have+Redemption |title=Hymns for those that seek, and those that have redemption in the blood of Jesus Christ. The second edition. [By J. and C. Wesley.] |date=1747 |publisher=Felix Farley; sold by T. Trye, London |language=en}}</ref> apparently intended as a Christianization of the song "[[Fairest Isle]]" sung by [[Venus (mythology)|Venus]] in Act 5 of [[John Dryden]] and [[Henry Purcell]]'s semi-opera ''[[King Arthur (opera)|King Arthur]]'' (1691),<ref name="Taylor">{{cite book | title=Companion to The song book of the Salvation Army | last=Taylor | first=Gordon | publisher=The Salvation Army | year=1989 | isbn=0-85412-531-0}}</ref> on which Wesley's first stanza is modelled.
Wesley wrote:
::Love Divine, all Loves excelling,
::Joy of Heaven to Earth come down,
::Fix in us thy humble Dwelling,
::All thy faithful Mercies crown;
Dryden had written:
::Fairest Isle, all Isles Excelling,
::Seat of Pleasures, and of Loves;
::Venus here, will chuse her Dwelling,
::And forsake her Cyprian Groves.<ref>''King Arthur: or, The British Worthy. A Dramatick Opera. Perform'd at the QVEENS Theatre By Their Majesties Servants. Written by Mr. Dryden'' (London : printed for Jacob Tonson, 1691) [Wing D2299] p. 48.</ref>
In Dryden's song, the goddess of love chooses the [[Isle of Britain]] over her native [[Cyprus]]; in Wesley's hymn divine love itself is asked to choose the human heart as its residence over its native heaven.
The last lines of the hymn are likewise adapted from existing material. Wesley's final lines,
::Till we cast our Crowns before Thee,
::Lost in Wonder, Love, and Praise!
evidently derive from (and improve on) [[Joseph Addison|Addison]]'s opening lines from his "Hymn on Gratitude to the Deity"
::When all thy mercies, O my God,
::My rising soul surveys;
::Transported with the view, I'm lost
::In wonder, love, and praise.<ref>''The poetical works of the Right Honourable Joseph Addison, Esq.'' (Glasgow, 1750), p. 198.</ref>
It has been suggested that Wesley's words were written specifically for the tune by [[Henry Purcell|Purcell]] to which Dryden's song had been set, and to which the hymn's words themselves were later set (under the tune name "Westminster") by [[John Wesley]] in his  ''Sacred Melody,'' the "annex" to his ''Select Hymns with tunes annext'' (1761 et seq.).<ref>Watson. ''An Annotated Anthology,'' p. 197; Maurice Frost, ed., ''Historical Companion to Hymns Ancient and Modern'' ([London]: William Clowes, 1962), hymn 205 (p. 258). The 1675 edition of ''Sacred Melody'' is available through ECCO.</ref>
Like many hymns, ''Love Divine'' is loosely Trinitarian in organization: Christ is invoked in the first stanza as the expression of divine love; the Holy Spirit in the second stanza as the agent of sanctification; the Father in the third stanza as the source of life; and the Trinity (presumably) in the final stanza as the joint Creator of the New Creation. Like many hymns, too, this one is a tissue of Biblical quotations, including "[[Alpha and Omega]]" (st. 2) as an epithet of Christ, from Revelation 21:6; the casting of crowns before God's throne (st. 4), from Revelation 4:10; the promise that Christians shall be "changed from glory into glory" (st. 2 and 4), from 2 Corinthians 3:18; as well as other, more general allusions.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=zMg0AWS9c38C] Candy Gunther Brown,
"Singing Pilgrims..." in ''Sing them over again to me: Hymns and Hymnbooks in America,'' ed. by Mark A. Noll and Edith Waldvogel Blumhofer (University of Alabama Press, 2006), p. 200.</ref>
==Textual history==
[[File:The Heavenly Host MET DP802859.jpg|thumb|The hymn's lyrics refer to the [[heavenly host]]: "Thee we would be always blessing / serve thee with thy hosts above".]]
