"How Great Thou Art" began as a Swedish poem prompted by a thunderstorm, passed through German and Russian translations before finding an English form, and ultimately became one of the two or three best-loved hymns of the twentieth century through its adoption by Billy Graham's crusades. Its journey from the Swedish countryside to Madison Square Garden is one of the most remarkable in the history of sacred song.
The Composition
Carl Boberg (1859-1940), a Swedish preacher and editor, wrote the original poem "O Store Gud" ("O Great God") in 1885 after experiencing a sudden and dramatic thunderstorm that gave way abruptly to sunlit calm. He walked home through the silence that followed, heard church bells in the distance, and sat down to write nine stanzas of wonder at the contrast between the storm's fury and the peace that followed. He published the poem in his newspaper, Sanningsvittnet ("Witness to the Truth"), in 1886, but it was later set to a Swedish folk melody without his knowledge and spread through Scandinavian revival circles.
Biblical Text
The hymn's opening stanzas draw on Psalm 8:1, 3 (KJV): "O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth... When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained." The Psalmist's movement from cosmic grandeur to human insignificance mirrors Boberg's experience precisely: the thunder and lightning give way to the question of why the God of the universe should have any concern for humanity. The later stanzas move to the gospel, drawing on John 3:16 (KJV) - "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son" - and Romans 5:8 (KJV) - "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" - before closing with the anticipation of seeing God "face to face."
The Creator
Boberg was born in Mönsterås on the southeast coast of Sweden and grew up in a working-class family. He was converted at nineteen and became an itinerant preacher in the Swedish Mission Covenant movement. He later served in the Swedish parliament (Riksdag) as a conservative Christian member and was editor of several religious publications. He reportedly did not know his poem had been set to music until he heard it sung at a meeting years after writing it. He died in 1940 without fully comprehending how widely it would eventually spread.
The English translation that became definitive was made by Stuart K. Hine (1899-1989), a British missionary who worked in Ukraine and Russia. Hine encountered the hymn in a Russian version (translated from a German version of the Swedish original) while doing missionary work in Ukraine in the 1930s. He translated two stanzas and added two of his own - including the final stanza about the Second Coming - publishing the full English text in 1949. Hine's additions gave the hymn its eschatological climax.
Musical Analysis
The Swedish folk melody that came to be associated with the text has a sweeping, open quality suited to outdoor landscape - long phrases, wide intervals, and a major key that accommodates both the grandeur of creation imagery and the warmth of gospel assurance. The chorus's repeated "Then sings my soul" creates a response structure in which the verse builds the argument and the chorus provides the emotional resolution. The melody demands a wide vocal range, particularly at "How great Thou art," and this aspirational quality has made it a showcase piece for soloists as well as a moving congregational choice.
Theological Content
The hymn's theological movement is from natural theology to revealed theology: it begins with the evidence of God's greatness in creation (a form of general revelation accessible to all people) and moves to the specific claims of the gospel (the particular revelation of Christ's death and resurrection). This two-stage structure reflects the classical Reformed approach to natural law and special revelation, though Boberg was working within the Pietist tradition rather than scholastic theology. The hymn thus is aan implicit apologetic: if nature already points to a great God, how much more does the cross reveal the character of that God's love.
Performance History
George Beverly Shea performed the hymn at the 1954 Billy Graham crusade in Harringay Arena, London, and its response from the audience was overwhelming. It became a Graham crusade staple and was voted the most popular hymn in Britain in a BBC poll in 2005. It has been recorded by artists including Elvis Presley, Carrie Underwood, and numerous Christian artists, each generation finding in its combination of natural wonder and gospel proclamation a text that speaks without adaptation.
Cultural Impact and Legacy
The hymn's journey from Swedish folk poem to global Christian anthem illustrates how the great hymns often transcend their original cultural context through successive translations and popularizations. Its five-generation passage - Swedish poem, folk tune, German version, Russian version, English missionary translation, American crusade platform - meant that by the time it reached global currency, it had already been tested in multiple linguistic and cultural contexts. Its creation theology has made it popular in Christian environmental discussions, and its gospel stanzas have made it a funeral favorite. It is one of the few hymns to be equally at home in rural chapels, sports arenas, and Westminster Abbey.