Mormons changed words in song

[CHRISTINE77]

I was listening to songs on YOUTUBE today and came across the Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing Holy Holy Holy.

In place of “Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty! God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!”
they say “God in his glory, blessed Deity”.

The images are pretty Mormon too, like when they say “all the saints adore thee” there’s an image of people with Joseph Smith!

I think the Mormon Tabernacle Choir is a great choir, but I wonder how many other Christian songs they have altered? Any one know of others?

Link:
youtube.com/watch?v=lJBxK0IQ6XE

 

[CHRISTINE77]

I found another: Hark the Herald Angels Sing

Mormon Tabernacle Choir: “Veiled in flesh, our Lord is he, Savior through eternity.”

Original: “Veiled in flesh, the Godhead see, Hail the incarnate deity.”

 

[CatholicZ09]

Unlike Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant Christianity, Mormonism does not include belief in a Trinity, in which the one God consists of three persons. Instead, Mormons believe that the “Godhead” is made up of three distinct beings who are “one in purpose” but not in being. These beings are:

1. God, the Heavenly Father - Like most monotheistic religions, Mormons regard God as the all-powerful, all-good ruler of the universe who also loves and cares for humans.

Mormonism is unique, however, in its belief that God has a physical body. This belief is based on several biblical passages - such as those in which Moses speaks to God “face to face” or Stephen sees Jesus standing at the right hand of God - as well as divine revelation to Joseph Smith.

Mormons commonly refer to God the Father as “Heavenly Father,” because “he is the Father of our spirits.”

1. Jesus Christ - Mormon faith centers on Jesus Christ. Mormons hold many beliefs about Christ in common with Catholics and Protestants, such as Christ as Son of God, Christ as Savior of humanity, Christ’s existence before his birth, Christ predicted by prophets before his birth, the Virgin Birth, the reality of the Crucifixion, and the bodily Resurrection of Christ.

However, Mormons do not agree with mainstream Christians that Jesus is the eternal Word of God or God himself. In Mormon belief, Jesus was a created spirit and “son of God” before being given a physical body, just like all humans. In the Mormon text “Book of Moses,” Satan and Jesus contend for the privilege of taking a body of flesh in order to become the redeemer, with Jesus winning the contest. The spirit of Jesus was then given a body through the Virgin Birth to Mary in Bethlehem.

1. Holy Spirit (or Holy Ghost) - For Mormons, the Holy Spirit (or Holy Ghost) is the third person of the Godhead whose special mission is to guide and teach, testify to God, and comfort and sanctify human souls. In these affirmations, Mormonism is in agreement with mainstream Christianity.

Mormonism departs from mainstream Christianity, however, in teaching that the Holy Spirit is a “one in purpose with the Father and the Son, but is a separate being” rather than an aspect of God or part of a Trinity.

Unlike God and Jesus, who have physical bodies, the Holy Spirit is pure spirit and has no body. Joseph Smith wrote that God revealed to him that “the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of Spirit. Were it not so, the Holy Ghost could not dwell in us.”

Source: religionfacts.com/mormonism/beliefs/godhead_not_trinity.htm

Thus, the reason why you see the theological differences in the hymns that refer to the Trinity; however, “Holy, Holy, Holy” was intended to be a Trinitarian hymn by its writer, Reginald Heber. I found information on that:

Heber wrote this hymn for Trinity Sunday while he was Vicar of Hodnet, Shropshire, England.

Source: cyberhymnal.org/htm/h/o/holyholy.htm

 

[RebeccaJ]

The Mormon version of “All Creatures Of Our God And King” is modified.

All the “O praise Him, alleluia” has been replaced with “alleluia, alleluia”

They also leave off the last verse:

Let all things their Creator bless,
And worship Him in humbleness,
O praise Him! Alleluia!
Praise, praise the Father, praise the Son,
And praise the Spirit, Three in One!
O praise Him, O praise Him!
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

 

[CHRISTINE77]

It seems a little shady. Since when can people alter the lyrics of a song? I mean aren’t there copywrite laws?