At its first appearance, the hymn was in four stanzas of eight lines (8.7.8.7.D), and this four-stanza version remains in common and current use to the present day, being taken up as early as 1760 in Anglican collections such as those by [[Martin Madan|Madan]] (1760 and 1767), [[Richard Conyers|Conyers]] (1772), and [[Augustus Toplady|Toplady]] (1776); in hymn books associated with
[[George Whitefield|Whitefield]] (1767, 1800) and the Countess of Huntingdon's Connection (1780, and 1800); and in Methodist hymn books slightly outside the mainstream (the ''Select Hymns'' of 1783; Spence's ''Pocket Hymn Books'' of the early 19th century; and the American "Wesleyan" Methodist hymn books).<ref>Julian, ''Dictionary of Hymnology,'' p.  698; ''A Collection of Hymns for the use of the Wesleyan Methodist Connection in America,'' compiled by [[Cyrus Prindle]] (Syracuse, N.Y. : Lucius C. Matlack, 1845), p. 236.</ref>
A second, abridged version (with the second stanza omitted), appeared as early as 1778 in ''Hymns and Psalms for the Service of Fitz-Roy Chapel'' (London, 1778), then in the Wesleyan "Large Hymn Book" of 1780, and thence in many others, chiefly British and predominantly Anglican, but including also many later official Methodist hymn books. A sample collation of 85 hymn books containing some version of this hymn suggests that the abridged version appears in roughly 25% of Protestant hymn books; the full four-stanza version in most of the remainder.<ref>Among the many collections that omit the second stanza are ''Hymns and Psalms for the Service of Fitz-Roy Chapel'' (London, 1778); John Wesley, ''A collection for hymns for the use of the people called Methodists'' ("The Large Hymn Book"), 3rd ed., 1782; ''The Hartford Selection'' (Hartford, Conn., 1802); John Rippon's popular and much reprinted ''Selection,'' consulted in the 'Comprehensive Ed.' (London, c. 1840); ''Parish Hymns'' (Philadelphia, 1848); Thomas Aylward's ''Sarum Hymnal'' (London, 1869); the successors to The Large Hymnal, e.g. ''A collection of hymns for the use of the people called Methodists'' (London, 1877); ''Common praise : Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs for use in the Church of England'' (London, 1879); ''Our own Hymn-book : a Collection of Psalms and Hymns...,'' compiled by C. H. Spurgeon (London: Passmore and Alabaster, 1883; ''A Publication of Hymns by William & Christopher Batty, to which are added a selection from various authors'' (13th ed.; Kendal : Thompson Brothers, 1896); ''The English Hymnal'' (1906 and rev. ed., 1933); ''Hymns ancient and modern,'' std. ed.  (London, 1924); The Presbyterian and Reformed ''Church Hymnary,'' rev. ed. (1927); ''Songs of Praise,'' enlarged ed. (1931); ''The Methodist hymn-book'' (London, 1933); ''The Pilgrim hymnal,'' rev. ed. (Boston, 1935); ''The BBC hymn book'' (Oxford, 1951); ''The Hymn Book of the Anglican Church of Canada'' (1971); ''Hymns Ancient & Modern revised'' (London: William Clowes, [1972]); ''The Hymnal 1985 according to the use of the Episcopal Church'' (New York, 1985); ''Hymns and Psalms'' (London: Methodist Publishing House, 1983); and ''Baptist praise and worship'' (Oxford, 1991).</ref>
===Theologically-motivated alterations===
The omission of the second stanza is consistent with several other loci of textual variation in the hymn in this respect: the passages which are most subject to change tend for the most part to be those that
advance a distinctively Wesleyan "Perfectionist" account of the Christian life—i.e. those that suggest that one can be [[Christian perfection|completely cleansed]] of [[sin]] in this life,<ref name="Taylor" /> by means of a "second blessing" whereby committed and sanctified Christians rest wholly in God and may be said to share the holiness of Christ himself.<ref>Candy Gunther Brown, "Singing Pilgrims..." in
''Sing them over again to me: Hymns and Hymnbooks in America,'' ed. Noll and Blumhofer (2006), pp. 199-200, contrasts the attitudes toward sanctification expressed by this hymn and by Toplady's ''Rock of Ages'' as typical of the Wesleyan/Calvinist divide. Watson, ''Annotated Anthology,'' p. 195 strangely suggests the opposite, that the second stanza was omitted "presumably" because it was not Perfectionist
enough.</ref>
Many—certainly including those of a more Calvinist persuasion, and even perhaps Wesley's brother [[John Wesley|John]]—found this idea troublesome.{{Citation needed|date=April 2009}} Even some fairly innocuous lines ("Let us all thy Life receive," stanza 3) were probably read as suspiciously Perfectionist, hence the common alteration to "Let us all thy ''Grace'' receive."<ref>Beginning, apparently, with John Wesley's "Large Hymn book" of 1780 and its successors, including the British Methodist hymn-book of 1933 and the American Methodist hymnal of 1935. William Taylor, ''Collection of Psalms and Hymns ... for the congregation of Northampton Chapel'' (London, 1777), p. 71, offers another variant, similarly motivated: "let us life and pow'r receive." William Taylor was one of the Countess of Huntingdon's preachers, whose activities led to the expulsion of her chapels from the Church of England.</ref>
The same is probably true of other oft-changed lines. Most of the more enduring alterations occurred in one or another of the hymn books that together constituted the fledgling ecumenical
Evangelical hymnody that emerged in the decades around 1770, partly from the Calvinist wing of the Church of England, partly from [[Calvinistic Methodists]] and their circle; preeminently among them the collections of [[Martin Madan]] (1760 and many subsequent editions), his imitator [[Richard Conyers]] (1772); the more overtly Calvinistic Anglican [[Augustus Toplady]]; the hymn books of erstwhile Wesley ally, [[George Whitefield]]; and those associated with the Countess of Huntingdon's chapels (and their later incarnation as the [[Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion]]). Madan in particular is known for his influential hymn tinkering:
:Madan's knack in reconstructing the work of other hands made his book a permanent influence both for good and evil. A number of familiar hymns still bear the marks of his editorial revision.<ref>Benson, p. 330. "Conyers followed Madan's lead and appropriated fully two thirds of the contents of Madan's Collection" (Benson, p. 331).</ref>
It was doubtless on theological grounds that the line "Finish then thy New Creation" (stanza 4) was often replaced by "''Carry on'' thy (or 'the') new creation," the latter suggesting an ongoing process of sanctification rather than its achievement; and "Let us see thy great Salvation / Perfectly restor'd in Thee," frequently changed to "...''our whole'' salvation / ''secured by'' Thee"), a formulation which also
resolves some ambiguous referents. Wesley's original probably meant (in crude paraphrase) "let us experience the great salvation that you provide, so that we  will be perfected by participation in you";
unease with the ambiguity, and probably also with the theology, led to revised language that if less striking was felt to be clearer and more [[Orthodoxy|orthodox]]. Both of these changes were introduced by Augustus Toplady's collection of 1776, followed by the Countess of Huntingdon's collections (e.g. that of 1780 and 1800).<ref>Augustus Toplady, ''Psalms and hymns'' (London, 1776), pp. 102-103; ''A Collection to be Sung in ... Countess of Huntington's Chapels'' (1780), p. 126; ''A Select Collection of Hymns to be Universally sung in all the Countess of Huntington's Chapels'' (1800). A less radical change, 'thy great salvation ... restored by thee' was introduced by Madan's collection of 1760 and its followers (Martin Madan, ''A Collection of Psalms and Hymns'' (London, 1760 and 1767); Richard Conyers, ''A Collection of Psalms and Hymns,'' (London, 1772)); as well as by George Whitefield's collections (''A collection of Psalms and hymns for Social Worship, extracted from various authors, and published by the Revd. Mr. Dyer'' (London, 1767); George Whitefield, ''A Collection of Hymns for social worship ... for the use of the Tabernacle Congregation'' (1767 and 1800).)</ref>
"Pure and sinless let us be" (stanza 4) was toned down, or at least made less absolute, by alteration to "Pure and ''holy,''" (Toplady 1776 again, followed again by the Countess of Huntingdon 1780 and 1800)
and similar substitutes, especially the very common "Pure, ''unspotted''" (Madan, Conyers, and Whitefield) and "Pure and ''spotless''" (John Wesley's ''Select Hymns for ... all denominations'', 5th ed. (1774) through 9th ed. (1783), followed by his  "Large Hymn Book" (1780), and the Methodist "Pocket Hymn Books.")
