MrsDrPoe: Then Sings My Soul, Book 3

For the next Reading Review, I present to you "Then Sings My Soul, Book 3; The Story of Our Songs: Drawing Strength from the Great Hymns of Our Faith" by Robert J. Morgan.

This is another book that I received free from BookSneeze.  I was very excited when I saw the title listed, and I knew that this would be a great birthday gift for Mr. Poe after I was finished reading and reviewing it.

"Then Sings My Soul, Book 3" is divided up into four parts.  The first part gives a brief overview of the history of various styles of hymns (ancient hymns, English hymns, contemporary hymns, etc.).  The second part contains brief histories of the authors of certain hymns; conversely, the third part contains slightly longer histories of six hymns themselves.  The final portion of the book gives some great advice on how singing, understanding, memorizing, etc. hymns can help us personally and makes a good point that Christians should embrace both ancient and modern hymns in worship.


My favorite part of "Then Sings My Soul, Book 3" is the fact that 4-part choral sheet music is included for almost every hymn mentioned in the book; it's fantastic to be able to learn/practice singing the hymns as you learn more about the people and circumstances that brought them into existence.  Parts 3 and 4 were my favorite of the book because they were very detailed.


As I was reading, it seemed like the majority of first two parts of the book were too short.  Realizing that the intent of the author was to simply include brief histories, I would say he accomplished his goal but often left me wanting to know more.  I would also caution readers that some of the theological views indirectly expressed by Mr. Morgan as well as the hymn authors themselves are not in accordance with the teaching and examples given in the New Testament.  

Overall, I enjoyed "Then Sings My Soul, Book 3," and I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in learning more about hymns.  Mr. Poe is excited to read the book as well, especially since it contains the stories behind three of his favorite hymns in it.