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♪ We sing our hymn, amen. ♪

Man, I love the energy.

When the vocals
start to layer,

particularly on that last
chorus, I think that's like,

Those guys are the hit
machine singer songwriters,

Chris Tomlin and Ben Fielding.

And that's not just any
song they're working on.

They're rearranging the
oldest Christian hymn

ever discovered, complete
with a nearly 2000 year old

lyric and melody.

It's ancient, it's in Greek,

and it's been buried
in Egypt a long time.

Our plan is to
bring it back to life.

We're on a historical
and musical journey

from the sands of Egypt
to America's music capital,

from Australian creative spaces
to English thinking spaces.

With the help of people who
know what they're talking about,

we'll be exploring sacred
songs and modern hits,

ancient history and
contemporary markets.

We'll learn from
time-honoured traditions

and state of the art production.

Our goal is to
give back to the world

a song the church hasn't
sung for almost two millennia.

This is The First Hymn project.

My name's John Dickson.

Now I'm a professor specialising
in the history of Christianity.

But before I was a nerd,
I was a wannabe musician,

touring and recording
full-time with my best mates

in a very 90s rock band.

You don't need the details.

All that to say,
I have both an academic

and a personal interest

in seeing this
ancient hymn resurrected.

Our story begins
in one of the most

ancient cities in the world.

Cairo is the modern-day
capital of Egypt.

It was officially founded
just a thousand years ago,

but at its edges are
the ruins of Memphis,

Egypt's ancient capital.

That part of the city
goes back 4,000 years

to the days of the pharaohs.

I love an old cafe and
this one takes the cake.

This is El-Fishawy in Cairo,

and it's been managed
by the same family since 1773.

That's when America was
still a British colony.

It's a small reminder of
just how old this country is.

The region has been
strategic for centuries,

partly because it's at the
juncture of the Nile Valley

and the Nile Delta.

That's upper Egypt in the south

and lower Egypt in the north,

where the mighty Nile River

concludes its 4,000 mile journey

at the Mediterranean Sea.

People have flocked here for
centuries, and they still do.

More than 20 million people

live in the
Cairo metro area today,

making it the Middle East's
demographic centre for Islam.

This is the Great
Mosque of Muhammad Ali Pasha,

a governor appointed
by the Ottoman Empire

to rule Egypt in
the early 19th century.

It's also called the Alabaster
Mosque, for obvious reasons.

Egypt has a long and
varied religious history,

but nowadays 90% of
the country is Muslim,

100 million worshippers.

But the country is also home
to one of the oldest

branches of Christianity.

Only about 10% of
Egyptians are Christians,

and most of them belong to the
very ancient Coptic Church.

St Mark's Cathedral is named
for St Mark the Evangelist,

the author of the Gospel of
Mark in the New Testament.

He was a companion of both
the Apostles Peter and Paul.

Church tradition says Mark
arrived in Alexandria from Rome

around the year 60 during
the reign of Emperor Nero,

who was no fan
of Christianity.

The oldest Christian school
or university that we know of

was established at least
as early as the year 180.

We even know the names and
still have some of the writings

of the heads of this school;
Pantanous, Clement and Origen.

These were all highly
trained philosophers

who converted to Christianity,

and in the face
of staunch opposition

from Roman authorities,

tried to demonstrate
that Jesus Christ

was the fulfilment
of everything

Greco-Roman
culture was longing for.

They had mixed success.

Roman authorities
found Christians in

this period really annoying,

not just because Christianity
was rapidly expanding,

but because Christians
refused to worship

the local Greek
and Roman gods,

and so they were
seen as culturally

subversive, even disloyal.

And sometimes this
annoyance spilled over

into actual violence.

We know of one
major riot here in Egypt

that resulted in the clubbing
to death of many Christians,

including the local
bishop named George.

They grabbed
George out of his church,

strapped him to a camel
and beat him to a pulp.

And then they set him on
fire, along with the camel.

Stories of early Christian
persecution and martyrdom

have sometimes been exaggerated,

but all historians agree
things reached a fever pitch

between Emperor Decius
in the year 250

and Emperor Diocletian in 303.

Many Christians,
both leaders and laypeople,

were executed in this period,
including here in Egypt.

One of Emperor Diocletian's
decrees targeted what he thought

was the key to Christian
growth: their writings,

"All Christian books",
he said,

"were to be seized and
destroyed".

This is an ancient
Christian codex,

the precursor to the book.

It's basically
papyrus leaves cut to

shape, sewn together,

and then bound in
something sturdy, like

these leather book covers.

The interesting thing is
we know that Christians

were the first to
popularise the book form

over the scrolls
we normally associate

with the ancient world.

And the reason
for this is that books

were far more transportable
than a box of scrolls.

And one thing we know about
Christians in this period,

they were constantly
on the move,

trying to transport
their faith and their

books to further lands.

And on one piece of
papyrus from this period,

we have a Christian hymn,
complete with musical notation.

We not only know
what Christians were

teaching in
these early centuries,

we know what
they were singing.

But for this,
we have to travel south.

Our destination is Oxyrhynchus,

about another 100 or
so kilometres from here.

And I don't deny,
I'm pretty excited.

For years, I've been
reading about this place

and the stuff they've found
there, and now I get to go.

It was a thriving
metropolis in Roman times,

but I'm preparing myself for
nothing but sun-baked ruins

and ancient rubbish dumps,

which I still quite like.

Oxyrhynchus has a long history,

stretching back to the
20th Pharaonic dynasty

of the New Kingdom
period, roughly 1100 BC.

The town was originally
known as Per-Medjed

At first, it was a
kind of military station

designed to protect
vital caravan routes.

Dr. Esther Pons
is the head of the

Department of
Egyptian Antiquities

and the Near East at Spain's
National Archaeological Museum.

Archaeologically speaking,
she's the boss here

and a wonderful host.

Alexander the Great
conquered Egypt in 332 BC.

It was a cultural
turning point,

transforming Egypt
and cities like this one

into thoroughly
Hellenistic or Greek domains.

Local Greek speakers call
this place Oxyrhynchopolis,

the city or polis of the
sharp-nosed fish,

the Oxyrhynchus.

And you can just make
out the little guy here.

Now, locals actually
worship this fish as a god,

and there are some
bizarre ancient myths

about what he got up to.

But it's not
exactly family-friendly,

so I'll leave
you to Google that.

The original city went
about two kilometres this way

and another two
kilometres that way.

Over 50,000
people once lived here,

making it the second-largest
city in Egypt at the time.

The population
enjoyed a fusion of

Greek language and learning,

combined with Egyptian
funeral rites and deities.

Sometime in the
second century,

Christians arrived here
with their strange notions,

not only that there's
just one god,

but that this god had entered
the world in a concrete way

in the life of a man from
Nazareth, 400 miles north.

