Alan Jackson
2 songs checked against the passages they lean on. Each one was graded on its own, against what that song does with the text.
How the 2 checks landed
- NOT A QUOTE 2
This is a count, not a verdict. We grade songs, one at a time, against what each one does with the text. A tally of those checks describes a catalogue. It is not a judgment of the people who wrote or sang it, and no number here puts anyone on or off The List. Most drift is craft pressure, not deception. Read the proofs, not the arithmetic.
The songs
NOT A QUOTE
“In the Garden”
Alan Jackson
Sing it as one man's picture of Mary's morning, not as a garden you can walk back into. Nothing here is quoting. Remember that John 20:17 ends that scene with an errand, not a stay.✓ Never says it is quoting. No verse is cited, no scripture framing is used, and nothing is presented as the Bible's own words
⚠ Written in the first person and the present tense, so the singer stands where Mary stands, in a scene John 20 records happening once
NOT A QUOTE
“What a Friend We Have in Jesus”
Alan Jackson
Sing it. It quotes nothing and never says it is scripture, and its one repeated instruction is Philippians 4:6's program in plain words. Just notice that singing about prayer is not yet praying. The hymn points at the door; walking through is the praying.✓ Its repeated instruction compresses Philippians 4:6 faithfully: everything, brought to God, by prayer, and the hymn calls that a privilege rather than a chore
⚠ The verse attaches thanksgiving to the asking. The sung stanzas bring sins, griefs, trials, and trouble to God, and never mention thanks