The second stanza, when it was not omitted altogether, offered, and continues to offer, two stumbling-blocks for theologically sensitive Christians: line 4 asks "Let us find that Second Rest"; and line 5, "Take away our Power of sinning." The phrase "Second Rest," to those for whom it was not simply obscure, would seem an explicit reference to [[Wesleyan theology|Wesleyan]] "Second Blessing" theology; and the request to be stripped even of the ability to sin doubtless seemed to many unrealistic at best and blasphemous or immoral at worst, as appearing to "be a prayer to take away our free moral agency."<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=UDLNEiK7KvkC] ''Hymn Studies: an Illustrated and Annotated Edition of the Hymnal of the Methodist Episcopal Church,'' by Charles S. Nutter. 4th ed. (N.Y. : Eaton & Mains ; Cincinnati : Jennings & Pye, 1900, c1884),  p. 193.</ref>
<blockquote>Upon the two doubtful lines in the centre of this stanza, that refined critic, [[John William Fletcher|Mr. Fletcher]], of Madeley, has remarked:-- 'Mr. Wesley says second rest, because an imperfect believer enjoys a first, inferior rest; if he did no, he would be no believer.' And of the line, 'Take away the power of sinning,' he asks, 'Is this expression not too strong? Would it not be better to soften it by saying, "Take away the love of sinning?" [or the bent of the mind towards sin.] Can God take away from us our power of sinning without taking away our power of free obedience?'<ref>[[George John Stevenson]], ''The Methodist hymn book, illustrated with biography, history, incident, and anecdote'' (London : S. W. Partridge & Co., [1883]), p. 267.</ref></blockquote>
"Second Rest" is very generally replaced, usually by "thy ''promised'' rest";<ref>Madan 1760 and 1767 and Conyers 1772, Toplady 1776, Whitefield 1767 and 1800, Huntingdon 1780 and 1800, Taylor 1777</ref> or, later, by "''the promis'd rest'';<ref>In many modern American collections, from ''Laudes Domini'' (1884) and ''New Laudes Domini'' (1892) to the armed forces hymnals (''The Hymnal, Army and Navy,'' ed. by Ivan Bennett (US GPO, 1942)), and later Presbyterian, Methodist, and Brethren hymnals. Less common variants include "that promised rest" (''The Wartburg Hymnal for Church, School and Home,'' ed. by O. Hardwig (1918)); "thy sacred rest" (''The Christian Pocket Companion...made use of by the United Baptists in Virginia'' by John Courtney (1802)); "perfect rest" (''The Primitive Methodist Hymn Book'' (London, 1878); and "peace joy and holy rest"(''A New Selection of Seven Hundred Evangelical Hymns..., '' by John Dobell (Morristown, NJ : Peter A. Johnson, 1810)). For a defense of the original "Second Rest" reading, see Robinson, ''Annotations upon Popular Hymns,'' pp. 280-281.</ref> and "the Power of Sinning" by "the ''love'' of sinning" (probably introduced by Maddan 1767, followed by other representatives of
the evangelical hymnody);<ref>Conyers 1772, Toplady 1776, Whitefield 1800, Huntingdon 1780, Taylor 1777, and many subsequent collections, e.g. ''The Hartford Selection'' (1802); ''A New Selection of Hymns especially intended as a supplement to Dr. Watts's Psalms and Hymns,'' 5th ed. (London, 1830); ''Christ in Song : Hymns of Immanuel,'' selected by Philip Schaff (N.Y., 1870); ''Supplement to Dr. Watts's Psalms and Hymns for the use of the Congregation assembling in Call-Lane Chapel, Leeds'' (Leeds, 1850); ''The Evangelical Hymnal'' (St. Louis : Eden, 1919); etc.</ref> or "our ''bent'' of (or 'to') sinning" (originally and still chiefly in Methodist collections).<ref>J. Wesley, ''Select Hymns for ... all denominations,'' 9th ed. (1783);  ''The Methodist Pocket Hymn Book'' (1806, 1808, and 1812); ''A Collection of Hymns for the use of the Methodist Episcopal Church'' (NY, 1821); the more idiomatic "bent to sinning" appeared in later versions, ''A Collection of Hymns for the use of the Methodist Episcopal Church'' (New York, 1849); ''The Primitive Methodist Hymn Book'' (1878);  ''The Methodist Hymnal'' (N.Y., 1935); ''Church Service Hymns,'' compiled by Homer Rodeheaver and George W. Sanville (Winona Lake, IN : Rodeheaver Hall-Mack Co., 1948); etc.</ref>
In gist, editors (particularly Calvinists) were disposed to perceive Wesleyan doctrine (freewill [[Arminianism]]) lurking in the lyrics and to change them accordingly, thus eliciting John Wesley's statement against changes which would make him and his brother accountable for "the nonsense or the doggerel" of others. Several rephrasings of "Love Divine" continue in circulation.