And it remains one of the
mysteries of ancient history

that Christians without
any power or armies or wealth

were able to
persuade so many people

to abandon the
traditional gods,

Serapis, Osiris,
the long-nosed fish,

and worship Jesus Christ.

In the late Roman
Empire,

the so-called
Byzantine period,

a number of monasteries for
monks and nuns

were built
outside the city walls,

making Oxyrhynchus a
significant Christian centre.

All of that changed with
the Muslim conquest of Egypt

in the 640s AD.

It brought to an end
seven centuries of Roman rule.

Oxyrhynchus began to shrink,

and by the Middle Ages, it was
little more than a ruin.

The British
conquered Egypt in 1882,

partly motivated by
protecting their interests

in the shipping
lanes of the Suez Canal.

British control
paved the way for British

academics to research,
some would say to plunder,

Egypt's hidden treasures.

In 1897,
two Oxford scholars,

Bernard Grenfell
and Arthur Hunt,

decided to mount
an expedition to the

once great city
of Oxyrhynchus.

Grenfell and Hunt were
particularly interested

in finding papyri,
the basic writing material

of the Roman world.

So, the locals brought them
out here to the edge of town,

to the rubbish dumps.

Grenfell wasn't
super impressed.

In fact,
he wrote in his diary,

"My first impressions on
examining the site

were not very favourable.

"The rubbish mounds were
nothing but rubbish mounds."

He soon realised, though,
that he had chanced upon

the greatest discovery
of ancient texts ever.

Those first few scraps
of papyrus quickly revealed

an entire
discarded ancient archive.

"The flow of papyri soon became
a torrent," Grenfell wrote.

"Merely turning up the
soil with one's boot

would frequently
disclose a layer".

Hey, Siri,
what's the high today?

"The high temperature will
be 36 degrees Celsius today".

And it feels it.

This was the key to the
discovery of these documents.

Paper dies in the damp,
but it thrives in the

hot, dry conditions of Egypt.

I'm no fan of 100
degrees Fahrenheit,

but papyrus loves it.

Grenfell and
Hunt employed locals to

carefully store the papyri,

but they could hardly keep
pace with the rate of discovery,

and they were
running out of containers.

In the end,
they uncovered more than

half a million
scraps of papyri,

spanning the Greek,
Roman and Islamic periods.

This historical gold mine
included letters, contracts,

official records, plays,
poetry and philosophy,

as well as pages
of the New Testament.

It's impossible to overstate

how much the Oxyrhynchus papyri

have helped us understand
the ancient world.

Our focus is on just
one scrap of papyrus,

uncovered here in 1918.

It's not even a page, really,

it's just 30 centimetres
by 5 centimetres,

but it provides
amazing early evidence,

not only of the beliefs
and spread of Christianity,

but also of its music.

Oxyrhynchus is
the home of what we've

come to call The First Hymn,

the earliest Christian
song with musical notation.

Its Greek words
and melody sound strange

to our 21st century ear,

but the song
must have been popular

amongst Egypt's
early Christians.

It might have
been sung in people's

houses, in marketplaces
and, of course,

in churches like
this giant basilica,

built to hold 1,000 people.

The song hasn't been heard
around here for many centuries.

I thought I'd have a
go at bringing it home.

At the time,
Grenfell and Hunt

had little idea of
what they'd uncovered.

The fragment was
catalogued - number 1786 -

packed in a biscuit tin
alongside other papyri

and sent here to the
University of Oxford.

The University of
Oxford is one of the

oldest in the world.

It's been educating
English speakers

and Latin speakers before that

for over 900 years.

These lovely doorways were
once the actual entrances

to the various subjects
taught here at Oxford.

This, of course,
is the School of Logic.

And next door is the School
of Astronomy and Rhetoric,

which is a very weird
combination of subjects.

I love this
guy's face right here.

This is now the Bodleian
gift shop next time you're here.

And over here is the Schola
Musicae, the School of Music.

Now, Oxford's medieval
setting is our doorway

to something much,
much older,

to the first Christian
hymn with musical notation.

Scholars call
it Papyrus Oxyrhynchus,

catalog number 1786,
P. Oxy 1786.

Along with literally
thousands of other bits of paper

from the ancient
world, our P. Oxy 1786

is stored safely here
at the Sackler Library,

or more precisely, up in the
papyrology rooms of Level 1.

This is home to
the world's most

extensive collection
of ancient Greek papyri.

Although they recently
changed the name

to the Bodleian Art, Archaeology
and Ancient World Library,

because of
the billionaire Sackler

family's association with the
opioid crisis in the US.

The official
custodian of the papyri

is the
Egypt Exploration Society,

and their collections manager is
Dr. Stephanie Boonstra.

The fragments range from
about the late first century BC

up until the seventh century AD,

and we have information
about ancient cities,

about the people,
what they were doing,

but also of things
like their religion,

and it was a monastic city,

so we have this
Christian evidence as well.

And I think
I recognize this one.

Yes, yeah, this is one
that you'll probably know

a lot about as
well as your viewers.

So here we have
a few fragments of

New Testament fragments.

So here we have one that
was most recently published,

and it's a fragment
from the Gospel of Mark.

It's the opening
paragraph, isn't it?

Yes, yeah, it's Mark 1.

Pretty much a couple of
paragraphs.

Yeah, and so it's gotten a
lot of buzz in recent years.

It's one of the earliest
examples of a fragment

from the Gospel of Mark.

The New Testament
texts themselves,

some of which are among
the Oxyrhynchus papyri,

regularly refer to
the singing of songs.

The Gospels say Jesus and the
Apostles sang hymns together.

The letters of
Paul to the churches

urged the faithful to keep
singing and making music.

The words of P. Oxy 1786
provide a unique window

into the content of
ancient Christian singing.

And it wasn't all happy clappy.

This song is
actually a bit nerdy.

And what do we sing?

Patera, Huion, Hagion, Pneuma,

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Now, scholars often say
this line is of some interest,

and what
they mean is it's amazing.

This is the doctrine
of the Trinity,

the Christian
idea that the one God

is Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit.

And you sometimes
hear that that idea

was only invented much later,

say in 325 at
the Council of Nicaea

when Emperor Constantine
forced this

doctrine on the church.

But the thing is,
here's the idea in a song

from the previous century.

Eventually
as the church received

Israel's witness and Scripture,

and reflected
profoundly on the significance

of Jesus Christ,
his dying and rising,

his presence among us,

and the Spirit
poured out on all flesh,

they came to see that this

was the life of Trinity

turned toward the world.

Katherine Sonderegger
was educated

at Yale and Brown Universities,

and is now one of the
most celebrated names

in that strange
field known as Theology.

Okay, let's talk about Trinity.

Can you give me the dummies
guide to what is the Trinity?

Trinity is eternally
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,

even if there were no cosmos,

a God would be the living God

who offers himself in the Word

and receives that
Word back in the Spirit.

