Wow! That’s just too good to pass up. Just think, hymns that actually teach “real” doctrine. Na… that just doesn’t feel good.
Jonathan.

But what if I don’t like hymns that teach right doctrine? Isn’t worship about what I want? Doesn’t the body of believers revolve around me???? The outrage!

My nomination for the proscribed list: “Once To Every Man and Nation.” It’s better poetry than average for the hymnbook, but it’s a political hymn, not a Christian one.

I’d be interested to see which hymns your readers think qualify as heretical.

Hell, in my opinion is a Fanny Crosby Hymn-fest.
At the top of the saccarine spirituality list is Mile’s ‘In the Garden.’ Though one rendering still warms my soul; years ago visiting a country church with no Air Conditioning (the windows were open) a soprano soloist was warbling through through this song, until the neighbor’s blue tick hound began to howl along.
Second to the repitoire of Fanny Crosby are the works Marty Haugen-there really ought to be a law..
As for songs that are in the Lutheran sphere of influence I could do without “Earth and all Stars.” Nice tune, silly words (loud boiling test tubes, loud rushing planets, loud sounding wisdom?) Yes, I know Herbert Brokering wrote it, but its still silly.
Another song that comes up a lot out here in flyover country is ‘one day at a time,’ often requested at funerals, thankfully its losing its popularity as most people under the age of 40 have never heard of Christy Lane.
I like the idea the author had of a 50 year sabbatical for certain songs, “Amazing Grace” in my opinion qualifies but I think only a full century would do.

Some of the songs mentioned aren’t heretical, just not really suitable for use in a service. “Earth and All Stars” isn’t a heretical song, just a bit juvenile. I don’t really like it in a service, but wouldn’t see a problem with it in a Sunday School or day school. “One Day At a Time” isn’t bad, just too schmaltzy for a church service.
“Once To Every Man and Nation” is a Unitarian hymn–that’s what its author, James Russell Lowell, was. Great poetry that belongs in any collection of American poetry classics. But it contains numerous heresies:
“Some great cause, God’s new Messiah/Off’ring up the bloom or blight.”
“New occasions teach new duties/Time makes ancient good uncouth/They must ever up and onward/Who would keep abreast of truth.”
It was one of my mother’s two favorite hymns, and was sung at her (Anglican) funeral; the other two hymns were “St. Patrick’s Breastplate” (her favorite in her later, Anglo-Catholic, years) and “Behold a Host Arrayed in White” (my selection, first verse sung by me, solo, in Danish, then all verses in English from TLH; Mom was Danish.)
The message of moral responsibility is correct–but its anthropocentrism and its view of truth as shifting are not.

My personal pick would be “Jesus Priceless Treasure.” Most of it is just fine, and then right in the middle of verse 2 (I think) is the statement, “Jesus is my choice.” Every time we sing it, my wife and I look at each other in utter bewliderment – how did THAT make it into a Lutheran hymnal? It feels like pausing in the middle of a Brahms symphony to run my fingernails across a chalkboard.
McCain: I checked the German and, yup, sure enough, the translator really blew it. The original has “Jesu, meine Lust” which, no doubt for poetic and metrical reasons was rendered, “Jesus is my Choice.” But it is actually “Jesus, my delight.”
The verse goes “Weg mit allen Schaetzen, Du bist main Ergoetzen, Jesus, meine Lust!”
Away with all that is ‘valued’
You are my delectation (ergoetzen)
Jesus, my delight!
One of my seminary professors said, “Never trust a translator!”
Too bad this was not caught before, but it is VERY hard to bring German poetry into English hymnody. Very hard indeed.

My Pastor has addressed the ‘choice’ thing, that comes in another hymn that escapes me right now. And it’s indeed as you state, Rev. McCain. He states that it’s in the context of a person of faith speaking of whom he will listen to, and not to whom he will offer faith.