Who changed the Battle Hymn?

[mossrose]

So, you are saying that lyrics like this:

He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders of His love.


No more let sin and sorrow grow,
Nor thorns, infest the ground.
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as the curse is found.

are not referring to the coming Kingdom, but are indicitive of past events?

Because, I sure don't see Him ruling the world with truth and grace yet, and the nations sure aren't proving the glories of His righteousness, and I sure don't see that sin and sorrow and thorns aren't around yet. There are a lot of weeds in my back yard still, and I still have to go and get rid of them.

I guess I just don't understand pretie thinking......

[Dee Dee Warren]

We can get to Joy to the World in a bit - I would like to discuss the first chunk of the Battle Hymn I presented (and by the way what I will be arguing is not preterist belief at all - it is the historic view of the church prior to Darby, thus these types of hymns were written).

Today we have (and I know this is not a hymn) - People get ready, Jesus is coming, soon we'll be going home

and I Wish We'd All Been Ready

[rmwilliamsjr]

We sang it Sunday in a PCA church, i could hear Dabney and Thornwell (plus Jackson and Lee) rolling over in their graves. I whispered to my wife (who is from Maine) that despite the fact that it is pretty and blood warming, it is still a d..n Yankee song that Sherman's men sang as they pillaged, raped and plundered their way to Atlanta.

still got tears in my eyes but it was for the UnCivil War dead.