An Atoning Priority in the Hymns of Calvary and Gethsemane

Abstract

When the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints published a new hymnbook in 1985, it began with a preface by the First Presidency articulating their hopes for the new volume: “The hymns invite the Spirit of the Lord, create a feeling of reverence, unify us as members. . . . Some of the greatest sermons are preached by the singing of hymns.”1 In the Latter-day Saint tradition, hymns serve to instruct and reinforce doctrine.Of all the doctrines contained in the hymnal, one most familiar to Latter-day Saints relates to the Savior's atonement.2 The hymns are often used to add insight to this key doctrine. President Russell M. Nelson recalled comforting a tearful missionary who asked, “Why did the Savior have to suffer so much?” In response, President Nelson opened a hymnbook and answered the question by quoting from a hymn: “And when I think that God, his Son not sparing, / Sent him to die, I scarce can take it in, / That on the cross my burden gladly bearing / He bled and died to take away my sin.”3This article examines how hymns published in the first three hymnals (1835, 1840, and 1841) and the 1985 edition depict the Savior's suffering in Gethsemane and his death on the cross. We selected these four hymnals to identify potential historical contrasts between the early hymns of the church and those sung in the late twentieth century.There is a disconnect between what the hymns teach and emphasize regarding the Savior's atonement and what many church members typically believe. In a previous study, researchers (including one of the present authors) asked 992 Latter-day Saint adults, “Where did Jesus Christ atone for our sins?” In response, 55 percent wrote only about the events of the Garden of Gethsemane, and 42 percent included Gethsemane and Calvary.4 A separate survey of 792 Latter-day Saint adults asked, “Where would you say Christ's Atonement mostly took place? A. In the Garden of Gethsemane, B. On the Cross at Calvary, or C. Equally in Gethsemane and Calvary.” In response, 58 percent chose “Gethsemane only.”5These survey results indicate that a majority of Latter-day Saints focus on Gethsemane as the central location of Christ's atoning for sin. That this is the case has been observed by scholars such as the anthropologist Douglas J. Davies who wrote, “Mormonism relocates the centre of gravity of Christ's passion in Gethsemane rather than upon the cross and Calvary.”6 Similarly, historian of American religion John G. Turner argues that Latter-day Saints see “the principal scene of Christ's suffering and, thus, his atonement, was at Gethsemane rather than on the cross.”7 Moreover, Kent Brown, a BYU religion professor writing in the influential Latter-day Saint publication the Encyclopedia of Mormonism states, “For Latter-day Saints, Gethsemane was the scene of Jesus’ greatest agony, even surpassing that which he suffered on the cross.”8It has not always been the case that Latter-day Saints have emphasized Gethsemane over Calvary. The Crucifixion was once at the heart of Latter-day Saint understandings of the atonement. This was the central thesis of Michael G. Reed's Banishing the Cross: The Emergence of a Mormon Taboo published in 2012.9 Our own work has made the same points.10 The personal writings and sermons of Joseph Smith do not mention Christ atoning for our sins in Gethsemane; in contrast, they frequently mention Jesus's death.11 Through the 1930s the word “Gethsemane” was used in general conference ten or fewer times per decade.12The powerful descriptive language used by James E. Talmage in Jesus the Christ (first published in 1915) likely played a role in the increasing emphasis on Gethsemane.13 More forceful words were spoken by Apostle Joseph Fielding Smith in a 1944 general conference address, in which he explicitly attributed greater atoning efficacy to Gethsemane than to Calvary.Over the next forty years, Latter-day Saint apostles made eight similar statements in books or in general conference.15 Church curriculum materials in the 1970s and 1980s utilized these quotations, leading some church members to believe that what transpired in Gethsemane had more soteriological significance than what happened on Calvary.16In the twenty-first century, church leaders have emphasized the atoning significance of both Calvary and Gethsemane, and the above-mentioned quotes that give preeminence to Gethsemane are no longer used in curriculum. Nevertheless, the quoted survey results suggest that Latter-day Saints continue to prioritize Gethsemane. This emphasis is interesting because Calvary is emphasized much more frequently than Gethsemane in scripture,17 by Joseph Smith,18 and in the collective teachings of church leaders.19 As we will demonstrate in this article, the hymns also give atoning priority to Calvary. The