Reginald Heber: Proclaiming the Gospel on India’s Coral Strand

4 min

One of the most well-known and beloved English hymns is “Holy, Holy, Holy.” Almost every English-speaking Christian is familiar with the words of this expressive, theologically correct hymn. However, very few know about Reginald Heber, the author of this text that extols the Trinity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

Reginald Heber was born on April 21, 1783. He was born in the latter half of the eighteenth century, which was a time of growth for the Unitarians in England. The Enlightenment had fostered the propagation of heretical movements, and the first Unitarian congregation was founded in 1774, about a decade before Heber’s birth. Unitarianism mocked the doctrine of the Trinity and denied the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Born into a noble family from Yorkshire, Heber’s father was lord of a manor and owned land and titles. Young Reginald was well educated in his youth; he entered Brasenose College at Oxford University in 1800, when he was seventeen years old. Heber excelled in Latin and Romantic poetry. He won a prize in epic poetry and was assisted as a writer and poet by the renowned Sir Walter Scott, who was a close friend to the Heber family.

Heber was skilled in oratory as well as poetry. It was obvious to all who knew him that the young man was destined for greatness. Following his graduation from Oxford, Heber set out on a tour of Europe, as was the common practice of young men at the time. For recent graduates, the time was opportune to see the world, experience other cultures, and connect with history by walking the ground where decisive battles and events had taken place.

The young graduate’s trip was curtailed by the Napoleonic Wars raging at that time in Europe. Avoiding war-torn France and Italy, Heber diverted his travel through the Scandinavian countries Sweden, Norway, and Finland. From there, the young man went to Russia. In Russia, he witnessed for the first time Muslims at prayer during the month of Ramadan. Next, Heber traveled south to Crimea, then through Germany and back toward the English Channel.

After his journeys, Heber decided to devote himself to the service of the Church of England. He was ordained as an Anglican priest in May, 1807. The Church of England was in a period of transition during the early 1800s. Unitarianism, Universalism, Transcendentalism, and other “isms” were popping up as the bitter fruits of an increasing reliance on human intellectual pride.

Some in the Church of England attempted to assume a return to “high church” formalism, which consisted of candles, beads, vestments, altars, and ceremonies. Others insisted that the need of the day was the fervent proclamation of the Gospel. Reginald Heber, although his upbringing and education leaned toward the high church position, personally inclined toward the evangelicalism of the “low church” faction.

Heber married Amelia Shipley in the spring of 1809. He became the rector of the church at Hodnet, a village in Shropshire, England. While shepherding his local congregation, Reginald Heber became increasingly drawn to foreign missions. He began preaching in support of missionary societies, such as the British and Foreign Bible Society, as well as the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts.

After almost a decade of quiet pastoral service, Heber and his wife were delighted to find out that a baby was expected! Amelia Heber gave birth to a daughter in 1818. However, the infant died, leaving the parents in deep grief. God opened Amelia’s womb again in 1821, and again in 1824, blessing the couple with two living daughters who survived to adulthood.

As to Reginald Heber’s early interest in poetry, the appreciation was still present. He admired hymn writers, such as William Cowper, who preached and wrote as a dissenter outside the official recognition of the Church of England. During the days of quiet pastoral ministry, Heber experimented again with poetry, eventually writing approximately fifty hymns for worship. No official church approval existed, because the singing of congregational hymns was seen as the practice of dissenters, such as the Baptists and Methodists.

But Heber affirmed that there was no reason why the dissenters should write all the hymns! In 1819, he wrote the hymn that begins “From Greenland’s icy mountains, from India’s coral strand” as a missionary appeal to Christians living comfortably to consider the needs of the heathen world. The first stanza continues with a question, followed with a call:

Can men, whose souls are lighted
With wisdom from on high,
Can they to men benighted
The lamp of life deny?
Salvation! O salvation!
The joyful sound proclaim,
Till earth’s remotest nation
Has learned Messiah’s Name.

Four years after writing this hymn, Heber decided that he would not only sing about going to India—he would go! He was consecrated as Bishop of Calcutta in 1823. He traveled widely throughout India. He worked tirelessly to spread the Gospel among the people of India, whom he came to love.

He served in India for only three years. One evening, after completing a worship service, Bishop Heber returned to his bungalow. To escape the climate’s oppressive humidity and heat, he drew a cold bath. After getting into the cold water, however, he died instantly from a stroke.

Reginald Heber left a lasting legacy within the Christian community in India. He also left an enduring legacy among those who loved and sang his hymns. He is the author of the Christ-honoring hymn “The Son of God Goes Forth to War.” Another one of his excellent hymns that deserves more prominence among his works is the melodic Christmas hymn “Brightest and Best of the Sons of the Morning.” The complete first line makes the appeal for the “brightest and best of the sons of the morning, dawn on our darkness and lend us thine aid.”

Of course, Heber’s best-known hymn is “Holy, Holy, Holy.” The hymn glorifies the Triune God Who is worshipped by both men and angels.

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
All Thy works shall praise Thy name, in earth and sky and sea;
Holy, holy, holy! merciful and mighty!
God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!

In the face of the rising tide of intellectual pride and doctrinal deviations such as those of Unitarianism and Universalism, Reginald Heber devoted his talents, energies, and life to serving and honoring the One Who is “merciful and mighty! God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!”

This article is from our Matters of Life & Death teaching series.

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