Rest Assured - Phoebe P. Knapp

1839–1908

History books are full of examples of sons growing up in the shadow of famous fathers. From Solomon to Charlemagne, from Adams to Bush, we see the drama played out in various ways. But what are the dynamics in mother-daughter relationships? When the mom is prominent, how does a young woman find her own way? We get a glimpse of this in the life of Phoebe P. Knapp, daughter of religious leader Phoebe Palmer.

The mother was a dynamo, a popular speaker in the mid-1800s, author of a Christian classic (The Way of Holiness), a founding force in the Holiness movement.

Young Phoebe was the only child of Walter and Phoebe Palmer to live past infancy. You can imagine the pressure she might have felt to live up to the achievements of her well-known mother. From an early age, she poured herself into music, a gift she used in church ministry.

At age sixteen, Phoebe married Joseph Knapp, the president of a big life insurance company, and moved into a Brooklyn mansion. Phoebe Knapp became a popular hostess in town, and together this couple directed the Sunday school program in their Methodist church, becoming famous for their charitable giving. But Phoebe’s greatest contribution to history was yet to come.

Phoebe Knapp knew the songwriter Fanny Crosby from church and often invited her over. On one such visit, Phoebe played for the famous lyricist a bit of music she had just composed, asking, “What does this tune say?”

Hold that thought. One of the issues that Phoebe Knapp’s mother, Phoebe Palmer, had struggled with all her life was doubt. She preached a gospel of grace, but discipleship required a certain commitment to holy living, didn’t it? And if your life wasn’t holy enough, wasn’t that an indication that your faith wasn’t strong enough? Don’t we need some sort of experience that assures us we’re saved? The daughter must have had a front-row seat to her mom’s struggle.

Back in the Knapps’ music room, we find Fanny Crosby kneeling in prayer, listening to the new tune. Then she gets up and announces, “That says, ‘Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine.’”

Christians have been reassured by this hymn ever since.

I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me.

John 10:28