Joseph Hart

Who was Joseph Hart?

Joseph Hart was an 18th-century Calvinist minister in London. His works include "Hart's Hymns", a much-loved hymn book amongst evangelical Christians throughout its lifetime of over 200 years, which includes the well-known hymn, "Come ye sinners, poor and needy".

One of Joseph Hart's early publications was a tract denouncing Christianity called The Unreasonableness of Religion, Being Remarks and Animadversions on the Rev. John Wesley’s Sermon on Romans 8:32. His other works include a short autobiography and a few poetical translations of ancient classics.

Joseph Hart preached at Jewin Street chapel in London, a building with multiple galleries, to a congregation of significant size.

Only one of Hart's sermons remains discovered to us: that of Christmas 1767. Several of his hymns appear in the Sacred Harp.

Hart died on 24 May 1768, with a congregation estimated at tens of thousands around his graveside at Bunhill Fields.