That would be true of
God's life regardless.

Wouldn't it have been
simpler for the early Christians

just to go down
the Greco-Roman path

and say that the Trinity is
really three different gods,

or maybe three manifestations
of the one God?

It would be possible
to look at the relation

between the emperor
and the junior emperors,

and get an idea that there
is a high God, the Father,

and then these
subordinate Caesars,

but only a doctrine that

saw all of these elements

as one and as fully
God actually captured

what it means to say
God is the living God.

The New
Testament didn't begin

with an abstract
concept of deity,

or even the Greco-Roman deity,

and say Jesus is like that.

What they actually did

is say Jesus was like

the one God of Israel.

Esau McCaulley says the
first Jewish Christians

didn't see Jesus as another God,

but somehow as the
God of Israel in person.

And so what you see then
is not the Jewish Christians

saying, "Oh,
Jesus is like Zeus."

They're saying that somehow
within the one divine identity,

you have the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

I can give you an example.

There's this passage in
1 Corinthians 8, verse 6,

where it has the Shema.

Shema is one of the most holy
passages for the Israelites.

"Hear, O Israel, the
Lord your God is one."

And you should worship
the Lord your God only.

And so, one God,
that was it.

But when Paul
quotes it, he says,

"You might have
many gods, but for us,

there's one God the Father
and one Lord Jesus Christ."

It's clear
Christians were

reflecting on the Trinity
and singing about it

long before the concepts
were formalized in

the famous Nicene Creed.

Here's how
the hymn in part puts it,

"Let all be silent,
shining stars not sound,

as we sing our hymn to the

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,

the only giver of all good
gifts. Amen."

But what adds to the
interest in P.Oxy 1786

is that it contains
more than words.

You can see these little
squiggles above the words.

That's ancient
Greek musical notation.

It tells us
the melody of the hymn.

And what's so fun about this

is that the tune
isn't the stodgy stuff

we often associate
with chanting monks.

It's pop music.

It's the kind of
melody you'd expect to hear

at an ancient Greek pub or at
some theater performance.

Whoever composed this song
was trying to take

serious Christian ideas
and give them to the masses.

This is not just theology,

it's public Christianity.

As far as we know,

there was music everywhere,

just as there
is in today's world.

The main musical
fragments that have survived

relate to such things

as music in theater,

so music of tragedy.

There's something
called a skolion,

which is a drinking song

with an epicurean theme,
"Live Now Because We All Die."

There's music from

performances
that might have taken place

in large-scale
open-air theaters,

but also stuff that might have

been sung in smaller venues.

Armand D'Angour
is a world authority

on the music, text, and
culture of ancient Greece.

Now you've had a chance
to look at our P.Oxy 1786.

How does it compare melodically

to other bits and pieces
of music we've found?

Interestingly, I think
it shows very clearly

the influence of
Greek musical tradition

going back all
the way to the earliest

document that we have.

And the Christian hymn

is a remarkable discovery

because it's the only
Christian piece of music

using the ancient
pagan notation.

More recently, scholars
have recognized that

it isn't really any different
from that earlier music

in terms of the way it
uses the melodic structures.

The writer of this
first hymn seems to have had

one eye on pagan,
that's Greco-Roman,

religion and culture.

One of the lines
contains not just a

straightforward piece
of Christian teaching,

but what looks
like a bold comparison

between Greek gods
and the Holy Trinity.

My favourite bit
is here at the end.

We sort of lose
the words over here,

so it's a bit of guesswork
knowing what was there.

And then we can just make
out the top of the words

to "the only giver
of all good gifts",

Panton Agathon.

God is described as
the great gift giver.

And with that theme,
the hymn ends in

good Christian fashion
with the words, "Amen, amen".

Which is a way of saying,
"we really believe this".

Experts have pointed out
the expression "giver of gifts"

was a stock description
of a god like Zeus,

the chief of the gods whom

the Romans called Jupiter.

Our Christian hymn
calls this into question.

The one true God,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit

is said to be the only
giver of all good gifts.

It's confident,
even a little cheeky.

Love it or hate it,

Jews and Christians
have always said

there's one God and he's Lord of
everywhere and everyone.

P.Oxy 1786 is a musical
rendition of this same idea.

So we've set
ourselves a challenge.

As interesting
as the history is,

our hope is to go
beyond the ancient,

to see if we can
replicate here and now

what those early Christians
were trying to achieve

through this song.

Well, if architecture is
for admiring,

food and wine for tasting,

songs are for singing.

We've talked to the ancient
experts about P.Oxy 1786,

but if we wanna resurrect
this hymn for a new audience,

we've gotta talk to a
couple of my friends,

some of the most accomplished
Christian songwriters

in the world today.

Our first stop is
my hometown of Sydney.

I managed to grab
some time with friend

and musician, Ben Fielding.

Ben and his co-writer,
Brooke Ligertwood,

won a Grammy for
their 2018 song

What a Beautiful Name.

If you've ventured into
a church in the last few years,

there's a pretty good chance
you've heard it.

Then there's the gold record
making song, This I Believe,

where Ben took
The Apostles' Creed,

an ancient statement of
Christian belief,

and turned it into
a cracking song.

Last time I checked, it had
more than 130 million plays

just on Spotify.

Ben didn't need much
convincing to help us bring

the first hymn back to life.

I fired off the lyrics

and some of my
singing to inspire him.

Hopefully.

It seems Ben was
sold on the project

without my powers
of persuasion.

Mate, this is such
an exciting project.

Anybody that I mention it to,

they're fascinated
by this idea that,

that firstly,
the hymn's been discovered,

and then the idea of
bringing it back to life.

I think, of course,
everybody always says,

"What happens if
the song's no good?"

I can't get away from that.
That's every single person.

But I think that
there's still just something

in the journey of
bringing this back to life.

Ben's been thinking his
way

through the original melody.

He reckons songwriters,
whether ancient or modern,

face similar challenges.

The melody
range is quite narrow.

Rhythmically, it's not
too complicated or complex.

You can imagine a lot of people.

What about the little
trills over the Amen's, though?

- Well, those are cool.
- They are so cool.

Yeah.

But I imagine
ancient congregations

trying to pull that off,
because you wouldn't

have that kind of trill
in a modern hymn.

Have you ever
put a trill like that?

I haven't.
I know that there's some

more elaborate melodies that,

and sometimes you gotta be
careful that you don't dumb down

a melody too much,

and you just
assume no one can sing it,

because I think if
it's well-structured

and it is memorable,
people go along to a

concert from
their favorite artist

and sing along to
stuff that's quite complex.

And I think if it's memorable,

that you can
get away with a lot.

Thankfully, Ben's
already brimming with ideas.

