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God’s wrath against sin - our sin - was atoned through Christ’s sacrifice. In orthodox Christianity, sin demands sacrifice. The core of the dispute is the mainline break with orthodoxy on the very nature of God and mission of Jesus. The reason? The PCUSA Committee on Congregational Song objected to the lyric that proclaims “Till on that cross as Jesus died/The wrath of God was satisfied.” The Committee proposed an alternative: “Till on that cross as Jesus died/the love of God was magnified.” Getty and Townend refused the change, and the Committee voted to exclude the song. So it was with some sorrow that I read yesterday in First Things that the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) voted to exclude the song from the church hymnal. And it’s a beautiful song, covered by countless Christian artists. It avoids shallow promises of earthly comfort in favor of the ultimate comfort - no matter our earthly destiny - found in Christ. While the entire hymn is outstanding, the last verse was particularly meaningful: Called “In Christ Alone,” it bucks the contemporary worship trend of shallow, emotional lyrics in favor of a theologically rich presentation of the Gospel. When I was in Iraq - especially as casualties mounted, and the IED menace seemed overwhelming - I took great comfort in a contemporary hymn written by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend. What do hymn choices tell us about a denomination? A lot, it turns out.įirst, forgive me for a bit of a personal reflection.