===Abridged versions===
Aside from the Wesleys' own abridgement, other abridged versions include one that combines the first half of the second stanza with the first half
of the third (omitting the remainder of each);<ref>Charles S. Robinson, ''Laudes domini : a selection of spiritual songs ancient and modern'' (N.Y.: Century, 1884); ''The Christian hymn book for the sanctuary and home'' (Dayton, OH: 1872).</ref> another that omits the third stanza, as well as introducing some aesthetic changes that tend toward the bland;<ref>''A New Selection of Seven Hundred Evangelical Hymns...,'' by John Dobell (Morristown, NJ : Peter A. Johnson, 1810); ''Village hymns for social worship, selected and original. Designed as a supplement to the Psalms and hymns of Dr. Watts,'' by Asahel Nettleton (N.Y. : E. Sands and Mahlon Day, 1838) ; ''Social hymn and tune book'' [Presbyterian] (1865). The latter also (e.g.) alters "Alpha and Omega be, / End of Faith as its Beginning, / Set our Hearts at Liberty"
to "Take our load of guilt away / End the work of thy beginning / Bring us to eternal day".</ref> another that combines the first half of stanza 1 with the first half of stanza 2 into a single new stanza 1 and retains a modified version of stanza 4 as a new stanza 2;<ref>''Sacred Songs for Social Worship'' (Oberlin: E. J. Goodrich, 1875).</ref> and yet another that omits the fourth.<ref>''The new Make Christ King'' (Chicago, c. 1920).</ref>
Abbreviated [[Unitarianism|Unitarian]] and [[Universalist]] versions of the
hymn are typical of those traditions<ref>Louis Benson, ''The English Hymn,'' pp. 461, 467.</ref>
in the radical alterations they make, replacing most references to
Christ and all references to [[Trinitarian]] orthodoxy, as well as anything else they regarded as offensive to a
universal and rational religion; typical too in that they therefore<ref>"In the Hymns which [the editors] have retained..., they have...made
such alterations as...principles required.... In many instances..., the
Hymns are essentially different from what they originally were.... As it
would be useless, and indeed almost impracticable, to specify all
the changes which have been made on the originals, the Editors
leave the Hymns ... without reference to their respective Authors" -- [https://archive.org/stream/acollectionpsal00carpgoog#page/n12/mode/1up]
''A Collection of Psalms and Hymns for Social and Private Worship'' (Exeter : P. Hedgeland, 1812), p. vi.</ref>
replace "Charles Wesley" as the author in favor of "anonymous." In one American Universalist
version from 1841 (and similarly in the Unitarian hymnal of 1872<ref>''Hymn and tune book for the church and home : and services for congregational worship'' (Boston: American Unitarian Association, 1872), no. 13 (p.6)</ref>) the four-stanza Trinitarian hymn to Christ and his Spirit
is transformed into a two-stanza paean to God narrowly addressed as "Father...almighty";
<ref>''A Collection of Psalms and Hymns for the use of Universalist Societies'' by Hosea Ballou (Boston, 1841).</ref>
in another, widely but mistakenly attributed to Yorkshire Baptist John Fawcett<ref>E.g. by Charles Seymour Robinson, ''Annotations upon Popular Hymns'' (N.Y. : Hunt & Eaton, 1893), p. 76; also in the same author's ''Laudes Domini'' (1884) and ''New Laudes Domini'' (1892); as well as ''The Christian Hymn Book for the Sanctuary and Home'' (Dayton, OH: 1872), and ''Psalms and Hymns ... for the use of the Baptist denomination'' (London, 1888).</ref>
under the title "Praise to Thee, Thou Great Creator," "Love Divine" serves as a source for a cento, or
pastiche, combined with the
final stanza of Fawcett's genuine hymn, "Lo! the bright
and rosy morning" (1782), this combination
appearing apparently for the first time in
the Exeter Unitarian ''Collection of Psalms and Hymns for Social and Private Worship'' (1812).<ref>Hymn no. 10. See John Julian, ''Dictionary of Hymnology,'' 904-905.</ref>
::Father! Source of all compassion!
::Pure, unbounded grace is thine:
::Hail, the God of our salvation!
::Praise him for his love divine!
:: . . . .
::Joyfully on earth adore him,
::Till in heaven our song we raise:
::There [var. Then] enraptur'd fall before him,
::Lost in wonder, love, and praise.
