Almost persuaded now to believe

Almost persuaded now to believe. Philip P. Bliss* (1838-1876) According to Taylor (1989, p. 7) this was first published in The Charm: A Collection of Sunday School Music (Chicago, 1871). JJ, p. 150, quotes a source to the effect that it was inspired by a sermon from a Revd Brundage, who said, ‘He who is almost persuaded is almost saved, but to be almost saved is to be entirely lost.’ The hymn is in three stanzas, sometimes printed with an abundance of quotation marks, which increases the drama. In the first stanza the soul disregards the warning; in the second a voice pleads; and in the third doom is pronounced: ‘Almost persuaded’ now to believe; ‘Almost persuaded’ Christ to receive,...