By Paul Rorem. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2024. 228 pp.

When I taught church history courses for Fuller Seminary, I always included a segment in each class session called “Voices from the Heart.” It was a brief devotional exercise that asked students to sing a hymn, reflect on a reading, and join in a prayer drawn from whatever period we might be discussing that day. Students consistently expressed appreciation for  this aspect of the course.

In his preface to Singing Church History, Paul Rorem admits that he often did something similar by asking students to sing a hymn in the middle of a class—partly to rouse drowsy students, but for a pedagogical purpose as well. He understands that while we often cite the adage lex orandi, lex credendi, it is equally true that the law of song is the law of belief. This book shares that insight beyond the seminary classroom.

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