Decide This Doubt for Me
William Cowper's Olney Hymns (1779)
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4824084 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Joy Bennett Reeves (0000-0001-7874-2555, Texas State University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 16 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 322 |
| Publication date | 2025-03-04 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Religions (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2077-1444 • E-ISSN: 2077-1444 |
| Publisher | MDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT) |
| DOI | 10.3390/rel16030322 |
| OpenAlex | W4408154978 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 8 |
This paper proposes that William Cowper's Olney Hymns (1779) instantiate a curious form of modern belief. Cowper's hymns are riddled with personal confessions of doubt, unbelief, and a sense of exile from the broader Christian church. At the same time, the public nature of his hymns-an emergent genre in eighteenth-century England-placed such private misgivings in a communal context. As congregations collectively sang their individual doubts, those doubts were transformed into tentative affirmations of faith. To believe meant one first had to admit his or her unbelief, joining voices with those who likewise declared that they, too, lacked faith and did not belong in God's church. This sense of exile was abiding for Cowper, and his hymns thereby suggest that a crucial aspect of faith and communal religious identity is Christians' insistence that they can never quite believe what it is they are singing. Belief is, therefore, inextricably tied to a sense of belonging with those who do not belong
Art · Historical Influence and Diplomacy · Migration, Policy, and Dickens Studies · Musicology and Musical Analysis
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |