Feel The Heartbeat Of Resurrected Stories In ‘The First Hymn’

Discerning moviegoers who are enthralled by stories of the ancient world should not miss The First Hymn, a feature-length documentary that proves to be compelling and thought-provoking viewing.

This documentary commences as a history lesson and ultimately ends as an MTV doco.

The narrative surrounds the discovery and resurrection of the oldest Christian hymn with lyrics and musical notation. Discovered in 1918 on a piece of parchment 8cm by 5cm in the ruins of the Egyptian city Oxyrhynchus, historians were overwhelmed as not only the words were discovered but also the music.

Initially they had no idea what they had discovered, and it was catalogued at the University of Oxford, the oldest university in the world.

The Greek words and melodies would be strange compared to current music but would’ve been vastly popular amongst the Christian communities of a bygone era.

Dated to the middle of the 200s AD, this hymn was written when Christians were being persecuted by the Roman Empire and also executed in Egypt.

The question that arose was, why hadn’t anybody in the world ever thought of bringing this hymn back to life for the modern world to hear?

The project was to complete the hymn from the few words and musical notations discovered, replicating the message and mood of the first hymn as a state-of-the-art production.

The First Hymn is presented by John Dickson, a professor who specialises in the history of Christianity and who also has a personal and academic interest in the resurrection of this hymn.

He brings two renown Christian recording artists on board to aid in this once in a lifetime artistic creation.

American singer and songwriter Chris Tomlin who has sold over 12 million records, has 7 billion streams to his name and is also a Grammy award winner with 30 top 10 hits, was honoured to participate. Grammy award winning Ben Fielding who has 130 million likes on Spotify for his song This I Believe also happily came on board.

Both songwriters had the challenge of taking something from the past and transforming it into something of the present. The reason for their participation was that they strongly believed this hymn would be a gift to the church.

This documentary details the meticulous 2-year process involved from the discovery of the partial hymn at Oxford University leading to its completion, and audiences will witness the inaugural performance filmed at a sell-out concert at Fort Worth, Texas to 10,000 people.

Filmed in Australia, Egypt, the United Kingdom and America, The First Hymn is insightful viewing and should appeal to moviegoers who have an interest in ancient history, archaeology, religion and music.

John Dickson’s presentation is well researched, light-hearted and humorous at times. There are several interviews with specialists, historians and naturally all the talent involved in resurrecting the hymn.

The purpose of this documentary is not to preach the bible or convert viewers’ religious beliefs. It highlights how something from the past has passionately been transformed into a piece of modern music that should appeal to all viewers, regardless of their religious faiths or whether they’re believers or non-believers.

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The First Hymn is in cinemas for one week only, from July 31.