Songs as Locus for a Lay Theology

Hymns and songs have long been the most frequent and characteristic expression of communal beliefs, particularly among faith traditions that lack authoritarian or rigidly codified doctrinal statements. Even among Christian traditions that do include a strong focus on creeds, catechism and liturgy, it is hymnody, more than anything else, that sustains their lay theology. The hymns of Moshe Walsalam Sastriyar (1847-1916) and Sadhu Kochukunju Upadeshi (1883-1945)—both from the Kingdom of Trava...