Man by Nature, Grace and Glory

Top Text Author Text Info Notes Timeline Page Scans Instances

Lord, what is man? Extremes how wide

Author: John Newton
Published in 29 hymnals

Representative Text

1 Lord, what is man? Extremes how wide
In this mysterious nature join!
The flesh, to worms and dust allied
The soul immortal and divine!

2 Divine at first, a holy flame
Kindled by the Almighty's breath;
Till stained by sin, it soon became
The seat of darkness, strife, and death.

3 But Jesus, Oh! amazing grace!
Affirmed our nature as his own,
Obeyed and suffered in our place,
Then took it with him to his throne.

4 Near to which throne, and high in song,
Man shall his hallelujahs raise;
While wondering angels round him throng,
And swell the chorus of his praise.

The Hartford Selection of Hymns from the most approved authors, 1799

All representative texts • Compare texts • Text size: Regular | Large ^ top

Author: John Newton

John Newton (b. London, England, 1725; d. London, 1807) was born into a Christian home, but his godly mother died when he was seven, and he joined his father at sea when he was eleven. His licentious and tumultuous sailing life included a flogging for attempted desertion from the Royal Navy and captivity by a slave trader in West Africa. After his escape he himself became the captain of a slave ship. Several factors contributed to Newton's conversion: a near-drowning in 1748, the piety of his friend Mary Catlett, (whom he married in 1750), and his reading of Thomas à Kempis' Imitation of Christ. In 1754 he gave up the slave trade and, in association with William Wilberforce, eventually became an ardent abolitionist. After becoming a tide… Go to person page >

^ top

Text Information

Text Information

First Line:	Lord, what is man? Extremes how wide
Title:	Man by Nature, Grace and Glory
Author:	John Newton
Language:	English
Copyright:	Public Domain

^ top

Notes

Lord, what is man? extremes how Wide. J. Newton. [Man by Nature, Grace, and Glory.] Appeared in the Olney Hymns, 1779, Book iii., No. 88, in 6 stanzas of 4 lines, and headed, "Man by Nature, Grace, and Glory." It is the last of the longer hymns given in the Olney Hymns, and would appear to have been designedly placed there as a fitting close to the work, a few "short hymns," and four doxologies only, following. The closing stanza is exceedingly appropriate:—

"Nearest the throne, and first in song,
Man shall his hallelujahs raise;
While wond'ring angels round him throng,
And swell the chorus of his praise."

Although lacking the general interest and popularity of Newton's hymns, it is given in several collections.

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

^ top