♪ Let everything
that has breath ♪

♪ Come and praise Him ♪

♪ Praise Him ♪

♪ Praise to the Father ♪

♪ To the Son and the Spirit ♪

♪ Let everything ♪

And then you could kind of
build off something like that.

It often happens
with writers,

whether composers or authors,

a passing thought
suddenly leaps out.

I'd love to find
an Egyptian singer.

Yeah.

Can you imagine if we
can find an Egyptian singer

who can do, like maybe,
a little, amen at

different points through.

It could be really haunting.

Well, and to get that
trill sounding authentic.

We'll come back
to that idea.

For now,
we need a collaborator.

Ben put me in touch with

American singer-songwriter,
Chris Tomlin.

I was excited.

Chris has sold
over 12 million records,

and he has over 7
billion streams to his name.

He's a Grammy winner
with over 30 top 10 hits.

It's estimated
that 30 million people

sing Chris's music in
churches every week.

Time magazine
described him as,

"potentially the most often
sung artist in the world".

I love the idea that you
might wanna be involved

with this, Chris.

I love it.
- Oh yeah.

I mean, Ben, you know,
I've known Ben a while,

and I just,
I really trust his writing,

and I trust his heart.

And when he
mentioned your name,

and then I remembered all
the songs you've written,

I thought, oh my goodness,

this could be
very, very special.

Yeah, what a moment.
What an opportunity.

Just incredible.

I am so honored to
be brought into this.

Thank you, Ben,
for reaching out.

Thank you, John, for saying,
"okay, let's do this",

because I love it.

If we can somehow,

sorry, let me correct myself.

If you guys can somehow
bring a beautiful melody

that honors this ancient melody,

and honors,
obviously, the words,

you know, some anonymous
theologian put together,

what a gift this will be to
the church to sing this again.

And that's kind of
what we're trying to do,

is go like, could
the people of God today

join the people of God
back in the, you know,

the second, third century,

in these really early
formative stages of the church?

Could we sing that same hymn?

I'd already sent Chris
an image of P. Oxy 1786,

with my translation of
the hymn. He had questions.

Is that the whole of the song,

or is that just
a piece that was found?

It's all we've got,
that's all we've got,

because, you know,

I sent you a photo of the
manuscript, right?

That is literally
all we've got.

Yeah, so sadly,
there's no more.

I mean, in terms
of songwriting,

you guys have to
honor these words,

but come up
with some other ones.

We can't just slap
an English translation

onto an ancient Greek tune.

With all due respect to
the original composer,

the melody is a little
weird to the modern ear.

We have to find
a fresh way forward.

John, is your vision that

we try to stay right
there with that,

so we're really singing like we
were 1800 years ago,

I don't know.

No way, no, I wanna
hear a song that's like,

the kind of anthemic
song you both have written,

that's got a pop sensibility

with a hymnic gravitas.

It's a balancing
act, a creative puzzle,

and we need both these musical
brains to make it happen.

I'm really open to
messing with whatever,

like I'll send
you what I've got,

and then we can start again.

Yeah, send me what you got.

I just think
there's anything in there.

I mean, I was
like looking around,

I was kind of
writing some things today,

as I was thinking about
this, just some thoughts down,

so I look forward to like
maybe hearing what you have

and see if it is kind of
matching what I was thinking.

It'd be interesting.

I'm ready to go.
I'm ready to go.

Ben, send that to me.
I'm ready, I'm ready to go.

Cool.

Ben and Chris have
their work cut out for them.

We'll leave them to it.
We have other puzzles to solve.

Musically,
the first hymn isn't what

we've come to expect
from sacred music.

Christian hymns like
this one have been sung

for a mere 280 years.

Do we know how far back
Christians were singing

and writing songs?

Well, that's probably one of

the easiest questions to answer

because we actually have songs,

to Jesus in the New Testament.

We have Philippians chapter 2,
verses 6-11, which is a hymn.

There's another one in
Colossians 1:15 - 20,

another hymn to Jesus.

And so the easiest way to
answer that question is,

we know there's a lot of
hymns that the Christians sung

because they're
hymns in the Bible,

the Christian that we have as
a part of our ongoing record.

Sadly, the musical notation

didn't also get passed down
with the manuscript.

Exactly. Anytime you
have a poem

or anything that's translated

into English, some of
the rhythm and the things

that mark it out as
poetry and as music are lost.

But it's pretty clear to
anyone who takes a close look

at those passages and
maybe 1 Corinthians 13,

it was poetic about love.

You have this reality,

the early Christians
were creating art

related to the person of
Jesus in particular,

and a praise and worship of him

that speaks a lot about
his divinity.

The first
Christians were all Jews,

and we know
Jews were monotheists.

- They believed in just one God.
- Yes

So my question is, were
the Christians departing

from their Jewish
roots in saying that

Jesus was somehow also God?

Well, I don't think so.
One of the things that

often you can
discover in a text

are the things
that people fought about.

And so you can tell
by reading the text of

the New Testament, there's
a lot of fights about the law.

Christians were
trying to figure out,

should I keep the Torah or
should I not keep the Torah?

There was a lot of fights
about the place of the Gentiles,

how the Gentiles
and Jews lived together.

There's a lot of fights, a lot
of discussion about ethics,

how do we live
together as Christians?

You know what you don't
see them fighting about

a lot in the New Testament?
The divinity of Jesus.

It actually seemed to be
something that, in other words,

you never hear Paul having to
argue Jesus is actually divine.

He usually assumes it for most
cases throughout his letters.

You see the exact same
thing by the time you get

to the Gospel of John,
they're not fighting about it.

You see it narrated
in the synoptics.

And so it seems to be the
case that pretty early on,

the Christians
began to think about Jesus

and the Spirit as divine.

So it shouldn't
surprise us that the Christians

behind P. Oxy 1786
would sing about God

as the Father,
Son and Holy Spirit.

It seems from the beginning,
the most important ideas

weren't just proclaimed and
written down, they were sung.

Our modern idea of the
Christian hymn has more to do

with early modern Europe
than the ancient Roman Empire.

During the 16th century,
the so-called Protestants,

who got their name from
protesting what they saw

as certain church excesses,
split from the Catholic church.

Whatever else we might
make of the tumultuous events

of this Reformation period,

it resulted in
a lot of new songs.

Some groups,
and I won't name names,

said we should only sing
the very words of scripture,

particularly the Old
Testament book of Psalms,

which was kind of the
ancient Israelite songbook.

Anything else they said was
unbiblical and unacceptable.

Other groups were a little
more relaxed and creative.

They said, so long
as our words reflect

the general truth
of the Bible,

we're free to explore the
joys of melody and creativity.

And the result was an
explosion of Christian hymns.

Wherever the
Christian faith is gone,

people are singing.

There's an organization called

Wycliffe Bible Translators

that has emphasized

in recent years,

ethno-musicology,
and have found that

when the Bible is
translated into a new language

that perhaps it had not
even been written before,

there is some interest, some
enthusiasm, some excitement.

