A NOBLE THEME, A SKILLFUL WRITER:
Timothy Dudley-Smith and Christian Hymnody
By Scotty Gray and David W. Music
Hope Publishing. 468 Pages. £19.99
ISBN 978 1 933 710 259
Scotty Gray and David W. Music have penned a warm and glowing account of the work of hymn writer Timothy Dudley-Smith.
A Noble Theme, A Skillful Writer is the appropriate title, as Biblical themes, deftly handled by Dudley-Smith, shine out of every page.
The first of the two main sections of the book chronicle the hymn writer’s life, highlighting key works written in each decade. Insights into his vision and methodology are peppered throughout as well as more technical details regarding the words, rhymes and metres of various hymns.
The second section covers similar detail, but changes perspective to examine his body of work from another angle. Each chapter takes a particular feature of Dudley-Smith’s writing and examines the way that specific dimensions such as Biblical themes, liturgy and musicality are worked out in his hymns.
Biblical truth through hymns
I greatly appreciated this book. The sheer volume and sustained quality of Dudley-Smith’s work merits the kind of examination and commentary provided by the authors. The breadth of subject matter tackled in his hymns was striking, and the book made a good job of conveying his deep sense of calling to use the medium of hymns to express Biblical truth and call people to faith in Christ. As someone who also feels a call to write songs for the church, I was provoked by the diligence modelled by Dudley-Smith in tackling such a range of topics, with faithfulness to the teaching of the Bible the constant guiding light.
Space and rest
It was interesting too to read of his interactions with other Bible teachers and theologians who helped sharpen his thinking and writing. Creatives would also be encouraged to read that, as well as diligent struggle, Dudley-Smith prioritised finding a place of space and rest from which to write – something well worth prioritising.
A small quibble would be that the structure of the book left it prone to some repetition and I wonder whether there could have been ways to quicken the pace at times. However, the insights and treasures within are well worth the time and will richly reward the reader.