More recent times have in general been more respectful of Wesley's
original, with the exception of those collections that by policy
eschew the second-person singular, replacing "thee" and "thou"
with "you" and sometimes introducing other changes in order
to maintain meter and rhyme.<ref>E.g. ''Baptist praise and worship'' (Oxford, 1991).</ref>
Another exception is the two-stanza adaptation by Carroll Thomas Andrews (1969) that has
been reprinted in several Roman Catholic hymn books set to the tune 'Hyfrydol.' Of the sixteen lines in Andrews' version, only
three come directly from Wesley's hymn, and another four or five perhaps owe something to the original,
but the theme and force of the original are wholly lost.<ref>''Worship,'' (Chicago : GIA Publications, 1971); reprinted in
''Christian Prayer : the Liturgy of the Hours'' (New York : Catholic Book Publishing Group, 1976), no. 40.</ref>
==Popularity==
Judging by general repute, it is among Wesley's finest: "justly famous and beloved, better known than almost any other hymn of Charles Wesley."<ref>''An Annotated Anthology of Hymns,'' ed. with commentary by J. R. Watson (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002), p. 196.</ref> Judging by its distribution, it is also among his most successful: by the end of the 19th century, it is found in 15 of the 17 hymn books consulted by the authors of ''Lyric Studies.''<ref>''Lyric Studies: a Hymnal Guide, containing ... notes critical, historical, and illustrative,'' I. Dorricott and T. Collins (London : J. Toulson and T. Danks, [1890?]), p. 309.</ref> On a larger scale, it is found almost universally in general collections of the past century, including not only [[Methodist]] and [[Anglican]] hymn books and commercial and [[ecumenical]] collections, but also hymnals published by [[Reformed tradition|Reformed]], [[Presbyterian]], [[Baptist]], [[Church of the Brethren|Brethren]], [[Seventh-day Adventist]], [[Lutheran]], [[Congregationalist]], [[Pentecostal]], and [[Roman Catholic]] traditions, among others including the [[Churches of Christ]].<ref>Appearing in over 2000 hymnbooks, published by said denominations from 1747 to 2011. See {{cite web |title=Love Divine, All Loves Excelling |url=https://hymnary.org/text/love_divine_all_love_excelling_joy_of_he |website=Hymnary.org |access-date=13 February 2021 |language=en}}</ref> Specifically, it appears in 1,328 of the North American hymnals indexed by the online ''Dictionary of North American Hymnology'', comparable to [[John Newton|Newton]]'s "Amazing Grace" (1,036), Wesley's "O for a Thousand Tongues" (1,249), and [[Isaac Watts|Watts]]' "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross" (1,483), though still well short of [[Augustus Toplady|Toplady]]'s "Rock of Ages" (2,139) or [[Charles Wesley|Wesley]]'s own "Jesu, Lover of my Soul" (2,164).{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}
The hymn, initially sung by small Methodist societies, is now commonly performed at British state occasions, such as the [[wedding of Prince Charles and Diana]]<ref>{{cite web |title=What classical music was played at Charles and Diana's Royal Wedding? |url=https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/prince-charles-lady-diana-wedding-music/ |website=Classic FM |publisher=[[Global Media & Entertainment]] |access-date=15 February 2024 |language=en |date=30 July 2021}}</ref> and the [[funeral of Queen Elizabeth II]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=2022-09-19 |title=Queen Elizabeth's funeral: Order of service at Westminster Abbey |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-62948934 |access-date=2022-09-21}}</ref>
==Musical settings==
[[File:John Zundel.jpg|thumb|John Zundel, composer of the hymn tune "Beecher"]]
In current use, the hymn seems to be set most often, particularly in American hymnals, to the tune Beecher by [[John Zundel]] (1815–1882; from
