Christianity Today: Raising Ebenezer

Christianity Today: Raising Ebenezer

Why we shouldn't purge hymns of unfamiliar words: "This single word [Ebenezer] ushers the worshiper into both the biblical episode and the greater narrative of God's redemptive dealings with his people. It points us, also, to Robinson's dramatic conversion three years before he penned the hymn, inviting us to reflect upon our own stories and to remember God's faithful dealings with us. By removing the word from the hymn, we likely remove it from believers' vocabularies and from our treasury of spiritual resources." (Via JunkYardBlog.)