The Standard March 8, 2025
Kristyn and Keith Getty, two of the most consequential hymnwriters of our day, have made an incredible impact across the global church. “In Christ Alone,” “Rejoice,” “Speak O Lord,” “By Faith,” “Christ is Risen, He is Risen Indeed,” and “Christ our Hope in Life and Death” are just a few of their many compositions or collaborations with other songwriters. The Gettys have recorded 26 albums, with a commitment to enriching congregational singing through theologically sound lyrics and memorable tunes.
Kristyn’s paternal uncle, Dr. John Lennox, introduced the pair. All three hail from Northern Ireland. John Lennox was raised in a Christian home where his parents encouraged him to question freely and to develop his mind. He was extremely pleased to attend the last lectures of C.S. Lewis in 1962 at Emmanuel College in Cambridge, as he had read every one of Lewis’ books.
Lennox earned a doctorate from the University of Cambridge, plus a second and third from the University of Oxford and then Cardiff University. He currently is a Professor Emeritus of Mathematics at Oxford, as well as Emeritus Fellow in Mathematics and Philosophy of Science at Oxford’s Green Templeton College.
Adept at learning languages, Lennox learned Russian and made repeated visits during approximately 25 years of the Cold War to speak in Communist countries at universities. His faith was on display there as well as at numerous Christian conferences around the world where he used and continues to use apologetic exposition to present Scripture. He has a tremendous way of showing students and listeners how Scripture intertwines with today’s major worldview questions.
Lennox became most famous when his debate with atheist Richard Dawkins went viral in 2007. He went on to debate Dawkins several more times, as well as other well-known atheists like Christopher Hitchens and Peter Singer.
Listening to this mathematician, bioethicist, Christian apologist, prolific author and professor present the truths of our faith in a scientific and mathematical yet joyfully personal manner is a true delight. “Either human intelligence ultimately owes its origin to mindless matter; or there is a Creator. It is strange that some people claim that it is their intelligence that leads them to prefer the first to the second.”
These hymnwriters as well as this Christian apologist/mathematician exude the very words of the Bible. “Shout for joy to God, all the earth! Sing the glory of his name; make his praise glorious. Say to God, ‘How awesome are your deeds! So great is your power that your enemies cringe before you. All the earth bows down to you; they sing praise to you, they sing the praises of your name.’ Come and see what God has done, his awesome deeds for humankind!” Psalm 66: 1-5
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