Matthias Loy
1828–1915 · Germany · Classical
American Lutheran pastor, editor, president of the Ohio Synod and of Capital University, and author and translator of hymns used in The Lutheran Hymnal.
Life
Matthias Loy was born in 1828 in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, to German immigrant tenant farmers. Apprenticed to a Harrisburg printer at fourteen, he studied at Harrisburg Academy and graduated from the Ohio Synod's seminary in Columbus in 1849. He served as pastor at Delaware, Ohio, until 1865, when he became professor at the Theological Seminary of Capital University; he was president of the university from 1881. He edited the Lutheran Standard (1864–90), founded the Columbus Theological Magazine (1881), and was president of the Joint Synod of Ohio from 1860 to 1878 and 1880 to 1894. His books include The Doctrine of Justification (1862) and an edition of Luther's House Postil. He retired in 1902 and died in Columbus in 1915.
As a Hymn Writer
Loy wrote some twenty hymns and translated others for the Ohio Synod's English hymnal. As a confessional theologian he wrote doctrinal hymns that teach clearly: on the Law ('The Law of God Is Good and Wise'), the Gospel ('The Gospel Shows the Father's Grace'), Baptism, the Lord's Supper and the Church. They are plain and catechetical, valued for their precision rather than their poetry.
In The Lutheran Hymnal and Lutheran Service Book (14)
- Lord, Open Thou My Heart to Hear
- The Bridegroom Soon Will Call Us
- We Thank Thee, Jesus, Dearest Friend
- Thine Honor Save, O Christ, Our Lord
- Lord, Help Us Ever to Retain
- The Law of God Is Good and Wise
- The Gospel Shows the Father's Grace
- An Awe-Full Mystery Is Here
- Thy Table I Approach
- Yea, as I Live, Jehovah Saith
- Let Me Be Thine Forever
- Jesus, Savior, Come to Me
- Jesus, Thou Art Mine Forever
- All Mankind Fell in Adam's Fall
Sources: Wikipedia, 'Matthias Loy'.
Hymn Texts (13)
- Almighty Father Heaven and Earth
- Feed Your Children God Most Holy
- God Bless Our Native Land
- Gracious God, Again is Ended
- In House and Home Where Man and Wife
- Lord Jesus Christ My Savior Blest
- Lord of Our Life
- May We Your Precepts Lord Fulfill
- O Blessed Home Where Man and Wife
- O Lord Whose Bounteous Hand Again
- Take My Life O Lord Renew
- The Law of God Is Good and Wise
- Word Supreme Before Creation