specific questions this article answers are as follows: How many hymns in the 1835, 1840, 1841, and 1985 hymnbooks describe Christ's atonement in Gethsemane and Calvary?What do the hymns teach about Gethsemane and Calvary? Have these teachings changed over time?In this study we identify hymn references that can be explicitly connected to either Gethsemane or Christ's Crucifixion. The references come from four English hymnbooks: A Collection of Sacred Hymns (Kirtland, 1835), A Collection of Sacred Hymns (Manchester, England, 1840), A Collection of Sacred Hymns (Nauvoo, 1841), and Hymns (Salt Lake City, 1985).To determine what these hymnbooks teach about Gethsemane and Christ's Crucifixion, two researchers read through all the hymns in each book and noted every statement that could be explicitly connected with Christ's death or his sufferings in Gethsemane. They did not include hymns that did not make clear reference to the Crucifixion or Gethsemane even if the Savior's death or Gethsemane could be inferred.24 Some hymns contained multiple references to Gethsemane and/or Calvary; these were only counted once, unless the hymn included references to both the Crucifixion and Gethsemane. In that case it was counted once in each category.25 They did not include any generic references to the “cross” unless it could be reasonably inferred to be referencing to Calvary.26 Hymns that contained references to Christ's death only in connection with the fact that he now lives were also excluded.27 In addition, the researchers did not count references to the blood of Christ, unless explicitly spoken of in relation to the Crucifixion or Gethsemane.28With this list, the researchers read the relevant hymn text, looking for common themes. A process of emergent coding led to eight themes that were used to code each reference. Table 1 summarizes this coding structure.Each reference received at least one code but could receive more than one depending on its content. For example, the following hymn received codes for both “Love” and “Salvation” based on these lyrics: “Here's love and grief beyond degree, / The Lord of glory died for men!”29Two independent raters read each hymn and assigned codes based on the descriptions. If the codes disagreed, a third rater reviewed their work and made a final determination.Table 2 summarizes the number of hymns in each hymnbook, and what percentage of these hymns reference Christ's suffering in Gethsemane and/or his death on Calvary. Our analysis of these four hymnbooks indicates that approximately 17 percent of the hymns in the first three hymnals focused on Christ's Crucifixion with that total dropping to about 12 percent in 1985. Thus, while the percentage of hymns referencing Calvary decreased in the 1985 hymnbook, the atoning power of the cross is still frequently mentioned. In the first two hymnbooks there were no direct references to Christ in Gethsemane, with two in the 1841 hymnbook and four in the 1985 hymnal. This finding may suggest a need to nuance the extent to which hymns effectively communicate doctrine. As explained, Latter-day Saints tend to emphasize Gethsemane as the place where Christ mostly atoned for our sins. Although approximately 16 percent of hymns across the four hymnbooks we analyzed speak of Christ's Crucifixion, fewer than 1 percent reference Gethsemane. This highlights a mismatch between what the hymns teach and what many church members appear to believe.The four hymnbooks we analyzed contain six references to Gethsemane. One defining feature of Gethsemane is that Jesus sweat great drops of blood, a unique detail from the gospel of Luke.30 This suffering is referenced in the 1841 hymnbook where lyrics say: Legions of angels. . . .They heard him [Christ] in the garden groan,And saw his sweat of blood;They saw his pierced hands and feetNail'd to the cursed wood!31The other hymn from the 1841 hymnbook to refer to Gethsemane states, “Oh garden of Olivet / dear honor'd spot / The fame of thy wonders shall ne'er be forgot / The theme most transporting to seraphs above / The triumph of sorrow, the triumph of love.”32The 1985 edition is the only hymnbook in our corpus that explicitly used the word “Gethsemane,” which occurs in two different hymns. One of these hymns states, “He answers privately, / Reaches my reaching / In my Gethsemane, Savior and Friend.”33 This hymn personalizes Gethsemane to describe times of sorrow experienced by the singer. The other hymn to use the word reads, “Our Savior, in Gethsemane / Shrank not to drink the bitter cup / And then, for us, on Calvary / Upon the cross was lifted up.”34 Eliza R. Snow in her hymn “Behold the Great Redeemer Die” alludes to this same statement Christ made in Gethsemane. After describing several elements of Christ's Crucifixion she describes the Savior as saying, “Father from me remove this cup / Yet, if