When John Dickson convinced top Christian songwriters Ben Fielding and Chris Tomlin to have a go at transforming an 1800-year-old hymn into a tune for our times, they felt the weight of responsibility.

This is part two of our mini-series on how the song 'The First Hymn' came to life, with a full documentary soon to follow, which will track the hymn's journey from the deserts of Egypt to the middle of a sold-out stadium arena in the heart of America in the 21st century.

This episode takes you behind the scenes: how Ben Fielding and Chris Tomlin resurrected The First Hymn and made it ours.

(00:00) - - Intro
(05:21) - - Ben Fielding joins The First Hymn Project
(08:21) - - Creating something modern from something ancient
(13:21) - - The songwriting process
(16:15) - - Chris Tomlin joins The First Hymn Project
(21:02) - - Collaboration
(24:30) - - Tomlin and Fielding exchange musical ideas
(29:54) - - John hears 'The First Hymn' for the first time
(36:20) - - St Ephrem - one of the first hymn writers
(40:46) - - The history of worship music
(43:40) - Five-Minute Jesus
(48:55) - - Who was the original composer of The First Hymn?
(52:01) - - 'The First Hymn' for a secular world
(55:38) - - Bringing the hymn to life in an arena

Undeceptions is hosted by John Dickson, produced by Kaley Payne and directed by Mark Hadley.

Alasdair Belling is a writer and researcher.

Siobhan McGuiness is our online librarian.

Lyndie Leviston remains John's wonderful assistant.

Santino Dimarco is Chief Finance and Operations Consultant.

Edited by Richard Hamwi.

Our voice actors today were Yannick Lawry and Dakotah Love.

A big thank you to Michael Wilder at Wheaton College, and Tony Payne for his arrangement of the original First Hymn, and the 50-person choir led by John Trotter that brought this work to life.

Special thanks to our series sponsor, Zondervan, for making this Undeception possible.

Undeceptions is the flagship podcast of Undeceptions.com - letting the truth out.

Why the Breast Milk Industry Is Running Dry in Nevada