Ken, Thomas

(July 1637-Mar. 19, 1711). Bishop of Bath and Wells, 1685-1691, Ken wrote devotional literature still popular among Anglicans, especially The Practice of Divine Love (1685). He was an important figure in early English hymnody, and two of his hymns are in The Hymnal 1982: “Awake, my soul, and with the sun” (Hymn 11), and “All praise to thee, my God, this night” (Hymn 43). The popular verse “Praise God, from whom all blessings flow,” used in The Hymnal as the third verse of Hymn 380, “From all that dwell below the skies,” was written by Ken. His dying words provide a succinct statement of the beliefs of the Caroline Divines: “I die in the Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Faith, professed by the whole Church before the division of east and west. More particularly I die in the Communion of the Church of England as it stands distinguished from all Papal and Puritan Innovations. . . .” His life is commemorated in the Episcopal calendar of the church year on Mar. 21. See Caroline Divines.