thou wilt, I'll drink it up.”35 Finally, the hymn “Reverently and Meekly Now” appears to connect the Savior's suffering in Gethsemane and Calvary. The lyrics state (in the voice of Jesus), “With my blood that dripped like rain / Sweat in agony of pain / With my body on the tree / I have ransomed even thee.”36It is interesting to note that the two earliest hymnbooks make no reference to Gethsemane. The fact that four of the hymns in the 1985 hymnal connect to Gethsemane may suggest a small shift towards emphasizing it. However, no hymns in any of the four hymnbooks we analyzed make an explicit statement regarding the soteriological significance of Gethsemane. These findings stand in contrast to the survey data where a majority of church members locate Christ's Atonement primarily in Gethsemane.Across the four hymnbooks in our corpus, a total of 156 hymns reference Christ's death. Some of these hymns appear in two or three hymnals and two of them appear in all four hymnbooks.37 After eliminating duplicate hymns, a total of 110 unique hymns in this corpus refer to the Savior's Crucifixion. The following sections describe themes taught by these hymns with respect to the Savior's sacrifice on Calvary, organized by most to least common themes, with miscellaneous appearing last.Out of the 110 hymns containing references to the Crucifixion, 58 (53 percent) related to salvation, making it the most frequently mentioned theme. Three specific groups are consistently identified as recipients of salvation: individuals, sinners, and all humanity. Collectively the messages of salvation for these groups teaches the inclusive nature of his sacrifice.Roughly 25 percent of the hymns about salvation emphasize the individual nature of Christ's sacrifice. These hymns frequently include lyrics that focus on the redemption of the individual's soul, such as “[Jesus] died, my poor soul to redeem,”38 or statements of praise and awe, such as “How vast the love that him inclin'd, / To bleed and die for thee!”39 In addition to hymns that teach that Christ died for the individual,40 about a quarter of the salvation hymns teach that Christ specifically died for sinners. These hymns are most common in the 1840 and 1841 hymnbooks, which include lyrics that teach that Christ “did for every sinner die”41 and that the Messiah came “to bleed and expire for poor guilty man.”42 Three hymns specifically mention that Christ “[gave] his life to save his foes”43 or make statements like, “The very foes who slay thee, / Have access to thy grace.”44 By drawing attention to the fact that the Savior might save those who crucified him, these hymns emphasize the comprehensive nature of his death.The remaining hymns that reference salvation teach that Christ died not only for the individual and for sinners but for all humanity. A hymn that appears in both the 1840 and 1841 hymnals emphasizes this universality: “Bid their hearts rejoice / In him who died for all! / For all my Lord was crucified: / For all, for all my Saviour died!”45Other hymns contain similar statements regarding the inclusive nature of the Savior's death, describing Christ as “him who died for all.”46 Five hymns specifically state that Christ has saved the whole “world,”47 emphasizing the full extent of his redeeming death with declarations such as “all the world through thee may live.”48In addition to emphasizing the universality of salvation, we identified additional themes related to the saving power of the cross. A few hymns draw heavily on the imagery of Christ's death opening or unlocking the path to heaven. For example, the following lyrics appear in the 1835 hymnbook: “Twas Jesus, my friend, when he hung on the tree, / Who open'd the channel of mercy to me.”49 Three additional hymns in the 1985 hymnbook contain similar references, with statements such as “He who was slain on Calvary / Opens those pearly gates for me”50 and that he alone “could unlock the gate / Of heav'n and let us in.”51 The third hymn portrays similar imagery: We'll sing all hail to Jesus’ name,And praise and honor giveTo him who bled on Calvary's hillAnd died that we might live.He seized the keys of death and hellAnd bruised the serpent's head;He bid the prison doors unfoldThe grave yield up her dead.52Seven hymns specifically use the word “ransom” to describe the salvific nature of Christ's death on the cross. Some describe Christ himself as the payment, stating that he “gave himself a ransom,”53 or describe his death as “the precious ransom's paid.”54 Others instead emphasize our identity as sinners as “thy ransom'd ones.”55 Four of these seven hymns appear in multiple editions of the hymnbook, with two appearing in all four of the analyzed books. This indicates a consistent emphasis across the years on Christ's central role in our redemption and “our ransom'd nature.”56As the remedy of the broken law, the