I see why they do it, but it doesn’t seem right. Since they are so popular, people who haven’t heard the songs before might think these are the real words.

 

[CatholicZ09]

It seems a little shady. Since when can people alter the lyrics of a song? I mean aren’t there copywrite laws?

I see why they do it, but it doesn’t seem right. Since they are so popular, people who haven’t heard the songs before might think these are the real words.

I would be a little mad if I wrote a song for the sole purpose of Trinity Sunday, and then that song gets changed because it references the Trinity.

 

[jilly4ski]

It seems a little shady. Since when can people alter the lyrics of a song? I mean aren’t there copywrite laws?

I see why they do it, but it doesn’t seem right. Since they are so popular, people who haven’t heard the songs before might think these are the real words.

Don’t get too mad, the pc song books all over the US change words of songs all the time to make them “inclusive.”

 

[Inishfree]

Wow.

Holy, Holy, Holy was a popular hymn in the Methodist church. I went to as a child. Same words as sang in the Catholic church.

For those who don’t know about the Methodist church. It is tradional protestant whom share many believes with Catholics. Though, they do have less sacraments.

 

[soren1]

The refrain to the LDS version of “Joy to the World” goes, “And saints and angels sing.”

I do not in principle object to them doing this sort of thing, however much I may dislike it, because the Catholic tradition does some of the same. There are passages, for instance, from Canaanite song and poetry that find their way into the Old Testament, even into the Psalms, though they are transformed and corrected by being brought into a Jewish context. If the Bible does that, I have no consistent basis to criticize Mormons for it.

What is more interesting, however, is that the LDS hymnal also makes theologically significant changes to old Mormon hymns that teach problematic theology. For instance, the Song “Sons of Michael, He Approaches,” which is written in the 1840s and clearly has the Adam-God Doctrine in view, used to end this way:

Raise a chorus, sons of Michael, Like old Ocean’s roaring swell,
Till the mighty acclamation Through rebounding space doth tell
That, that the Ancient One doth reign, That, that the Ancient One may reign
In his Paradise again!

Nowadays it goes like this:

Raise a chorus, sons of Michael, Like old ocean’s roaring swell,
Till the mighty acclamation Thru rebounding space doth tell
That the ancient one doth reign In his Father’s house again!

The difference isn’t drastic, nor is the theology of the two version contradictory, but the modern version emphasizes Michael’s subordination to Elohim which the original hymn did not. It underscores the distancing from Adam-God theology that began in Wilford Woodruff’s Presidency and is in my mind is the single biggest shift in Mormon theology that has ever occurred.

[Note: Michael is subordinate to Elohim even in Adam-God theology, but Michael is given primacy over Elohim insofar as he is the ultimate judge of the earth, “the only God with whom we have to do,”]

 

[Harpazo]

I was listening to songs on YOUTUBE today and came across the Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing Holy Holy Holy.

In place of “Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty! God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!”
they say “God in his glory, blessed Deity”.

The images are pretty Mormon too, like when they say “all the saints adore thee” there’s an image of people with Joseph Smith!

I think the Mormon Tabernacle Choir is a great choir, but I wonder how many other Christian songs they have altered? Any one know of others?

Link:
youtube.com/watch?v=lJBxK0IQ6XE

You sound surprised.

In Christ,
Andrew

 

[Elizium23]

It seems a little shady. Since when can people alter the lyrics of a song? I mean aren’t there copywrite laws?

Copyright laws originated in England in the 16th and 17th centuries and have always been subject to limited terms which expire after some time. All the hymns of past centuries (anything older than Mickey Mouse) have lost their copyright status and passed into the public domain. This opens the door for rewriting and remixing lyrics for anyone.

How can modern publishing companies copyright hymns that we find in our hymnal books, if the hymns were written in, say, the 1700s? This is why they have composers in their stable who constantly rewrite the harmonies. All the melodies and words have passed out of copyright, but if you stick a new harmony in a song, then you can copyright that, and keep licensing your songs for years to come.