HAD TO HAPPEN
The New Yorker|March 11, 2024
Marilynne Robinson on Genesis.
JAMES WOOD
HAD TO HAPPEN

There was a hymn we used to sing when I was a child, one of those lusty, murderous chants characteristic of the Anglican Church in its highVictorian pomp. Written in 1894, it vibrates with imperial certainty—of salvation, election, sure destiny.

God is working his purpose out

As year succeeds to year.

God is working his purpose out

And the time is drawing near.

Nearer and nearer draws the time,

The time that will surely be:

When the earth shall be filled with the glory of God

As the waters cover the sea.

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