''Christian Heart Songs,'' 1870);<ref>E.g. in ''Hymnal : Church of the Brethren'' (Elgin, IL, 1925); ''The Methodist Hymn-book'' (London, 1933); ''The Methodist Hymnal'' (N.Y., 1935); ''The Pilgrim Hymnal [Congregationalist]'' (Boston, 1935); ''The [Presbyterian] Hymn Book'' (Richmond, VA, 1955); ''Trinity Hymnal'' [Reformed Presbyterian] (Philadelphia : Great Commission Publications, 1961); ''The American Lutheran Hymnal'' (Columbus, OH, 1930); and many other and subsequent collections.</ref> and to the stately Welsh tunes "[[Hyfrydol]]" by [[Rowland Hugh Prichard]] (1811–1887);<ref>Walford Davies, ''A Students' Hymnal for Use in Schools and Colleges'' (London : Oxford University Press, 1923); ''The Church Hymnary [Presbyterian],'' rev. ed. (1927); ''The [Presbyterian] Hymn Book'' (Richmond, VA, 1955); ''The Hymn Book of the Anglican Church of Canada and the United Church of Canada'' (1971); ''Lutheran worship'' (St. Louis : Concordia, 1982); ''The United Methodist Hymnal'' (Nashville, 1989); ''The Presbyterian Hymnal'' (Louisville, KY : Westminster / John Knox Press, 1990); ''Songs of Fellowship, vol. 1'' (Eastbourne : Kingsway, 1991); ''Sacred song 2007'' (Collegeville, MN : Liturgical Press, 2007).</ref>
"[[Blaenwern]]" by [[William Penfro Rowlands]] (1860–1937);<ref>''Grace Hymns'' (London : Grace Publications Trust, 1977); ''Hymns and Psalms'' (London: Methodist Publishing House, 1983); ''Songs of Fellowship, vol. 1'' (Eastbourne : Kingsway, 1991); Peter Horrobin and Greg Leaver, ed., ''Complete Mission Praise'' (London : Marshall Pickering, 1999).</ref> and "Moriah"<ref>''The English Hymnal'' (London: Oxford University Press, 1906?; rev. ed. 1933); Percy Dearmer, ed., '' Songs of Praise,'' enlarged ed. (London : Oxford University Press, 1931).</ref>—the latter two especially in Great Britain.
One of several tunes known, inevitably, as "Love Divine," that by Sir [[John Stainer]], appeared with the hymn first in the 1889 Supplement to ''[[Hymns Ancient and Modern]]'' and has persisted into several
modern British collections;<ref>''Hymns Ancient and Modern,'' std. ed.  (London, 1924); ''Hymns Ancient and Modern Revised,'' (London, 1972); ''Hymns and Psalms'' (London: Methodist Publishing House, 1983); ''Songs of Fellowship, vol. 1'' (Eastbourne : Kingsway, 1991). Beecher is also known as "Love Divine" (e.g. in the 1933 and 1935 Methodist hymn books; an earlier "Love Divine" in Nettleton's ''Village hymns for Social Worship'' (N.Y., 1838) is unidentified.</ref> Airedale, by Sir C. V. Stanford, appeared in the 1924 edition
of ''Hymns A & M'' but seems confined there,<ref>''Hymns Ancient and Modern,'' std. ed.  (London, 1924); ''Hymns Ancient and Modern Revised,'' (London, 1972).</ref> as does Bithynia (by [[Samuel Webbe]], 1740–1816; from Webbe's ''Collection,'' 1792) in several Methodist collections.<ref>''A Collection of Hymns for the use of the People called Methodists'' (London, 1877); ''The Methodist Hymn-book'' (London, 1933).</ref> There has also been at least one modern attempt to revive the hymn's original tune, "Westminster."<ref>''Hymns and Psalms'' (London: Methodist Publishing House, 1983).</ref>
Other settings include
*  "Love Divine" - George Le Jeune, 1887<ref>''The Hymnal : published by authority of The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America'' (Philadelphia, 1933).</ref>
*  "Love Divine, All Loves Excelling" - [[William Lloyd Webber]], 1964, (Music Sales)
*  "Love Divine, All Loves Excelling" - [[Howard Goodall]], 2000
*  "Lugano" (adapted from a melody in ''Catholic Hymn Tunes,'' 1849)<ref>''The English Hymnal,'' (rev. ed.) (London : Oxford University Press, 1933).</ref>
*  "Exile" (English traditional melody, harm. Martin Shaw)<ref>Percy Dearmer, ed., '' Songs of Praise,'' enlarged ed. (London : Oxford University Press, 1931).</ref>
*  "O Gesegnetes Regieren" (from ''Gnadauer Choralbuch'')<ref>''Wartburg Hymnal for Church, School and Home,'' ed. by O. Hardwig (Chicago : Wartburg Publishing House, 1918).</ref>
