Talk:There Is a Balm in Gilead

Capitalisation
Shouldn't the lemma be "There is a Balm in Gilead"? Maikel (talk) 17:15, 31 January 2008 (UTC)

Is the line "Is there a balm in Gilead" in Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven” referencing this, or just the general concept? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.191.206.82 (talk) 05:49, 21 October 2013 (UTC)

John Newton hymn
It is correct to simply call this a "well-known traditional Black-American spiritual"? Isn't it in fact a variant of a John Newton hymn?122.59.167.152 (talk) 23:43, 4 July 2015 (UTC)

Balm in Gilead and Harp of Ages
I changed "The 1925 7-shape Primitive Baptist songbook Harp of Ages has an unattributed song "Balm in Gilead"..." to "The 1973 edition of the 1925 7-shape Primitive Baptist songbook Harp of Ages has an unattributed song "Balm in Gilead" with a similar chorus..." The 1925 edition of Harp of Ages did not have this song. It was added to Harp of Ages when the recently formed Harp of Ages, Inc. republished the book in 1973. This probably could be reworded to make the sentence sound better, but this makes the information more accurate. Thanks. -- Rlvaughn 9 March 2019

Really in "The Raven"?
Is there direct evidence that Edgar Allan Poe was referring specifically to the song? That would be necessary especially when the poem is being used as a (so far very flimsy) piece of evidence for how long the song has existed, since Poe could easily have just read the book of Jeremiah in the Bible. TooManyFingers (talk) 00:43, 6 May 2021 (UTC)

Spell BALM not BOMB!
Please 38.81.106.14 (talk) 18:32, 28 November 2021 (UTC)

Traditional vs. Alternative
It's not clear to me how these designations were determined. Certainly where I come from "pray like Peter" is traditional and "sing like angels" is not. But the very idea that one is in an overarching sense traditional and the other is not bespeaks a lack of understanding of the folk process, which rules supreme in the vast majority of spirituals. --Haruo (talk) 15:43, 19 June 2022 (UTC)

Who taught the African slaves about Jesus?
I love the old hymns and spirituals, they put Truth to rhythm and melody, they sing of God's mercy and judgment on the wicked and freedom for sinners through the saving grace of Jesus's redemptive work. Africans did not come across the Atlantic already knowing Jesus, the concepts of atonement, the healing that comes from Him--they were taught it by merciful, lawbreakers who recognized the horror of human slavery, the abomination it was before the Lord, the lost condition of these people. And the world gets the beautiful, sometimes mournful, sometimes upbeat songs of hope that sustained a people until they would be freed from chains of slavery as well as from the chains of sin. 2603:6081:2107:6E97:495:36AD:BBD2:619D (talk) 13:00, 30 January 2024 (UTC)