ransom for our sin, and the universal key to redemption, the role of Christ's death in our salvation is very clearly in all four hymnbooks. More than half of the hymns that reference the Savior's Crucifixion specifically teach that Christ died for our sins.We identified forty-eight hymns that relate to the personal nature of Christ's death, making it the second most common theme. One manifestation of this personal aspect is found in lyrics that contemplate the Savior's pain. About one third of these hymns discuss our personal role in his pain and how it brought about our salvation, “And can it be that I should gain / An interest in the Saviour's blood? / Died he for me, who caused his pain?”57 Another hymn juxtaposes the divinity of Jesus and the lowly state of sinners: “Would he devote that sacred head / For such a worm as I? / Was it for crimes that I have done, / He groan'd upon the tree?”58Of these hymns, 81 percent are written in first person, such as the hymn above. Twenty hymns are written in first person plural, with an additional eighteen in first person singular. This abundance of hymns that both praise “our everlasting Priest”59 and give thanks to “my Savior”60 provides an interesting contrast between both the universal and the individual nature of Christ's personal sacrifice. These first-person hymns, written in both plural and singular, articulate the teaching that he “Who did for every sinner die, / Hath surely died for me.”61Only eight of the hymns we categorized as “personal” are written in second person; most of these are simple but profound declarations such as “For you the Saviour died; / Heavn'n is prepar'd for you.”62 The rest involve invitations to those who listen to draw closer to the Savior, such as “By his pain he gives you ease, / Life by his expiring groan: / Rise, exalted by his fall; / Find in Christ your all in all.”63“Reverently and Meekly Now” is unique in that it is exclusively written from the Savior's perspective. The flipped point of view highlights an invitation coming directly from Jesus Christ: “Rev'rently and meekly now, / Let thy head most humbly bow. / Think of me, thou ransomed one; / Think what I for thee have done. / With my blood that dripped like rain, / Sweat in agony of pain, / With my body on the tree / I have ransomed even thee.”64Twenty percent of the hymns mention love in connection with Christ's Crucifixion. Twenty-one of these twenty-four hymns describe the centrality of love in Christ's willingness to die for us or of Christ's death as a manifestation of his love for us. For example, the 1985 hymnbook contains the following lyrics: “He died in holy innocence / A broken law to recompense. / Oh, love effulgent, love divine!”65“Effulgent” is defined as “radiant,” or “shining brightly.”66 This hymn thus teaches that Jesus proved that he has “effulgent” love for others, through his Crucifixion. Similar exclamations ring out in other hymns, such as, “O unexampled love!”67 and “Amazing love!”68Another hymn invites believers to “yield” to his love: O let his love your hearts constrain,Nor suffer him to die in vain!His love is mighty to compel;His conquering love consent to feel;Yield to his love's resistless power,And fight against your God no more.See him set forth before your eyes,That precious, bleeding sacrifice!Come in, this moment, at his call,And live for him who died for all.69These lyrics implore believers to let the same love that motivated Christ to die for them motivate them to live for him. They invite those singing to think of Christ on the cross when they are tempted and let his mighty love “[their] hearts constrain” so that he will not have “died in vain.” Similarly, another hymn reminds those singing, “But drops of grief can ne'er repay / The debt of love I owe.”70One hymn that appears in both of Emma Smith's hymnbooks acknowledges “the covenant love of thy crucified Son.”71 These lyrics suggest that Christ's Crucifixion sealed the covenant between Christ and his people, further indicating the salvific importance of what transpired on Calvary. A particularly poignant hymn states: When I survey the wond'rous crossOn which the Prince of glory died. . . .See from his head, his hands, his feet,Sorrow and love flow mingled down:Did e'er such love and sorrow meet,Or thorns compose so rich a crown?72With these lyrics, Isaac Watts reminds singers that the sorrowful scene was also filled with love. A similar hymn appears in all four of the examined hymnbooks: “Here's love and grief beyond degree, / The Lord of glory died for men!”73We identified twenty-three hymns that describe Christ's suffering on the cross. They tell of “the sorrows of the dying Lord”74 as “his flesh with nails was torn . . . when for our sins, he suffering dies.”75 They emphasize Christ's wounds from the Crucifixion, his specific physical sufferings, and their relationship