A City Radiant As A Bride?

A City Radiant as a Bride is a hymn by Timothy Dudley-Smith, first published in the News of Hymnody in 1987. The hymn explores the theme of the Church’s Final Victory and the eternal life of Heaven and Earth. The text describes a city radiant with gold, gems, and crystal rivers, a holy city wrought with wealth and saints in glory. The city is described as a bride, with no suffering or grief, and every tear dried.

The hymn was performed by the Chancel Choir of the Buncombe Street UMC of Greenville, S.C. under the direction of Rosemary Hughes with Vance Jenkins on organ and a six-meer. The city is described as a holy city, clear as glass, where saints in glory dwell. Through gates of pearl her people pass to fields of asphodel.

The hymn also includes a verse about the joy of a good wife, which emphasizes the importance of a loyal wife and the blessings she brings to her husband. The city is called the bride because it encompasses all who are the bride, just as all students of a school are sometimes called “the school.”

In 2022, the city is called the bride because it encompasses all who are the bride, just as all the students of a school are sometimes called “the school.” The hymn presents the city as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle, but holy and blameless.