*  "Falfield" (by Arthur Sullivan)<ref>''Church Hymns with Tunes,'' ed. by Arthur Sullivan (London : SPCK ; NY : E. & J. B. Young, 1898).</ref>
*  "Autumn" (variously described as a "Spanish melody, from Marechio"<ref>''Hymns and Songs of Praise for Public and Social Worship,'' ed. by Roswell D. Hitchcock, Zachary Eddy, Philip Schaff (N.Y. : A. S. Barnes & Co., 1874).</ref> or as a "Scotch melody"<ref>''The New Choir and Congregation...,'' by George F. Root (Cincinnati, OH : John Church, 1879), p. 157.</ref>) or the "substantially similar" "Jaynes."<ref>In the first edition of the American Presbyterian ''Social hymn and tune book'' according to a note in the 10th ed. (Philadelphia, 1865).</ref>
*  "Tabernacle" (unidentified)<ref>Asahel Nettleton, ''Village Hymns for Social Worship, selected and original'' (N.Y. : E. Sands and Mahlon Day, 1838).</ref>
*  "O du liebe" (''Musikalischer Christenschatz,'' Basel, 1745)<ref>''The Lutheran hymnal'' (St. Louis, MO : Concordia, 1941).</ref>
*  "In Babilone" (Dutch trad. melody, harm. by Winfred Douglas, 1918)<ref>''The Pilgrim hymnal,'' rev. ed. (Boston, 1935).</ref>
*  "Ingatestone" (unidentified)<ref>''The Methodist Pocket Hymn Book'' (New York, 1808 and 1812).</ref>
*  "[[Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser|Austria]]" [[Joseph Haydn]];<ref>''Methodist Hymn and Tune Book'' (Toronto, ON : Methodist Book and Publishing House, c1894), no. 540.</ref> perhaps identical to "Vienna" (unidentified)<ref>John Rippon, ''A Selection of Hymns from the Best Authors...,'' comprehensive ed. (London, undated, c. 1840).</ref>
*  "Jay"<ref>''Social hymn and tune book'' [Presbyterian] (1865).</ref>
*  "Otto" (H.B. Oliphant)<ref>''The Hymnal of the Reformed Church in the United States'' (Cleveland, OH, 1890).</ref>
*  "Little" (attributed to an "Old Melody")<ref>Lowell Mason and George James Webb, ''The National Psalmist : a Collection of the Most Popular and Useful Psalm and Hymn Tunes...'' (Boston, 1848), no. 206.</ref>
*  "Bethany" (Henry Smart)<ref>1st tune given by ''Hymns and tunes of the Presbyterian Church of Wales'' (Carnarvon, 1900).</ref>
*  "Lux Eoi" (Arthur Sullivan)<ref>3rd tune given by ''Hymns and tunes of the Presbyterian Church of Wales'' (Carnarvon, 1900).</ref>
*  "Whitefield" (unidentified)<ref>''Psalms and hymns adapted to social, private, and public worship in the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America'' (Philadelphia : Presbyterian Board of Publication, 1843), no. 345 (p. 249)</ref>
*  "Ode to Joy" (Ludwig van Beethoven).
== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist|30em}}
=== Sources ===
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=0FQuAAAAYAAJ] Benson, Louis F. ''The English hymn : its Development and Use in Worship.'' N.Y.  : Charles Doran, 1915.
* Bradley, Ian.  ''The Book of Hymns''.  Testament Books, 1989. ({{ISBN|0-517-16241-5}})
* Frost, Maurice. ''Historical Companion to Hymns Ancient and Modern.'' [London]: William Clowes, 1962.
* [http://www.hymnary.org/text/love_divine_all_loves_excelling Hymnary.org], site of the Dictionary of North American Hymnology.
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=aBDpAAAAIAAJ] Julian, John. ''A Dictionary of Hymnology setting forth the Origin and History of Christian Hymns of all Ages and Nations ....'' New York : Charles Scribner's Sons, 1892.
* Watson, J. R. ''An Annotated Anthology of Hymns.'' Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002.
==External links==
{{wikisource|Love Divine, All Loves Excelling}}
* [http://www.congsing.org/love_divine.html An analysis of the poem and tune]
* The hymn, sung to two different tunes, by the [[Choir of King's College, Cambridge]]: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOLcOPXJE34 Blaenwern] and [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpKP2sa1ZRM Stainer]
[[Category:English Christian hymns]]
[[Category:Hymns by Charles Wesley]]
[[Category:18th-century hymns]]
[[Category:Hymns in The New English Hymnal]]