You Must Be Pure and Holy

DESCRIPTION: "When I was wicked and a-prone to sin, My Lord, brethren, ah my Lord, I thought I couldn't be born again." "You must be pure and holy (x3) To see God feed his lambs." "I'll run all 'round the cross and cry... Give me Jesus or I die."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1867 (Allen/Ware/Garrison-SlaveSongsUnitedStates)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad floatingverses
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Allen/Ware/Garrison-SlaveSongsUnitedStates, p. 107, "You Must Be Pure and Holy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #12063
NOTES [82 words]: The number of theologically questionable statements in the first few verses of this song is rather astounding. As Paul says in Romans 5:8, Christ died "while we were still sinners," and the apostle confesses to having been the chief of sinners. As for the King James mistranslation "born again," which should have been rendered "born from above," see the notes to "Reborn Again."
Apart from those not-so-trivial details, of course, the advice to live as well as one can is certainly good. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: AWG107

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