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Before There Was Time by Caedmon’s Call
Before There Was Time
by Caedmon’s Call
CCLI Song# 3420184
Reviewed by Wes Kelley
(wesley[dot]kelley[at]duke[dot]edu)
Lyrics
Caedmon’s Call
Sample Music
Musicality
The percussive rhythm guitar gives this song a lot of energy, and yet the lyrics are intimate enough to make this song appropriate for the middle of worship before the sermon, not just as an opener or closer.
The vocals generally stay within a range comfortable for the average singing congregation. Many will have trouble with the high-flying notes in the bridge, but otherwise this piece is quite doable. Perhaps the lead vocalist alone should sing the bridge, which would set up a nice chorus response from the congregation.
Theology
This praise song is a veritable feast of theological material. Few contemporary worship songs parallel this one for its sound theology and tight composition.
“Before there was time . . .” an important conception of God developed by Thomas Aquinas has been the appellation of “Unmoved Mover” (For a primer on the “unmoved Mover” visit Wikipedia). Thomas used this concept first developed by Aristotle to describe the way God both created the physical universe and ordained salvation for the world through Jesus Christ, all before speaking the first word. The first verse outlines the basics of the Christian salvation history—“salvation’s design.” It invokes the concept of salvation being foreordained for the Church, as found in Heb. 4:3b, “His works were finished from the foundation of the world” (NASB). The second half of the verse deftly switches the song’s perspective from the eternal to the personal. Now the singer speaks of her own experience of irresistible grace, “the night could not keep me from grace.” And the final line makes a broad nod to the substitution atonement theory.
At this point the author has fully exposed his theological hand. Everything in this song hangs tightly around a Reformed soteriology, à la Jonathan Edwards. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. This song is Calvinism that even a Methodist like me can love. How can you resist the rousing chorus, which links our praise causally to the grand work of salvation, “so I cry holy . . .” In both verses the author enumerates God’s mighty acts such that the only proper response is adoration.
The chorus is pure poetry set to music. Rarely used assonance between “holy” and “only” makes the lyrics roll easily off the tongue and helps you crescendo off of the first verse. How come no English liturgist thought to make use of that assonance before? This stanza has a few other unique features. The Son of God is honored with the title “Ancient of Days,” an honorific usually reserved for God in the language of the Old Testament. Nowhere in Scripture do we see the pairing of these two titles, although in Dan. 7:13 the Son of Man approaches the Ancient of Days to receive dominion over the world. The conflation of the Son with the Father is a bit curious, but not entirely inappropriate. After all, our Lord Jesus himself declares “I and the Father are One,” much to the chagrin of his opponents (John 10:30). The last line of the chorus moves smoothly into the next verse, with the second verse’s first line pulling double duty. It’s a clever way to reiterate the eternality of God’s loving care for humankind.
The second verse mostly uses OT quotes that highlight God’s foreknowledge of our being, numbering our hairs (Luke 12:7), knowing our steps (Prv. 16:9), etc. The author also inserts a bit of ransom atonement theory, the purchasing of condemned souls (see Ps. 74:2, Matt. 20:28, Mark 10:45, Acts 20:28, 1 Tim. 2:6, Rev. 5:9).
Conclusion: RECOMMEND
This song ties together a handful of scriptural allusions within a Calvinist framework in a way that is theologically opinionated. And yet it comes across not as partisan, but worshipful. We all agree that the Creator fashioned salvation for his creatures just as beautifully as he fashioned their physical beings. Before There Was Time skims across the surface of those two bright facets of God’s genius design. This song can instruct a congregation in how the doctrine of creation culminates in shouts of praise to our timeless Creator, our Ancient of Days.
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