to our salvation.More than half of these hymns mention Christ's wounds from the Crucifixion. Nine of these twelve hymns are found in the first three hymnbooks, perhaps indicating a higher level of comfort in previous decades with more graphic descriptions of Christ's sufferings.76 A hymn appearing in the first three hymnbooks draws a personal connection between the sinner and Christ's wounds: Before the throne my Sur'ty stands,My name is written on his hands . . .Five bleeding wounds he bears,Receiv'd on Calvary;They pour effectual prayers,They strongly speak for me;Forgive him, O forgive, they cry,Nor let that ransom'd sinner die!77This intimate spiritual connection to the wounds of Jesus is also found in other hymns. For example, one from the 1840 hymnal describes his wounds as a place of refuge: “Tis there I would always abide . . . Conceal'd in the cleft of thy side.”78 Another from the 1840 hymnbook instructs us to “Turn to Jesus crucified, / Fly to those dear wounds of his.”79 Similarly, these lyrics from the 1985 hymnal highlight a personal connection to the Savior's wounds as a place of refuge: “Rock of Ages, cleft for me, / Let me hide myself in thee; / Let the water and the blood, / From thy wounded side which flowed, / Be of sin the double cure, / Save from wrath and make me pure.”80In addition to the wounds of the Crucifixion, many hymns describe other aspects of the Savior's physical suffering.81 Seven hymns from the first three hymnbooks refer to Christ's “dying groans”82 from the cross. They describe the pain he bore as he let out “that strange expiring cry.”83 Others describe the atoning nature of Christ's suffering, such as “By his pain he gives you ease, / Life by his expiring groan.”84 While this topic was mentioned in the earliest hymnals, none of the hymns that mention Christ's suffering in the 1985 hymnbook contain any references to the groans of Jesus on the cross.Within the four hymnbooks, a total of sixteen hymns directly connect Christ's Crucifixion with ordinances. Ten relate to the sacrament and six to baptism. One noted contrast is that hymns connecting baptism and the Savior's death appear more often in the early hymnbooks than the 1985 edition; however, hymns connecting the sacrament and his death appear more frequently in the 1985 hymnbook than in the earlier editions. This trend of decreasing connection between Christ's Crucifixion and baptism is mirrored in general conference talks.85There are five unique hymns in the 1840 and 1841 hymnbooks connecting baptism with Christ's Crucifixion.86 These hymns teach that we must be “buried with the Lord” by being “baptiz'd into his death.”87 In contrast, the 1985 hymnbook includes only one hymn that connects the baptismal ordinance to the Crucifixion: As an emblem of thy passionAnd thy vict'ry o'er the grave,We, who know thy great salvation,Are baptized beneath the wave.. . . Buried with the Lord and risingTo a life divinely new.88This hymn first appeared in the 1835 hymnbook, where it was the only one relating baptism to the Savior's death in that edition.Four of the six hymns that draw a connection between baptism and the Crucifixion mention being baptized “beneath the wave.”89 These hymns describe “Jesus descend[ing] beneath the wave” as an “emblem of his future grave,”90 with our own baptism symbolizing “His sacred body rais'd / Out of the liquid grave.”91 For example, both the 1840 and the 1841 hymnbooks contain these lyrics: For Jesus is the sinner's friend,He died that we might live.We lay our sinful bodies nowBeneath the opening wave,Then rise to life divinely new,As from the bursting grave.92As stated, there are relatively few hymns in the three earliest hymnals that draw a direct connection between the sacrament and the Savior's death. The 1835, 1840, and 1841 hymnbooks have a total of five, ten, and fifteen hymns respectively in their section entitled “Sacrament.” However, both the 1835 and 1841 hymnals only have one hymn that directly connects Christ's Crucifixion with the sacrament, and the 1840 edition has two. The following lyrics appear in each of the first three hymnbooks: He took the bread, and bles'd, and brake—What wondrous words of grace he spake!“This is my body broke for sin;“Receive and eat the living food.”Then took the cup, and bless'd the wine,“’Tis the new cov'nant in my blood.”