Thy strong word. God's word is our great heritage. Almighty Father, bless the word. Hi, this is Pastor Will Whedon inviting

you to join us for our hym sing at the 2025 Issues, etc., Making the Case Conference. This year's theme,

the Word of God. Making the case is Friday, July 18th, and Saturday, July 19th at Concordia University, Chicago.

Find out more and register at Issuesetc.org or by calling 618-223-885.

The following is an encore presentation of issues, etc.

Thank you. an encore presentation of issues, etc. It is one of the most frequently performed pieces of choral music in the world.

It is known largely for the Allelu Chorus, but there's so much more to Handel's Messiah,

an attempt, some have said, to set the Gospel of Jesus Christ to music, not just an attempt,

but many have concluded a success.

Greetings and welcome to Issues, etc., coming to you from the studios of Lutheran Public Radio

this Monday Thursday. I'm Todd Wilkin. Thanks for tuning us in. We're going to talk about

Handel's Messiah on the Passion of Christ with Dr. Joseph Hurl. An hour from now, we'll replay an interview with Dr. Peter Scare of Concordia Theological Seminary

on apparent contradictions in the events of Holy Week.

Dr. Joseph Hurl is Professor of Music at Concordia University, Nebraska.

He's editor of Lutheran Service Book companion to the Hymns. Dr. Hurl, welcome back.

Thank you, Todd. It's so great to be back.

What moved Handel to compose this epic piece on the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Christ?

Handel was in fact a religious man. birth, life, death, and resurrection of Christ?

Handel was, in fact, a religious man.

He was born in 1685, named Georg Friedrich Hendel, and that was the same year as Johann Sebastian Bach.

He was born in the city of Halle in Saxony and baptized in a

Lutheran church. Then he went to university to study law. Well, not right after his baptism. He grew up

...