Featured God of Earth and Outer Space

The hymn “God of Earth and Outer Space” was written by Thad Roberts Jr. in 1970 (of South Main Baptist Church, Houston, Texas), and included in the 1975 Baptist Hymnal. Here is the hymn.

God of earth and outer space,
God of love and God of grace,
Bless the astronauts who fly,
As they soar beyond the sky.
God who flung the stars in space,
God who set the sun ablaze,
Fling the spacecraft thru the air,
Let man know your presence there.

God of atmosphere and air,
God of life and planets bare,
Use man’s courage and his skill
As he seeks your holy will.
God of depth and God of height,
God of darkness, God of light,
As man walks in outer space,
Teach him how to walk in grace.

God of man’s exploring mind,
God of wisdom, God of time,
Launch us from complacency
To a world in need of thee.
God of power, God of might,
God of rockets firing bright.
Hearts ignite and thrust within,
Love for Christ to share with men.

God of earth and outer space,
God who guides the human race,
Guide the lives of seeking youth
In their search for heav'nly truth.
God who reigns below, above,
God of universal love,
Love that gave Nativity,
Love that gave us Calvary.

This hymn has been "nominated" by several people on the world wide web as "the worst" or "the stupidest" hymn ever. Greg Adkins makes fun of it in his post The Baptist Hymnal, Hymn #20, All 4 verses, standing as we sing, writing "it is pretty amazing that someone was able to write a worship song including the words 'spacecraft', 'rocket', 'astronauts', 'outerspace', and 'thrust'." David Bruce Murray, author of Murray's Encyclopedia of Southern Gospel Music, calls it the Worst…Hymn…Ever….* He writes, "For me, the clear winner is hymn #20 from the 1975 version of the Baptist Hymnal...'God Of Earth And Outer Space'." It is apparent from some comments at David Murray's blog that the problem is not just with the words, but that they clearly have a distaste for minor music. The tune is Aberystwyth written by Joseph Parry in 1879.

In contrast Jonathan Pritchett writes In defense of “God of Earth and Outer Space”. He says "Not only should this song be sang more often, but we need more songs that combine themes of faith and science, creation, the sovereignty of God and His love revealed in Jesus Christ."

David Music notes that “God of Earth and Outer Space” and two other "space" hymns were written in the late 60 and early 70s -- "the most vigorous period of America's space exploration program" and that after "manned space flight began to be de-emphasized" these "hymns about space and its exploration quickly fell out of favor." ("I Will Sing the Wondrous Story": A History of Baptist Hymnody in North America, p. 473)

While a few things about the hymn strike me as a little odd, I suspect Music's observation best captures what happened. The song seemed relevant in the early 1970s, but after that it seemed a little weird to glorify God in the realm of space exploration. But the overall tenor of the hymn doesn't strike me as anywhere near hilarious, as is portrayed by some writers on the web.

Is this the "worst hymn ever" (as Murray)? Or does it combine themes that should be sung more often (as Pritchett)? Or does it fall somewhere in the middle? What do you think?

 

Thanks, Aaron. I don't see the meaning of it being about colonization of space and taking the Gospel to someone in space. To me it's more of a "as man travels into space, let him realize you are as real there as in the earth" kind of thing. Written in 1970, it was probably associated with the Apollo missions of men to the moon. Be that as it may, I agree with you that this is not the type of hymn to include in a church hymnal. Possibly not the most man-centered song in the 1975 Baptist Hymnal, but certainly related to something that makes the text quickly become outdated and oddball (well, kind of oddball from the start).

 

Thanks to each of you for your thoughts on this.

That was just an impression I got from comments made (on either Adkin's or Murray's blog, or maybe both). But I might have misunderstood.

I love minor tunes myself, and tend to compose more in minor than major.

 

There is no reason for music to be cheerful all the time, either in the tune or the text. There are lots of sad subjects in life and in the Scriptures. And a good composer can even create a sprightly cheerful effect in minor and a sad solemn effect in major.

One thing I like about a lot of the old Sacred Harp tunes is the effect of major tunes that modulate back and forth into minor. (We Sacred Harpers don't really think of it that way, but I think that is the proper explanation). Here's an example of what I mean, whether explained correctly or not:
The Minister's Farewell.

 

Brother Glen, Sacred Harp is part of the old American singing school tradition, based on a moveable scale and syllables represented by shape notes. The singing schools taught/teach its students to sing by the method of reading the shapes and singing the syllables. Within the Sacred Harp singing conventions themselves, we have maintained that tradition of "singing the notes" before we sing the words of a song. This is more tradition than utility -- in that we sing songs this way that we have known for years and have memorized just as if they were new songs we'd never seen before. Bottom line, I suppose, is that we enjoy doing it. Hope this helps.

 

At least some of our idea "major = cheerful" and "minor = sad" is from cultural conditioning -- because we think that way, we think that way! But songs in our culture don't necessarily follow that pattern, even if we think they do.

When John G. McCurry compiled The Social Harp, he pointed out this inconsistency in our thinking:

'Some writers say that minor-keyed tunes are applied to poetry that is solemn, pensive, and melancholy; and major-keyed tunes are applied to poetry that is animated, spirited,and cheerful. But I differ with these writers. If that be true, why is the good old hymn, "O! when shall I see Jesus," &c., applied to tunes in the major and minor keys? and why was the hymn, "Lord, what a thoughtless wretch was I," &c., applied to Huntington in the major key, and also to Greenwich in the minor key?' (The Social Harp, John G. McCurry,1855, p. 12)

 

This is off topic, but I thought this was an interesting comment about major and minor in the NPR piece on the death of Ralph Stanley:

"...Ralph...built a fan base fiercely devoted to his straightforward banjo and archaic-type singing known as the "high lonesome" mountain sound. Stanley's sound came in part from the fact that he often sang in a minor key, while his band played in a happy-sounding major key."