But when that same
text, the Bible translated

into a new language,
is set to music,

there is much greater resonance
and much deeper appreciation.

And that worldwide phenomenon
has been true in the West.

So Western Christian
history is at the same time

a history of music and
a history of hymnody.

There's such a back catalog of
hymns through the centuries.

Do we need any more?

The answer is definitely yes,
with a couple of qualifications.

Hymns are designed
to express truths,

but also to ground
those truths in emotions,

to make them memorable.

If there are not
new hymns being written

that reflect the needs,
the desires, the outlook,

the standpoint of the
present, then the churches

will be antiquarian
and will have nothing

to say to
the world around them.

Chris and Ben
have been hard at work

creating a new first hymn

from the building
blocks of the original.

From these small beginnings,

Chris and Ben went into
their own creative wonderland.

Meanwhile, we've
come to Chicago

to talk to someone
I've admired ever since

I first came across
P. Oxy 1786.

The first hymn
uses a kind of music

that is very
familiar to Westerners.

It's diatonic music.

And all that means is it's
made out of the whole steps

and the half steps
that our music is made of.

When you go to a piano, if
you play keys on the piano

in a row, you're playing
whole steps and half steps.

And our scales are made out of
combinations of those.

Charles Cosgrove is a
kind of triple threat

of classical education,

expert linguist,
historian, and musician.

And he literally wrote
the book on P. Oxy 1786.

Perhaps strangely
to the modern ear,

the original
lyrics of the first hymn

tell all creation
to be silent.

The beginning of this is
the Greek cultic concern

that when a cultic
act was being performed,

someone might say an
inauspicious word

that offended the god.

And so there would
be a call to silence

or to watch your tongue.

And then that call to
silence would start the ritual.

So silence falls, and then
the ritual could begin

with prayers and maybe
a hymn and so forth.

And in the hymns,
it often announces

that the god is
approaching the temple.

And so "Fall Silent
as a God Approaches"

and then the boys
choir will sing the god.

It seems our ancient
Christian songwriter

knew his Greco-Roman
context well.

Was he trying to make his pagan
contemporaries comfortable

before offering his
controversial message?

My favorite
line is the last one,

that God is "the only
giver of all good gifts".

Am I right
that Zeus was actually

said to be the
giver of good gifts?

But here the author of
this song is saying that

God is the only
giver of all good gifts.

So what is
the songwriter doing?

Is this just copying?

Is he being critical?

Is he evangelizing or what?

Yes, well, the hymnwriter
is doing two things.

One is to speak
in a neoclassical way

by taking up the language
of a venerable tradition

and dignifying the hymn
and God with this language.

At the same time,
the hymnwriter is asserting

that Christian idea
that only one God

gives all the good things,
not many gods.

Ben and Chris
have been hard at work,

and the first hymn project
has made its way to Nashville.

Nashville is the
mecca of Christian music

to mix my religions.

It's home to
a baffling number of

Christian music
publishing houses,

record labels and
production companies.

This is where big names in
the Christian music industry,

like Amy Grant, Michael
W Smith, got their break.

But it's also the home
of more recent artists

like Lauren Daigle
and Anne Wilson.

And Nashville is the
home of the Dove Awards.

They're not quite
the Grammys,

but in the US,
a very big deal.

So this feels like
the perfect place to

try and revive P. Oxy 1786.

Chris Tomlin
invited us to The Barn,

his writing and rehearsal
space just outside Nashville.

The plan was to lock these
guys in a room for a few days

and let them hash
out their best ideas

for the new first hymn.

- John!
- I like this. Can I have one?

Can I have one?
- You can.

Hey, buddy.

Wow, nice to
meet you in the flesh.

- I know. Good to see you.
- And my friend. Wow.

Good to see you.

So this is happening?

- Yeah, it's happening.
- It's on.

Right.

Some pleasantries,

admiring their awesome
writing space,

and then it's
down to business.

How do you feel it's been going?

You should probably ask Chris.

I feel like
it's been going well,

but Chris might be
seething in the background.

How did I get into this?

No, absolutely. It's
been really beautiful.

I love working with Ben.

We've worked a little bit
together over the years.

And so, you know,
going back and forth

through from Australia to
Tennessee, it's been wonderful.

I really enjoyed it because
we'll just how about this idea

and send it and
then I'll wait for him to

wake up eight hours later.

And then by
the time I'm asleep,

I wake up and
there's something else,

you know, because
the time changes.

And so it's just been beautiful.

OK. And then it gives it's
been an interesting process

because it just kind of
gives me the day

to think through it and then.

And to delete
anything you don't like.

I shouldn't have said that.
- Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

And then I and
then I send back to him

and just us just talking about
how do we really capture this

in the best way we can.

These beautiful, beautiful
words and these ancient words.

And it's just such a
I feel such responsibility too.

- Yeah
- Massive.

I mean, this there's this
is not just another lyric.

This is so special.

And so I've
really, really loved it.

What's the difficulty
involved?

Like, what have
you found hard about it?

The only thing
I've found hard is

I just second guess myself.

Is this good enough?
Is this good enough?

Yeah, that's a
huge part of it.

You know, because it's your.

But is that the same
with every song you write?

No, but this feels
different because it's

like you're just you're holding
something that's

it's already been.

- Yeah.
- Yeah.

It's already been sung.
It's already been.

And you're like,
I know you want to.

But obviously
you want to bring it into

this this time period and this
this generation.

And so you're like, am I do
are we doing are we

holding this the right way?
- And the responsibility to

try to capture what it was that

unified the church
way back then

and to be able to
take those elements,

but try to modernize them

and thinking about, well,
what would a chorus be like?

You know, would that ancient
hymn have even had a chorus?.

But I think in the modern
version of the hymn, it would.

So trying to work out where to
put emphasis in the song.

- Yes
- All of that

is just kind of like it -

it's the challenge of taking
something that was

and making it
something that is now.

But I couldn't think
of anybody I prefer to

be doing this with than Chris.

And when you got involved, just
the enthusiasm that just

got breathed into this
was just fantastic.

And so I was blown away.

Chris is like firing messages.
I'm trying to keep up

and like fire back.

It's like it was
a really sweet kind of

part of the process.

To kind of wake
up and find like,

you know, three or four
different kind of verses

and just keep that
creativity going on the song.

I think I think
it's been really special.

Now, you need to
understand that I had

no idea just how
much these guys had been

working together online.

So nothing prepared
me for what came next.

The question is,
how long 'till you think

you've got a full song?

- OK
- A complete song.

So we got we got a little
bit of a surprise for you.

And that is we think
we finished the song.

What?!

Yeah, it
happened so fast.

How did that happen?

I don't know. I mean, I've
written lots of songs,

Ben's written
lots of songs and rarely

do they just...

I think it was the lyric
was so much there that

just several times
back and forth,

like this feels
really, really special.

So we'd love to
play it for you.

Oh, man.

- Yeah.
- OK.

Now I've got shivers.

♪ Let all be silent ♪

♪ The shining stars not sound ♪

♪ The rushing rivers still ♪

♪ Let the mountains bow down ♪

♪ In awe and wonder ♪

♪ In reverence we come ♪

♪ Who is worthy of all
worship? ♪

♪ Who is seated on the throne? ♪

♪ All powers cry out
in answer ♪

♪ All glory and praise forever ♪

♪ To our God, the Father,
Son and Holy Spirit ♪

♪ Amen ♪

♪ We sing, Amen ♪

♪ Let all be silent ♪

I was stunned.

Not just because they
secretly finished the song,

but because even in
its raw form,

I could hear how masterfully

they'd revived the message

and the mood of the first hymn.

Wow, that is a gorgeous tune.

And the lyrics are virtually
the definition of classic.

But what makes
a good worship song?

A song designed to be
sung by millions of people

around the world in church?

I suppose it has to be
singable by regular humans.

And it also has to capture
the head and the heart.

But what would I know?

I wanted to find
out more about how this

mysterious world of contemporary
Christian music works.

A great worship song
is one that

articulates the heart
of every worshipper

and directs their
attention to God.

In 2024, Christian
contemporary music

was the fourth fastest
growing genre in the world,

up 60 percent over
the last five years.

Labels like
Capital CMG, Centricity,

Hillsong Worship and Integrity

preside over
a market that now accounts

for more internet
streams than jazz

and classical music combined.

The thing about
a song is that,

especially one you enter into,
it's one that you're

giving yourself over to and
you're participating in

the song and
what the song says.

And so the context
of the song and in the

direction that it
takes your heart

and your mind is really
important.

And so to have
an accurate theology,

a good understanding of
who God is, of the work of

Jesus on the cross,
all of these things,

they actually
actually do matter.

Do you think
Christian music has anything

to offer people who don't know
what to make of Christianity?

To the wider world?
- It certainly should.

But part of the issue,
the historic issue with

why it doesn't often is that
it isn't always believable.

We only tend to write in like
superlative and hyperbole

about God answering all of my

you know, answering all my
prayer, meeting all my needs.

And it's and that's a
really foreign concept

to somebody who
isn't a person of faith

or raised within the church.

The first hymn was
lost to the world for centuries

and rediscovered
100 years ago.

Experts have
studied its musical and

historical
significance for decades.

For the last
two years, we've been

working to give
it back to the world.

I don't know what
the original composer

would think of what
we're doing,

but it's time to lay this thing
down again for posterity.

Dark Horse Studios, nestled in
the countryside outside

beautiful Franklin, Tennessee.

This is where
songs by Hunter Hayes,

Keith Urban and
Taylor Swift were recorded.

Now it's the first hymn's turn.

Hey! It's been a long time.

And this is where
we meet Jonathan Smith,

the two time Grammy
multi Dove Award winning

songwriter and producer.

He'll be shepherding
us through this

crucial stage of
reviving the first hymn.

And then we don't
have to be bound by that.

Yeah.

Here. We. Go.

♪ To the only
giver of all good gifts ♪

♪ Amen ♪

♪ To the only one
who forgives our sins ♪

♪ Amen ♪

♪ To the only God
to the risen king ♪

♪ To the one
who died and rose again ♪

♪ Amen.
We sing Amen ♪

♪ All powers cry out in answer ♪

♪ All glory and praise forever ♪

♪ To our God ♪

♪ The Father, Son and
Holy Spirit ♪

♪ Amen, we sing Amen ♪

So that's it.
Job done.

Save file, send to Spotify.

Not really.

The first hymn
project was never about

just resurrecting
an ancient song.

It's about giving
that song back to

a new generation of
believers and doubters.

And for that,
we need a lot more help.

Greek speaking Egyptians first
composed and sang this tribute

to the only giver of all
good gifts.

So it only seems right to ask

a descendant of these ancient
people to help us put the

finishing touches on the hymn.

This is Music City Walk of Fame.

It's pretty
cool, but it's not where

we're going to find
what I'm looking for.

From the beginning
of this project,

I had the crazy idea of
bringing the song full

circle by including
an Egyptian singer,

someone who can capture
the feel of the place

where this hymn
was first sung

and then lost
and then found again.

And you know what?

Nashville has
given us that as well.

The Coptic Orthodox Church
in America is

a branch of one of
the oldest continuously

existing churches in the world.

The first Copts,
as they're called,

arrived in the US in the 1940s.

They were foreign
students who brought

their ancient ways with them.

Today, there are
several hundred churches here

and all of them are committed
to preserving their heritage,

including their music.

Katy Fayck Eskander
is a native Egyptian

and the choir director

at St Mary's Coptic Church
in Nashville.

She's recorded five
studio albums and 25 singles.

And every week she helps keep
alive her ancient tradition.

- Hey, I'm John.
- Nice to meet you.

We are thrilled
to have you on board.

Thank you so much.

We've come to speak
with Katy on the morning of her

recording session for
the new first hymn.

I'm nervous.
I don't know how she's feeling.

What drew you to
sing worship songs,

not just performance music?

The first part was the
genetic part from my mom.

She has amazing voice.

And the second part was my dad.

When I was three years old,
he kept teaching me Coptic music

and Coptic songs
and recorded it.

Then he let me
listen to my voice.

"This is your voice. You have a
good voice. Keep doing it".

The magic word here
is the relationship

between you and God.

I feel like

this is a gift from God.
My voice is a gift from God.

And the only person
deserves it is Him.

So if I like to
enjoy that, the amazing gift,

I would enjoy it with him.

So I feel like
I'm praying in my way.

- Jonathan, how are you?
- I'm good. How's Australia?

It's beautiful.
It's always beautiful.

Chris and Ben have
already given Jonathan

a good idea of what they hope
Katy can bring to the song.

So what are you thinking?

I know we've
talked about maybe having

that sort of at
the top of the song.

Like, how are you hearing it?

I think starting the song
with that motif,

with her singing it
is what's going to

really set the tone that
this song isn't

like any normal song, right?

Like it's not,
it's going to instantly

sort of give it an ancient feel.

Western music usually
operates with just 12 notes.

C, C sharp, D,
D sharp, E, F and so on.

Middle Eastern music,
Arabic, Coptic and so on,

has 24 notes made up of
microtones.

Very subtle pitches between the

traditional Western notes.

The result is a melodic
wonderland rich in emotion.

It doesn't take long before Katy

transports us to another
time and another place

to centuries ago in Egypt.

- Wow.
- Yes, fantastic.

That "all powers
cry out in answer."

The line you do
there is like, wow.

♪ And all be silent ♪

Back when music
was pretty much my life,

I loved and hated
the recording studio.

