Were they just poor deluded souls?

By David Woodbury

If you want to get inside the minds and ethos of early Salvationists, read the songs they wrote. The utilisation of military metaphors and military-style music marked them out as being quite distinctive from the religious music of the day. There can be no question that early Salvationists possessed something of a unique and powerful ethos as they quickly encircled the globe. In its heyday, The Salvation Army was one of the most predominant religious movements of its time.

Many of these songs have fallen by the wayside in the contemporary Salvation Army. However, if we backtrack a bit and try and see what possessed and empowered these early writers we may well recapture something of that fresh and unique energy that the early Salvation Army experienced.

The whole world redeeming - William Booth.

In many of them, there is a common theme that flows and it can be primarily found in William Booth’s song: O Boundless salivation. In the third line, there is a key and an insight into the minds of these early salvationists: The whole world redeeming, so rich and so free. (509 SASB) His daughter, Evangeline Booth picked up on her father’s theme when she wrote: The world for God! The world for God! I give my heart! I'll do my part! (933 SASB)

Pioneer Salvationist William Pearson takes up the same theme in some of his songs” There's salvation for the world. (904 SASB – V1) … All the world to save, to battle we will go. (904 SASB – chorus) … Fierce is the battle, but victory will come. (949 SASB)

Not to be left out George Scott Railton caught the theme when he wrote: Salvation Army, Army of God, Onward to conquer the world with Fire and Blood. (955 SASB) All the world shall hear us As fresh converts still we gain. (976 SASB) Through the world resounding, Let the gospel sounding. (978 SASB)

We could continue with Charles Coller’s: Salvation! shout salvation Till Jesus comes again, To claim each blood bought nation And o'er His Kingdom reign. (9292 SASB) or Doris Rendel, in a later era who wrote: We have caught the vision splendid Of a world which is to be, When the pardoning love of Jesus Freely flows from sea to sea, (938 SASB) as well as: We will be his warriors, Soldiers of the cross, We will fight his battles, Fear not shame or loss; All the world his Kingdom, Every race his own. (866: SASB - 1987 SB)

Early Salvationist Thomas Marshall was very clear as to how he saw the mission of The Salvation Army: We’re the soldiers of the Army of salvation, That God is raising now to save the world, (942 SASB) as was William Hodgson: We shall win with the Fire and the Blood, And the world to His feet we shall bring. (990 SASB) 

The same manner of mindset can be seen in much of the Army’s brass band music with Eric Leidzen’s: The Invincible Army and Arthur Gullidge’s Unconquered, and there are many more in the same rich vein.

What are we to make of their literary and music sentiments? The aspirations expressed never really eventuated. The whole world was not redeemed in William Booth’s time, nor has it since. Are we to see them as largely symbolic and some sort of poignant gesture? Were they just really poor deluded souls completely out of touch with pragmatic reality? Or could it be that these early Salvationist had discovered a unique energy source unlike any other that empowered this asset poor organisation?

What they intrinsically knew, was that an unpretentious belief in an ideal creates a powerful and contagious energy. It was that energy that allowed the early Salvation Army to achieve incredible feats around the world. When people believe in, and wholeheartedly commit themselves to an ideal they unleash enormous power and potential, an energy out of all proportion to the size of their organisation. The truth is that the Bible deals in ideals, not current, human realities, and the critics would say that is fairyland living and we need to face up to the real world! But ideals are important, they are uncontaminated and uncorrupted, and they give us a measuring stick against which we can evaluate human behaviour.

I notice a great emphasis today on hope and every individual needs hope. However, while hope may lift the individual, it is that intrinsic and unswerving belief in an ideal that empowers and motivates organisations, such as The Salvation Army. Perhaps we need to reach back into our history and re-read some of those early Salvation Army songs and in so doing we may catch and integrate something of that dynamic energy that empowered and drove the early Army.