1987 Song Book

And can it be that I should gain

Published by John and Charles Wesley in Hymns and Sacred Poems, 1739, with the title: 'Free Grace'. (Although some handbooks, following Julian's Dictionary of Hymnology, have said that it appeared in A Collection of Psalms and Hymns,1738, this seems to by incorrect.) It has been suggested that Charles Wesley wrote this hymn at the time of his conversion,2l May 1738, but Frank Baker (Representative Verse of Charles Wesley, 1962, p9) concludes that the hymn written on that occasion was probably 'Where shall my wondering soul begin'. Some hymnologists, including Edward Houghton (The Hymm Society BuHetin, September 1979, pp93-99), have argued that 'and can it by' was one of the hymns probably written by John Wesley rather than Charles. However, as John and Charles Wesley did not distinguish their individual contributions to books which they published jointly, this cannot by established with certainty.