Description
Rock of Ages
The great Christian hymn Rock of Ages was written by Augustus M. Toplady somewhere around 1775-76.
Augustus Toplady was born at Farnham, Surrey, England on November 4, 1740. His father was an officer in Royal Marines and died shortly after Augustus’ birth. By 1755, mother and son were living in Dublin, where Augustus was enrolled in Trinity College Dublin. It was in August of that same year, that Augustus’ conversion to Christianity began.
In the Church of England at that time there were at least two major theological schools. One was Calvinism.
“[Calvinists] believe that God predestined some people to be saved and others were predestined to eternal damnation. This choice by God to save some is held to be unconditional and not based on any characteristic or action on the part of the person chosen.
The other school of thought at the time was called Arminianism. Which is the belief,
“That sinners who hear the gospel have the free will to accept or reject God’s offer of saving grace and that nobody is excluded by God from the possibility of salvation except those who freely exclude themselves.
Augustus M. Toplady became an avowed Calvinist believing and emphasizing the grace of God, and a bitter opponent of Arminianism.
As to the hymn Rock of Ages, there is a commonly held tradition that Toplady was traveling through the gorge of Burrington Combe in the Mendip Hills in England when he was caught in a thunderstorm. It is reported that he took shelter in those rocks and there received the inspiration that drew forth these inspired words,
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.
That story of the storm was started some 122 years after the hymn was written. Since then, there has been a very long argument about its veracity. What matters though, is not where Toplady wrote those words, but that he wrote them. It is a doctrinally profound hymn because it bears witness in the highest voice that “it is by grace that we are saved after all we can do.” A singular, relevant truth that should not be overlooked in a world of misguided perfectionism.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_of_Ages_(Christian_hymn)
https://hymnary.org/person/Toplady_Augustus
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvinism#:~:text=Calvinism%20(also%20called%20the%20Reformed,and%20other%20Reformation%2Dera%20theologians.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arminianism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_of_Ages_(Christian_hymn)
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/hymns/rock-of-ages?lang=eng
Glenn Rawson December 2022
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