I mean, when you play live,
little mistakes,

they don't matter so much.

A wrongly placed finger here,
a slightly off note there,

and you can just call it jazz
and hardly anyone notices.

But here it's different.

In the studio, your performance

over and over and over

eventually has to be perfect.

All the while
trying to maintain the

sense of creative energy.

And that's why
you need a good producer.

I think of producers a bit like

Michelangelo, you know,
technically precise

and artistically brilliant,
and they can often

see the finished product
from the beginning.

I mean, a good
producer can hear what

a song really
wants to sound like

even better than
the original composers.

I know what moves my spirit

and what moves me.

And that's really the only

compass that I know to have.

And so I do think
as you as you work

and as you get experience,
your instincts get honed in

and you know what
you tend to love.

You trust that
there's going to be

other people out there
that love it.

Producers know exactly

what each instrument can
bring to a piece

and how to bring out the
best in every musician.

They guide the arrangement
and the performance.

And once it's all
recorded, they select,

arrange and layer the

dozens and dozens of
individual tracks

to fashion a coherent whole.

What did you put in
there to make that happen?

So I added that same
guitar part right here.

With some effects on it
like these right here.

Some pretty wide stereo
reverbs and things like that.

And so that was that was
what I started with

and then even added
some what I would call

kind of a world
sounds and rhythms

like this right here
to go along with it.

Again, just to put,
I want those

musicians first time they
hear it to be OK, this is not,

this song did not
come out of Nashville.

I want them to know
this is a an ancient thing.

And so even these banging
on a banjo and guitar.

- Huh, Yeah
- Yeah.

- Oh, that's gorgeous.
- Yeah. And so you play this.

And then what they're

So they're thinking world
music?

- Exactly.
- Yeah.

And you know what
I'm telling them is, hey,

I want you to still do the
thing that you do and do well,

but I want you to feel sort of

the heartbeat of the
song and not be guessing.

Just picture it's
going to sound like this,

you know, when it's all done.

So sometimes I'll
start with those sort of

more stylized things first.

I'm in awe of the
way a producer like Jonathan

can snatch one of those layers,
move it to the front

of the soundscape and change
the whole mood of the song.

Oh, yeah, no, this is this
is one of my favorite bits.

- Yeah.
- This was I saw this happen.

Like I remember
thinking, oh, man, he's

just replicated
the ancient melody.

Yeah. So we had originally
we had him playing over

the very beginning of the song.

Because we knew we
wanted that melody, right?

And so we weren't
exactly sure in the moment,

you know, is it going
to be a guitar?

Is it a piano? Is it a vocal?
Let's just get it all down.

And then sort of in the
editing process, we will decide.

So I think this was kind of
the first thing he played.

Kind of played
through the whole song.

Just beautiful tone.

But I think the moment that it
really counts would be this

section between the second
chorus and the bridge.

- Yeah.
- I'll solo it.

We can kind of hear
what he's doing, but.

Yeah
- Yeah, this is basically

the "amen, amen".

And everything
altogether comes in.

Yeah, so that's so good.

It's very like
an arrival moment.

It's a hook we've heard from the
beginning, a softer version.

And then that's more
of a triumphant version.

And how are
you feeling about this song?

I feel the most
excited about it.

I just cannot wait for
people to hear this song.

And the final
destination for all this?

Well, it'll be on
Chris Tomlin's next album,

which might already be out by
the time you're watching this.

But stay with us
and you'll hear

all these layers come
together beautifully

in a new version
of the first hymn.

And while all
this has been going on,

we've been getting ready
for something very special.

You know, it's
interesting.

1860, the school was founded,

started with eight faculty
members.

And one of those was a
professor of sacred music.

So from the very beginning,

the humble beginnings
of the institution,

music at the at the heart of
things,

not that surprising.

When you think about the musical

propensity of human beings,

music found in
every known culture,

music ubiquitous in our world

and so important
to human flourishing.

People, it turns
out, want to make music.

Wheaton College
was established in 1860

by abolitionist church leaders.

It was a well-known stop on the
famous Underground Railway.

Its main mission
today is to provide a

classic liberal arts education,

integrating
science, music, history,

literature and
the Christian faith.

This is also where I teach
the history of Christianity

and what we can
learn from the good

and the bad of the past.

The first hymn is
definitely part of the good.

Why is Wheaton College involved
in this first hymn project?

I mean, apart from the fact
that I just wandered over

one day to your office
and sprung the idea on you?

Well, I'm sure
you recall we were both

very enthused
about the whole thing.

What a compelling
story that we would link

with this writer of this music

so, so many years ago,

that we would join hands

with those
who sang this first hymn.

And now, so many
years later,

resonating with
the message, the music.

When the team at
the conservatory heard

about the first hymn project,

they were keen to
see the song brought

back to life in
multiple musical formats.

I think this is
such a mysterious and honourable

project and
our students and faculty

have really seized this story.

Which is why
these guys are here.

They're working on a classical
rendition of the first hymn,

both the Tomlin/Fielding version
and the original Greek one.

I am honoured
to be a part of it.

I love surprises.

And this is a complete surprise.

So I count it a privilege.

Dr Tony Payne is the
creative mind

behind the new arrangement.

It's really
another worldly kind of

experience to reach back
into hymnody

that wasn't notated
like we notate

and didn't have the form and
structure

like we have today in
a typical hymn

or Christian song.

And so I struggled
with it a bit.

It's like a gift that
comes in a time capsule

and we're suddenly confronting
it for the first time.

And I find
it really captivating.

I had a go at
singing the Greek original

in the ruins of Oxyrhynchus.

It was special,
but I'm pretty sure

this is how it's
really meant to sound.

They say music
can transport the soul.

I reckon I just visited
Roman Egypt in the 200s.

How I wish we could now bring
the original composer here

to watch what we're about
to do to the first hymn.

♪ Let all be silent ♪

♪ The shining stars not sound ♪

♪ Rushing rivers..... ♪

Tony is the kind
of musical scholar

that speaks multiple
musical languages.

He tells me
he just loves what Chris

and Ben's melody is saying.

You tend to
have thirds like this.

That's what our ear expects.

But in this newer
language that we're enjoying

and learning about.

So there it is just hanging.

And I don't think there
could be a more powerful use

of that suspended harmony
as the technical term for it.

Because normally we
might expect to hear this.

But that's not there.

But then you look at the text

and you realize it makes
all the sense in the world.

Let all be silent.

Shining stars not sound.

The thought of the stars
being silent is really powerful.

♪ Amen we sing ♪

♪ Amen ♪

♪ Amen we sing ♪

♪ Amen ♪

The big day approaches.

Chris and Ben have chosen Fort
Worth, Texas for the concert

that officially hands the first
hymn back to the world.

We've still got a bit of time.

And there's one more
person I wanted to speak to

about how this
whole project relates

to the broader
story of sacred music.

