Isaac Watts is a hero of mine. Not only was he a great hymn-writer, but a model pastor and one of the sharpest theological thinkers of his day. One particular area of his think-ing seems especially relevant for today, not least for our singing. It concerns the place of our feelings (or ‘affections’) in the Christian life.
I was struck by this some time ago whilst reading Graham Beynon’s excellent book Isaac Watts – His Life and Thought. Beynon observes how, in Watt’s day, being rational and intellectual was king. Christians placed strong emphasis upon knowledge over-and-above feelings in matters of faith. Expressing any feelings and experiences of God put you in danger of being labelled an ‘enthusiast’ (not a nice term back then: you did not want to be one of them). Watts sought to (in his own words) ‘vindicate the passionate believer’ by showing our need to both think deeply and feel deeply about the truth of the gospel.
Watts saw that true Christian living comes as our minds engage our hearts, which motivate our wills. (For example: I reason in my mind that Jesus died in my place. This engages my heart to experience God’s love for me, and feel love for Him. This motivates me to live for Him and say ‘no’ to sin.) Neglecting the heart here – and making faith purely a matter of having right doctrine – drains all power from living the Christian life. We can end up hypocritically giving intellectual assent to the truth but finding emotional fulfilment elsewhere. This is not God’s good design. Downplaying the heart impedes faithful Christian living.
