{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} thumb|right|200px|John Ernest Bode {{Portal|Christianity}} '''John Ernest Bode''' (13 February 1816 – 6 October 1874)<ref>[https://www.blueletterbible.org/hymns/bios/bio_b_o_bode_je.cfm Blue Letter Bible website, ''Hymns/Music: John Ernest Bode'']</ref> was an Anglican priest, educator, poet, and hymnist.
==Life==
Born in London, he was the son of William Bode. He educated at Eton, the Charter House, and then at Christ Church, Oxford where he received his B.A. in 1837 and a M.A. three years later.<ref>[https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/history-of-hymns-o-jesus-i-have-promised United Methodist Church website, History of Hymns section, ''O Jesus I Have Promise'']</ref> He won the Hertford Scholarship.<ref name="glover">{{cite book |last1=Glover |first1=Raymond F. |title=Hymnal 1982, Companion |date=1990 |publisher=Church Hymnal Corporation |location=New York |isbn=978-0-89869-143-6|pages=2–341}}</ref>
He was ordained in 1841 and became Rector of Westwell, Oxfordshire in 1847, then of Castle Camps, Cambridgeshire, 1860.<ref name="glover"/> He was also for a time tutor of his college, and classical examiner.<ref>[https://www.stempublishing.com/hymns/biographies/bode.html Stem Publishing website, Hymns section, ''Biographies'']</ref>
Bode was married with three children. One of his children was Alice Mary Bode who also wrote Christian hymns;<ref>[http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/b/o/d/e/bode_am.htm Hymntime website, ''Alice Mary Bode'']</ref> most famously, "Once pledged by the Cross".<ref>[https://hymnary.org/person/Bode_Alice Hymnary website, ''Alice Bode'']</ref>
He died in Castle Camps, 6 October 1874 aged 58, and was buried near the hedge facing the West Window.
==Published works== His Bampton Lectures were delivered in 1855.<ref name="glover"/> He also published ''Ballads from Herodotus, with an introductory poem''; ''Hymns from the Gospel of the Day for each Sunday and Festivals of our Lord''; and ''Short Occasional Poems''. His hymns include ''O Jesus, I have promised'', ''Sweetly the Sabbath Bell'', ''God of Heaven enthroned in Might'', and ''Spirit of Truth, Indwelling Light''.
He wrote "O Jesus I Have Promised"<ref>[https://hymnary.org/text/o_jesus_i_have_promised Hymnary website, ''O Jesus I Have Promised'']</ref> on the occasion of the confirmation of his own two sons and daughter at Castle Camps in 1869. The hymn tune was written in 1881 by Arthur Henry Mann, who at one period in his life served as organist and choirmaster at King's College, Cambridge, famous for its superb choral music.
A letter written by him in support of Osborne Gordon is held in the Papers of Osborne Gordon collection at Oxford.
==References== {{Reflist}} *{{cite book | last =Julian | first =John | authorlink = | title =A dictionary of hymnology : setting forth the origin and history of Christian hymns of all ages and nations | url =https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofhymn02lond | publisher =John Murray | date =June 1907 | location =London | pages =[https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofhymn02lond/page/n372 151] | doi = | id = | isbn =978-0-8490-1719-3 }}
*{{cite book | last =Bailey | first =Albert Edward | authorlink = | title =The Gospel in Hymns | url =https://archive.org/details/gospelinhymnsbac00bail | url-access =registration | publisher =Charles Scribner's sons | year =1950 | location =New York | pages =[https://archive.org/details/gospelinhymnsbac00bail/page/436 436–437] | doi = | id = | isbn =978-0-684-15554-8 }}
*{{cite web | last =Village Site, No Author listed | authorlink = | title=History - The village of Castle Camps | website = | publisher = | date = | url =http://www.enterprise-link.co.uk/castlecamps/DisplayArticle.asp?ID=4247 | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2007-02-01 }}
*{{cite web | last =Christian Classic Ethereal Library | first =Calvin College | authorlink = | title =Hymn Writers of the Church | website = | publisher = | date = | url =http://www.ccel.org/ccel/nutter/hymnwriters.Bode_JE.html | doi = | accessdate = 2007-02-01 }}
*{{cite web | last =Oxford | first =Bodleian Library | authorlink = | title =Papers of Osborne Gordon and the Gordon family of Bridgnorth, Shropshire | website = | publisher = | date = | url =http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/dept/scwmss/wmss/online/1500-1900/gordon/gordon000.html | doi = | accessdate = 2007-02-01 }}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bode, John Ernest}} Category:1816 births Category:1874 deaths Category:Anglican clergy from London Category:People educated at Eton College Category:People educated at Charterhouse School Category:Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Category:19th-century English Anglican priests Category:English Christian hymnwriters