“Do this,” he cried, “till time shall end,“In mem'ry of your dying friend;“Meet at my table, and recordThe love of your departed Lord.”93Like the words of the above hymn, the other included in the 1840 hymnbook also mentions the sacrament with an emphasis in remembering the Savior, stating that we must “surround the table of our Lord . . . [and] remember him—His sorrow, pain, and death.”94 Though there are few sacrament hymns with an explicit connection to Christ's death in the first three editions, there is still a clear emphasis on the remembrance of his death in these early hymnbooks.In contrast, hymns connecting the Savior's sacrifice on Calvary to the sacrament are much more prominent in the 1985 hymnbook, which contains eight hymns (out of a total of thirty in the section entitled “Sacrament”) that directly connect his death to this ordinance. This finding follows the trend of increasing connections between the sacrament and the Savior's death on the cross observed in general conference addresses from the 1960s to the 2010s.95 For example, the 1985 hymnal includes the phrase, “As now we take the sacrament, / Our thoughts are turned to thee, / Thou Son of God, who lived for us, / Then died on Calvary.”96Within our corpus, we identified fifteen hymns that emphasize Christ's Crucifixion in a distinctively positive way. Eleven appear in the 1841 Nauvoo hymnal. In contrast to sorrowful feelings that often revolve around the sufferings of the Crucifixion, these hymns reflect the happiness that can also be associated with Christ's death. One hymn unique to the 1840 edition refers to Calvary, proclaiming: “Ah! Shew me that happiest place, / The place of thy people's abode, / Where saints in an extacy [sic] gaze, / And hang on a crucified God.”97In the 1828 Webster Dictionary, “ecstasy” is defined as “a state in which the mind is arrested and fixed . . . [in] contemplation of some extraordinary or supernatural object” or an “excessive joy.”98 These words are absent of mourning—like many of the other hymns with the positive theme, they emphasize the “cheerful voice”99 and “charming words”100 used by the followers of Christ to celebrate his victory on the cross.One hymn appearing in both the 1840 and 1841 hymnbooks refers to “that divine and glorious conquest / Once obtain'd on Calvary,”101 glorying in the triumph of the atoning sacrifice Jesus offered. Collectively, these excerpts suggest that a positive attitude towards the death of Christ results from an understanding of its significance and that it made redemption and eternal life readily available for all people.In addition to the joyful attitude displayed towards the Crucifixion, these hymns also express deep gratitude for the Savior's death on the cross. The following lyrics appeared in each of the first three hymnbooks: Thus might I hide my blushing face,While his dear cross appears;Dissolve my heart in thankfulness,And melt mine eyes to tears. . . .Here, Lord, I give myself away,‘Tis all that I can do.102Another hymn that also appeared in the first three hymnbooks alludes to the audacity of feeling ungrateful for Christ's death: “His love is great, he died for us, / Shall we ungrateful be?”103 In the 1985 hymnal this point is also emphasized, teaching that all hold a “debt of gratitude.”104Eighteen out of the 110 hymns could not be readily assigned to our primary codes as many of these hymns present commentary on Calvary that is unique to a specific hymn. For example, in Emma's 1841 hymnal, Isaac Watts extended a missionary invitation to “Go, and assert your Savior's cause: / Go, spread the myst'ry of his cross.” Additionally, he taught in the fifth verse that “Satan rages at his loss/ And hates the doctrine of the cross.”105Although other hymns do not explicitly define the cross as “doctrine,” they do portray the symbolism and importance of the cross to Christianity. For example, one from the 1985 hymnal urges singers to “Rally round the standard of the cross / . . . Fight for our Savior; come, come away!”106 Another hymn asks, “Am I a soldier of the cross, / A follower of the Lamb?”107In the early hymnbooks, it was common for hymns to reference following Jesus's example of taking up the cross. For example, one hymn from 1840 speaks of the desire to take up “the consecrated cross.”108 Another that was printed in all three of the church's first hymnbooks reads: “If we, like Jesus bear the cross— / Like him despise the shame; / And count all earthly things but dross, / For his most holy name.”109 However, in the newest hymnbook, these kinds of hymns were not as common. All but two of the hymns from the 1985 hymnbook that mentioned “the cross” used it in a more narrative sense when describing Jesus's experience at Calvary.An interesting change of the lyrics in one hymn may indicate shifting ways in which Christ's Crucifixion was perceived by those compiling the hymnbooks. The hymn known today as “Jesus, Once of Humble Birth” was included in the 1840 hymnbook with the following lyrics: “Once a meek and lowly lamb— / Now the Lord, the great I AM; / Once with thieves was crucified— / Now on yonder cloud he rides.”110 In the 1985 edition, the last two lines of this verse were changed to “Once upon the cross he bowed; / now his chariot is the cloud.”111 Although it is unclear as to why these lyrics were changed, one possible explanation is that the latter highlights a resurrected