Chris Tomlin Helps Bring 1,800-Year-Old Hymn Back To Life: ‘Fear And Trembling’
Grammy-winning worship leader Chris Tomlin joined a small team to resurrect what scholars call the oldest known Christian song, a hymn that dates back roughly 1,800 years. The fragment, known in academic circles as P.Oxy 1786, preserves both words and ancient musical notation, a rare window into early Christian worship. Bringing that voice into our worship today felt like a holy responsibility.
Tomlin admits he felt the weight. “It was fear and trembling for me.” He called the project both humbling and energizing as he set out to make the hymn singable for modern ears while honoring its ancient roots.
The Ancient Song’s Journey
The fragment was unearthed in Egypt more than a century ago and dated to the third century A.D., placing it within living memory of the first followers of Jesus. That makes it one of the earliest surviving expressions of Christian doctrine, with language that points to the Trinity and to Christ’s divinity long before Church councils formalized creeds.
A film called The First Hymn traces the hymn’s journey from desert manuscripts to a modern concert where thousands sing what early believers once chanted. The project was shepherded by historian John Dickson, who connected Tomlin with Australian songwriter Ben Fielding to translate the fragment into a working song.
Fielding and Tomlin worked to craft a melody that would feel familiar now while staying true to the ancient tune’s character. “He said, ‘What you need to know is this melody – although it’s foreign to us – was a common melody of the day.’ It would have been like a pop melody of the day,” Tomlin recalled, preserving the original phrasing he was given. That permission to reshape the tune in the common language of today became the key creative freedom for the team.
The scale of the hymn’s history struck Tomlin deeply. “This predates all of it,” he said. “This is just the early band of believers who would have maybe lost their life for their faith.” It’s an uncanny reminder that worship built the church long before denominations or institutions existed.
Musically and theologically the hymn is blunt and confident, naming Father, Son and Holy Spirit and declaring praise two centuries after the resurrection. That makes it extraordinary: believers were already singing a Trinitarian confession and celebrating Christ’s lordship while memories of the apostles were still alive.
Tomlin says the team prayed for the right notes and the right words. They also added a few contemporary lines to help the fragment sit naturally in a modern worship setting. “I’m really pleased with how it came out,” he said.
The lyrics retained from the ancient fragment read exactly as they were preserved: “Let all be silent: The shining stars not sound forth, all rushing rivers be stilled, as we sing our hymn to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, as all powers cry out in answer, ‘Amen, Amen.’ Might, praise, and glory forever to our God, the only Giver of all good gifts. Amen. Amen.”
Why It Matters Today
For believers the hymn is more than a historical curiosity; it is a bridge to a faith that survived persecution and poverty. Hearing those ancient words sung now ties contemporary worship to a faithful, costly witness that carried the gospel forward through the centuries.
Hymns have shaped disciples and theology across generations, and Tomlin understands that continuity. “Hymns have always been a big part of me,” he said. “I feel like, as a songwriter, you need to immerse yourself in what’s come before you.”
Ultimately this project asks Christians to listen—to a voice from the early church that still knows how to lift praise. If the resurrected hymn moves people to worship with awe and truth, then the ancient singers have done their work again in our time.
Photo Credit: ©Fathom
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