The Neanderthal man and Joachim Neander (1650-1680) share something in common. Joachim was a 20-year-old theology student, yet his heart wasn’t in it. A contemporary said of him, “His student life was spent in vanity of the mind, forgetfulness of God and the eager pursuit of youthful pleasures.” It’s a nice way of saying that he lived on the wild side.
Johann went one Sunday to St. Martins Church in Bremen, Germany with two friends to make fun of the service. Theodore Undereyk was preaching on the importance of spiritual birth. Johann was captivated by the sermon, later visited with Undereyk and was never the same again. He became a teacher at the Latin School in Dusseldorf and started writing hymns. Most of them were composed in a valley near the Dussel River, known for its numerous caves and scenic waterfalls. He spent so much time there the locals began calling it Neanderthal or Neander Valley.
What does all this have to do with Neanderthal Man? Quarry workers were digging in a cave in 1856 and came upon the fossilized remains of the man we now call Neanderthal. Johann Neander is the only hymn writer to have a fossil hominid named after him! He was called to St. Martins as an associate to the same preacher who had introduced him to Christ years earlier. He died a year later of tuberculosis at the tender age of 30. Sixty hymns are attributed to him. His most well-known hymn is “Praise Ye the Lord, the Almighty.” The lyrics of another hymn, “All My Hope in God is Found,” is expressed as a prayer: