224 O Thou Great Friend to All the Sons of Men
Theodore Parker, 1810-60
Based on the Scriptural passages, John 15:14: “Ye are my friends if ye do the things which I command you” and John 14:6: “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”
The author, Rev. Theodore Parker, an outstanding abolitionist and a leader in New England Unitarianism, was educated at Harvard and spent most of his ministry in Boston. While travelling abroad in the hope of restoring his health, he became ill and died at Florence, Italy, where he was buried.
MUSIC. FFIGYSBREN. For comments on this tune see Hymn 183.