Benjamin Schmolck
1732– · Germany · Baroque
Silesian Lutheran pastor at Schweidnitz and the most popular German hymn writer of his day, author of some 900 hymns including 'Open Now Thy Gates of Beauty'.
Life
Benjamin Schmolck was born in 1672 at Brauchitschdorf in Silesia, a pastor's son. After the gymnasium at Liegnitz he studied theology at Leipzig (1693–97). In 1702 he was ordained deacon at the Church of Peace in Schweidnitz, one of the few Lutheran churches permitted in Habsburg Silesia, and from 1714 was its chief pastor, serving a large and scattered Lutheran population under heavy restrictions. He remained there until his death in 1737.
As a Hymn Writer
Schmolck was the most popular hymn writer of his time, touched by Pietism but rooted in Lutheran orthodoxy. He wrote for every occasion of church and home life: the Lord's Day ('Open Now Thy Gates of Beauty'), Baptism, Communion, confession, trust in God's will ('My Jesus, as Thou Wilt'), and death. His hymns are warm and practical, if sometimes diffuse; the best of them are prized for their love of public worship and the means of grace.
In The Lutheran Hymnal and Lutheran Service Book (4)
- Open Now Thy Gates of Beauty
- Dearest Jesus, We Are Here
- My Jesus, As Thou Wilt
- What Our Father Does Is Well
Sources: Wikipedia, 'Benjamin Schmolck'.
Hymn Texts (4)
- Dearest Jesus, We Are Here
- My Jesus as Thou Wilt
- Oh, That You Would Rend the Heavens
- Open Now Thy Gates of Beauty