 Isaac Watts was born in Southampton, England on July 17, 1674. His
father, a non-conformist, had served several terms in prison because of it.
After receiving his education at Stoke Newington Academy, he spent
several years as a private tutor before accepting the pastorate of a
non-conformist Congregational church at Mark Lane in London in 1702. Though
he suffered from recurring ill health, he retained that position for the
rest of his life.
Watts is best known as a hymnwriter in our day, having authored over
750 hymns (Soli Deo Gloria has published The Psalms and Hymns of Isaac
Watts, which contains the texts of most of those hymns, most of them
based upon various portions of Scripture). Watts has been castigated by
those Christians who hold to an exclusive psalmnody position for his
statement, "I'll make David sing like a Christian." But Watts was interested
only in making the Scripture more singable to his fellow Englishmen, by
rhyming Scripture texts, rather than writing humanly-inspired, fallible
hymns. He also wrote songs for children, songs that would teach
theology and moral character. Soli Deo Gloria has published his Divine and
Moral Songs for Children, a lithograph of a 19th century edition,
containing text only. Watts' work on The World to Come is expected to be
published by Soli Deo Gloria in late 2000 or early 2001.
In his own day, Isaac Watts was more known as an educationalist, mainly
on the strength of his books Logic and The Improvement of the Mind
(both published by Soli Deo Gloria). Logic was used as the standard
textbook in the study of logic for over 250 years both in England and in this
country at Harvard and Yale. Unfortunately, Watts was influenced by the
encroachment of Unitarianism, as evidenced by his writings on the
matter of the Trinity. His book on the subject brought angry responses from
both the Calvinistic side as well as the liberal side. He did not deny
the Trinity, but neither did he affirm it in terms that were acceptable
to the orthodox theologians. He was a moderate Calvinist who avoided
debates and controversy, though he found himself involved in both because
of some of his doctrinal positions. His works filled 9 volumes in the
1813 edition. Though in serious error in several places in his theology,
there is much good to be gleaned from his writings if used with
discernment.
Watts is the author of some of the most well-known hymns in all of
Christendom. Among them are "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross," "Jesus
Shall Reign Where'er the Sun," and "O God, Our Help in Ages Past." |
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