Talk:Hymnal

Lack of references etc
There are two template messages, both from July 2018, complaining that (1) the article lacks inline citations, and (2) that it may contain individual research. But a lot of people have visited, many wikipedians have made edits, and all of us seem to think that the article describes the obvious. Hymnals are funny things because they sit within the bosom of a particular institution; scholars don't analyze them and publish sweeping articles about hymnals in general, over all varieties of Christianity, over all the centuries since the printing press was invented, for all nations and languages that use them, from a NPOV. So, those templates are going to sit there for a long time. Where's the original research? If you click on the links, you will find the facts. That's a problem? Vagabond nanoda (talk) 08:49, 17 March 2020 (UTC)

Market forces
Discussing the history of hymnals in terms of market forces helps maintain a NPOV in a subject area where it is all too easy to spot the denominational sympathies of academic writers. Vagabond nanoda (talk) 20:20, 25 March 2020 (UTC)

"Omnipresent"?
I would suggest that this is inaccurate as they are churches who do not use music. And even in churches that do, they don't always use hymnals. the practice of lined out hymnody was designed for congregations that lacked the resources to obtain hymnals or the literacy to read them (which was many churches in historical times). In this tradition only one book was needed, and the lines to reach verse were called out at the beginning of each stanza, and repeated by the congregation. One must also consider non -Christian churches. I have never heard that a hymnal must by definition be Christian. I also do not accept that "theology is primarily formed through the influence of the hymns the congregation sings". The people may primarily LEARN the theology through singing the words (perhaps), but hymnals for various churches are often selected or written specifically to be in conformance with the accepted doctrine. They don't use Protestant hymns in Catholic churches (or they didn't traditionally). Certain songbooks historically were quite clearly compiled with specific denominations in mind, like 7th Day Adventists or Baptists. And of course, in many other churches the works if Watts have been asking the most popular for a couple hundred years. Yet they didn't all congeal into a single conformal group based on the common hymns they enjoyed. .2600:1000:B10C:5738:0:57:E48A:1501 (talk) 08:54, 24 October 2022 (UTC)