What Wondrous Love Is This
What wondrous love is this, O my soul
The second stanza's 'Christ laid aside his crown for my soul' is an extraordinarily compressed kenosis theology — drawing on Philippians 2:7 and 2 Corinthians 8:9, the cosmic condescension of the Incarnation reduced to a single folk image. For Lutheran use, this text's atonement theology (Law: sinking down under God's wrath; Gospel: Christ bearing the curse) maps cleanly onto Lutheran substitutionary soteriology while retaining the emotional directness of the folk tradition. The third and fourth stanzas' movement from personal to cosmic to eschatological praise gives the text a doxological breadth that goes beyond revivalist self-focus.
History & Background
'What Wondrous Love Is This' is an American folk hymn that appeared in William Walker's Southern Harmony (1835) and subsequently in Benjamin White's Sacred Harp (1844), where it became one of the most beloved pieces in the shape note canon. Its authorship is unknown, reflecting the communal folk tradition in which texts were shared and adapted. The tune WONDROUS LOVE is a modal, pentatonic melody that may have origins in British ballad tradition, though its specific provenance is uncertain. The text's meter — a distinctive long-short pattern — creates a rocking, hypnotic rhythm that suits the meditative character of the words. The hymn's central image — Christ bearing 'the dreadful curse' for my soul — reflects a broadly evangelical theology of substitutionary atonement, though expressed with a folk directness quite different from systematic theological language. The progression from personal sin and guilt ('when I was sinking down beneath God's righteous frown') through corporate praise ('while millions join the theme') to eschatological singing ('through eternity I'll sing on') follows the classic evangelical arc from conviction to conversion to eternal joy. The shape note community's tradition of singing this text outdoors, in four-part harmony with trebles on the melody, bass and alto in the middle, gives it a distinctive sonic identity.
Hymnal Appearances
- Evangelical Lutheran Worship — 666
- Gather 4th Edition — 704
- Glory to God — 215
- The Hymnal 1982 — 439
- United Methodist Hymnal — 292
- Voices Together — 233
Bulletin Note
Text and tune: Traditional American, Southern Harmony (1835) and Sacred Harp (1844). One of the enduring classics of the American shape note tradition.
Preaching Connection
'What wondrous love' is the question the hymn asks and also the answer it keeps returning to — the wonder is precisely that the Lord of bliss would bear the dreadful curse for my particular soul.
Themes
atonement cross passion Lent Holy Week substitution wonder folk hymn Sacred Harp