Manly Hymns and Muscular Christians

From 1880 to 1920 Muscular Christianity reconfigured the image of Christ into a celebrity persona, forsaking his divinity and recasting Jesus as the ultimate Nietzschean superman. The calls to refashion the image of Jesus, led to a reconfiguration of the musical literature that was to be sung regarding the Son of God. Jesus must no longer be represented as a servant in the lyrics of worship but sung out as a warrior and general who leads his troops to battle. Hymanals were created such as one created in 1910 titled, "Manly Songs for Christian Men." As the hymns and hymn books became disseminated in churches, no longer was the emphasis of church and Christ to be seen as a place where men were to serve and love their neighbor. Rather, with Christ as their model, they were to go forth as the ultimate American man and battle their enemies in the world.