Ministers Blogs
“Our God, He is Alive”
Categories: Apologetics
How many times have we sung the hymn “Our God, He is Alive”? It is a beautiful hymn that is still very popular among members of the Lord’s church. It was written by Aaron Wesley Dicus (1888-1978). He was a very talented member of the church. He was a gospel preacher, author, scientist, college professor, inventor, as well as a hymn writer. Our God, He is Alive is Dicus’ most known hymn.
Dicus wrote Our God, He is Alive as a response to the 1960 God is Dead movement. The movement resulted from the book The Death of God, written by Gabriel Vahanian. Vahanian and other leaders in the movement were not actually anti-God, though that was not easy to decipher in all the controversy. Their point was that God was dead in the minds of most people in the sense that modern people showed little concern for God. Nevertheless, the mere mention of God’s death raised the ire of believers across the country, and unbelievers quickly joined the debate to oppose those who affirmed that God remained alive and active.
The controversy escalated and soon saturated the media. From the believers’ perspective, the coverage seemed to be intentionally confrontational. For example, the April 8, 1966 cover of Time magazine simply read, “Is God Dead?” (See the article here: www.time.com/time/magazine/
Although we are long past the controversy of the 1960’s we still live in a day and time where many people believe God is dead. Still, yet there are several Christians who show up to worship services on Sunday but live the rest of their lives as if God was dead. This same attitude was true of many in the First Century when Paul states in Titus 1:16, “They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.”
Dicus’ hymn “Our God, He is Alive,” is still a reminder that God is alive, He works in His creation, and is involved by providence in our lives.
Heb. 1:1-2 puts it this way, “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.”
“Our God, He Is Alive” is just not a nice hymn to sing, but are words to believe, and live by! Let us live and act as if we believe “Our God, He is Alive.” Think about it.
Written by Mark T. Tonkery
