Of the Father's Love Begotten...
Marcus Aurelius Clemens Prudentius (348-413 AD) was born in
northern Spain. He was a poet (considered the "Christian Pindar" - Pindar being a renowned ancient Greek lyric poet), a successful lawyer and a magistrate whose religious convictions came late in
life. He began writing in his late 50s and his sacred poems were literary and personal, not, like
those of St. Ambrose, designed for singing. (https://hymnary.org/text/of_the_fathers_love_begotten)
One of the most prominent heresies was propagated by Arius (c. 250-336), whose most controversial position—and the one relevant to our hymn—was that God the Father and the Son did not co-exist throughout eternity. This heresy states that before his incarnation, Jesus was created by God and therefore Jesus did not exist through all time. Jesus was a creature (“created being”) that, though divine, was not equal to the Father.
Christian hymns have been used for polemical purposes throughout history, and this is perhaps the first great hymn of this type. In a beautiful poetic form, Prudentius applies his legal skills to make a case for what has become the orthodox understanding of the Trinity.
From the first line of stanza one, “Of the Father’s love begotten” (“Corde natus ex parentis ante mundi exordium”—literally “Born from the parent’s heart before the beginning of worlds (time)”—Prudentius sets forth his argument that the Son has always, is always and will always be with God and us. (https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/history-of-hymns-of-the-fathers-love-begotten)
An a capella rendering of the hymn...
1 Of the Father’s love begotten
ere the worlds began to be,
He is Alpha and Omega;
He the source, the ending He,
of the things that are, that have been,
and that future years shall see
evermore and evermore!
2 O that birth forever blessed,
when a virgin, full of grace,
by the Holy Ghost conceiving,
bore the Savior of our race;
and the Babe, the world’s Redeemer,
first revealed his sacred face,
evermore and evermore!
3 O ye heights of heaven adore Him,
angel hosts, His praises sing,
pow'ers, dominions, bow before Him,
and extol our God and King;
let no tongue on earth be silent,
ev'ery voice in concert ring
evermore and evermore!
4 Christ, to Thee with God the Father
and, O Holy Ghost, to Thee,
hymn and chant and high thanksgiving
and unwearied praises be:
honor, glory, and dominion,
and eternal victory
evermore and evermore!
The YouTube rendition and the text printed here follow J. M. Neale's translation of Prudentius' poem which has 6 stanzas.