Christ while the earlier lyrics emphasize the suffering Savior.Two hymns from the 1841 Nauvoo hymnal highlight the sorrow that will be felt by those who committed the crucifying act. One of these hymns states, “Behold on flying clouds he comes! / His saints shall bless the day; / While they that pierced him sadly mourn; / In anguish and dismay.”112When initially coding the hymns, several references to Christ's blood were excluded because it was unclear whether they were connected to the Savior's suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane or at Calvary. However, upon closer examination, it seems clear that most of the hymns referencing blood were likely intended by their authors to refer to “the blood of his cross” (Colossians 1:20). One apparent example of this is: Stretched on the cross, the Savior dies;Hark!—his expiring groans arise!See, from his hands—his feet—his side,Descends the sacred—crimson tide!And didst thou bleed—for sinners bleed?113Several hymns, including the one just mentioned, talked about blood after describing the Crucifixion, leading us to believe these were references to Christ's blood split at Calvary, not at Gethsemane. For example, the fourth stanza of one hymn reads, “For us his flesh with nails was torn.”114 One stanza later a reference to his blood appears: “For us his precious blood was spilt, / To purchase pardon for our guilt.” By itself, one might infer that “his precious blood” was his blood shed at Gethsemane to “purchase pardon for our guilt”; however, examining this hymn in context suggests that it is a reference to his death—especially as there is no reference to Gethsemane in this hymn. A more rigorous examination of how the word “blood” has been used historically may be a fruitful topic of future research. Our initial findings that “blood” likely refers to Christ's “death” indicate that the emphasis within the hymns on Christ's death is even stronger than what we have articulated.The hymns in our corpus emphasize the importance of Christ's atonement. Given that across the four hymnals we studied only 6 hymns refer to Gethsemane, compared to 156 that are connected to Christ's Crucifixion, the hymns clearly highlight the Savior's gift from Golgotha as the central act that leads to salvation from sin. While Latter-day Saints have distinctive beliefs about Christ's suffering in Gethsemane, these beliefs are not strongly reflected in Latter-day Saint hymnals.The numerical emphasis on hymns pertaining to Calvary may lead some to ask, “Given the emphasis in the hymns regarding Christ's Crucifixion, why do so many members focus primarily on Gethsemane?” Although a definitive answer is beyond the scope of this study, we hypothesize that our findings suggest limitations to the power of hymns to inculcate doctrine when other factors are present. As mentioned, between the years 1944 and 1982 three church leaders taught on nine separate occasions that what transpired on Gethsemane had more salvific significance than what happened on Calvary.115 Although these teachings were not consistent with literally hundreds of other statements from church leaders regarding Christ's Crucifixion, they became influential in church curriculum and other materials.116 It may be that a few direct statements from church leaders, reinforced through curriculum have had a stronger influence over the thinking of many church members regarding the atonement than the hymns.It is also possible that another source for teaching doctrine—artwork—has overshadowed the message of the hymns. Art historian Jenny Champoux explained, “[Art] has the power to shape belief, influencing the way Mormons tell scriptural stories and understand doctrinal lessons.”117 One study showed that across a sampling of 151 Latter-day Saint church buildings, approximately half contained images of Christ in Gethsemane, while fewer than 3 percent had an image of Christ's Crucifixion.118 Moreover, the guidelines given in May 2020 that require an image of Christ to be hung in the welcoming foyer of all Latter-day Saint meetinghouses include twenty-two paintings from which local leaders can choose. These images include Christ in Gethsemane but not on the cross.119 Perhaps the lack of Crucifixion artwork in Latter-day Saint chapels has led some church members to prioritize Gethsemane over Calvary.Although we cannot definitively state why some Latter-day Saints have in recent years given more emphasis to Gethsemane than Calvary, Latter-day Saint hymns clearly focus on Christ's death for the sins of humanity. They preserve a historical focus on the cross of Christ. The following lyrics, included in the first three church hymnals, provide a reminder of how Latter-day Saints have viewed the importance of the Crucifixion: “On the mountains let me tell / How he died— / the blessed Savior— / To redeem a world from hell!”120