And I think
people remember

songs more than they
remember sermons.

And in that time, especially
when not everybody was reading,

there were not books everywhere.

So the words of the
songs would be some things

that will stay
deep in their memories.

We know from my own research,

how missionaries when they
arrive in different places,

new places, they were
very concerned

about publishing some kind of
collection of songs

because once they were gone,

until the next
preacher would come around,

the community could
hold on to those words

and remember what
they were by singing.

From the first
century to the 21st century,

Christians haven't just
preached their message

about the Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit.

They've sung it,
inviting everyone,

whether believer or doubter,

whether in Oxyrhynchus or Texas,

to consider singing along.

I think so.
I think music is very powerful

and it moves
emotions and sometimes,

I think it's interesting.
We have eyelids,

but we don't have earlids.

So sometimes
we may hear something,

even if you are not
planning on, that's different.

We can always turn our
face and not see something,

but we can sometimes not take
a while for us not to listen.

And I think it's interesting.
I have heard stories of people

that they were just
attracted by the sound

and then they join in
and then they understand,

oh, this is what they're saying.

And people that have
told me in their own lives,

how they still remember

that was that one line
from that song

and they didn't understand
anything about doctrine,

about church, what's a
Protestant, what's a Baptist,

but that message of
the song spoke to me.

One reason thoughtful
people are put off

by this Christian message today

is the sheer
number of church brands.

With an estimated 3000

denominations worldwide,
it's no surprise that

people ask the question,
which version of Christianity?

That's what's so
special about the first hymn.

It was composed before
there were denominations.

It captures
the heart of Christianity

before there was Roman Catholic,
Greek Orthodox, or Protestant.

And Chris and Ben
have worked really hard

to highlight that core

so that all the brands
of Christianity today

can sing the new first hymn.

Well, it's now
time to test that idea.

And have we got
the crowd to do it.

There's over
10,000 people here tonight.

It's completely sold out.

When I was a musician, I
only ever played venues

about a 10th the size
of this on a good night,

but I remember
the feeling backstage

as the audience
filled the venue.

I wonder how Chris
and Ben are feeling.

Brings out both
new and old things

out of his treasure chest.

This is the climax of
an extraordinary journey.

We have traced the
rediscovery of P. Oxy 1786,

uncovered the significance of
the first hymn

with musical notation,

and witnessed master
musicians transform it

into a stunning
21st century anthem.

After two years of work,
we're ready to return the song

to its rightful place
on the lips of thousands.

The last time it was sung
was probably 1,800 years ago.

And we will sing it tonight
for the very first time.

And now, the
resurrected first hymn in full.

♪ Let all be silent ♪

♪ The shining stars not sound ♪

♪ The rushing rivers still ♪

♪ Let the mountains bow down ♪

♪ In awe and wonder ♪

♪ In reverence we come ♪

♪ Who is worthy
of all worship? ♪

♪ Who is seated on the throne? ♪

♪ All powers cry out in answer ♪

♪ All glory and praise forever ♪

♪ To our God the Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit ♪

♪ Amen, we sing amen. ♪

♪ Let all be silent ♪

♪ The shining stars not sound ♪

♪ The rushing rivers still ♪

♪ The mountains bow down ♪

♪ In awe and wonder ♪

♪ In reverence we come ♪

♪ Who is worthy
of all worship? ♪

♪ Who is seated on the throne? ♪

♪ Who is worthy
of all worship? ♪

♪ Who is seated on the throne? ♪

♪ All powers cry out in answer ♪

♪ All glory and praise forever ♪

♪ To our God the Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit ♪

♪ Amen, we sing amen. ♪

♪ To the only
giver of all good gifts ♪

♪ Amen ♪

♪ To the only one
who forgives our sins ♪

♪ Amen ♪

♪ To the only God
to the risen King ♪

♪ To the one who died
and rose again ♪

♪ Amen, we sing amen. ♪

♪ To the only
giver of all good gifts ♪

♪ Amen ♪

♪ To the only one
who forgives our sins ♪

♪ Amen ♪

♪ To the only God
to the risen King ♪

♪ To the one
who died and rose again ♪

♪ Amen, we sing amen. ♪

♪ All power's
cry out in answer ♪

♪ All glory and praise forever ♪

♪ To our God the Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit ♪

♪ Amen, we sing amen ♪

♪ Amen. ♪

♪ Amen, we sing amen ♪

♪ Amen. ♪

♪ We sing our hymn, amen. ♪

At the end
of all of this,

I just find myself thinking
about the original composer

of the first hymn and the
people who first sang it.

Here they were
trying to engage a culture

that was sometimes
trying to eradicate them.

They could never have imagined

what would become
of their song.

They could never have
predicted that their message

of the Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit

would one day cover the globe.

Although maybe that's wrong.

Given how
confident we know they were

in the only
giver of all good gifts,

maybe this is
exactly the sort of thing

they might have
dared to imagine.

♪ To the only giver
of all good gifts ♪

♪ Amen ♪

♪ To the only one
who forgives our sins ♪

♪ Amen ♪

♪ To the only God,
to the risen King ♪

♪ To the one
who died and rose again ♪

♪ Amen ♪

♪ We sing amen. ♪

♪ To the only giver
of all good gifts ♪

♪ Amen ♪

♪ To the only one
who forgives our sins ♪

♪ Amen ♪

♪ To the only God,
to the risen King ♪

♪ To the one
who died and rose again ♪

♪ Amen ♪

♪ We sing amen. ♪

♪ All powers cry out in answer ♪

♪ All glory and praise forever ♪

♪ To our God, the Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit ♪

♪ Amen ♪

♪ We sing amen. ♪

♪ To our God, the Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit ♪

♪ Amen ♪

♪ We sing amen. ♪

♪ Let all be silent ♪

♪ The shining stars not sound ♪

♪ Rushing rivers still ♪

♪ let mountains bow down ♪

♪ In awe and wonder ♪

♪ with reverence we come ♪

♪ Who is worth of all worship? ♪

♪ Who is seated on the throne? ♪

♪ All powers cry out ♪

♪ in answer. ♪

♪ All glory and praise forever ♪

♪ To our God, the Father, ♪

♪ Son and Holy Spirit ♪

♪ Amen ♪

♪ We sing, Amen ♪

♪ To the only giver ♪

♪ of all good gifts ♪

♪ Amen ♪

♪ To the only one ♪

♪ who forgives our sins ♪

♪ Amen ♪

♪ To the only God, ♪

♪ to the risen King ♪

♪ To the one who died ♪

♪ and rose again ♪

♪ Amen. We sing Amen. ♪

♪ All powers cry out in answer ♪

♪ All glory and praise forever ♪

♪ To our God, the Father, ♪

♪ Son and Holy Spirit ♪

♪ Amen. ♪

♪ We sing Amen. ♪