This Week in Christian History: Popular Preacher Shoots a Man, Vatican and Nazis, Isaac Watts

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Sunday, July 15, 2018

Isaac Watts Born – July 17, 1674

This week marks the anniversary of when Isaac Watts, one of the most famous hymnists in Protestant Christianity, was born in Southampton, Hampshire, England.

Widely considered the "Father of English Hymnody," Watts published his first collection of sacred music in 1706 and then released a book of hymns in 1707.

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"At that time it was the practice of almost every congregation of the Church of England to sing only Old Testament psalms in their public worship," wrote Christian blogger Tim Challies in 2013.

"However, Watts had grown to dislike this because it restricted the Christian from being able to explicitly celebrate in song all those aspects of the gospel that are fulfilled and illuminated in the New Testament."

Watts wrote hundreds of songs, including notable ones like "O God, Our Help in Ages Past," "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross," "We're Marching to Zion," and "Jesus Shall Reign."