And Can It Be

And Can It Be
Genre Hymn
Written 1738
Text Charles Wesley
Based on Psalm 145
Meter 8.8.8.8 (L.M.)
Melody "Sagina" by Thomas Campbell

"And Can It Be That I Should Gain?" is a Christian hymn written by Charles Wesley. Diarmaid MacCulloch suggests that the hymn is one of the best-loved of Wesley's six thousand hymns.[1] It is also the source for the 2003 song "You Are My King (Amazing Love)" which reached No. 1 on the Billboard Christian songs chart.

"And Can It Be" was written in 1738 to celebrate Wesley's conversion, which he regarded as having taken place on 21 May of that year.[2] The lines "My chains fell off, my heart was free/I rose, went forth, and followed thee" are based on the story of the Liberation of Saint Peter in the New Testament.[3]

References

  1. ↑ Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years, p. 754.
  2. ↑ Kenneth C. Kinghorn, Wesley: A Heart Transformed Can Change the World, p. 33.
  3. ↑ Blair Gilmer Meeks, Expecting the Unexpected: An Advent Devotional Guide (Upper Room Books, 2006), p. 38.
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