The next time you sing “Praise to the Lord the Almighty” or “Wondrous King All-Glorious,” you will be singing hymns written by one of the most notable poets and hymnwriters of the German Reformed Church. Grandson of a musician and son of a teacher named Neumann, Joachim later changed his name to the Greek form of “new man.”

Neander’s life was intimately connected with the city of Bremen in northern Germany where he was born, converted, trained, and where he ministered and died. One of Bremen’s large churches, St.Martin’s, became Reformed in the sixteenth century and was served by such pastors as Ludwig Crocius (1610–1628) who attended the Synod of Dort.

As a student, Joachim was wild and careless and jested about religious matters. Although he and some friends entered St. Martin’s with the intention of making fun of the service, Pastor Theodor Untereyk’s sermon touched him so deeply that Joachim visited him in private and began to seek the Lord. His interest in Reformed theology and piety were stimulated by Untereyk’s ministry. In 1671, he pursued studies for the ministry at Heidelberg University.

The Reformed congregation of Düsseldorf called him in 1674 to serve as rector of the Lateinschule (grammar school). There he received recognition and praise for his labors as a teacher and preacher. But conflicts developed when he went too far in his zeal for personal piety and showed sympathy for the unhealthy separatist tendencies of Jean de Labadie (1610–74). In 1676 Neander was dismissed from the school and forbidden to preach until he showed repentance. His response was one of humility. He signed a confession of his errors, in which he condemned the schismatic influence of the Labadists and affirmed the importance of communion with the visible church.

During these days he sought a quiet retreat for prayer and meditation. He found a secluded and beautiful glen near Mettmann on the Rhine, a deep ravine between rock faces and forests with numerous caves and waterfalls. He even stayed there for some months in what is still known as “Neander’s Cave” and penned many of his well-known hymns which gave deep expression to his faith. He also wrote melodies for nineteen others. His first published collection of hymns appeared in 1679 at Bremen. The deep strain of biblical piety and theological depth in his hymns made them lastingly popular among the German people and in English translation.

Neander returned to Bremen in 1679 when he was called to be an assistant pastor at St. Martin’s — but he only preached there one year and died on Easter in 1680.

Generations later, a cement company started quarrying limestone in Joachim’s favored ravine, and it became known as the Neander Valley (in German, Neanderthal). There, even later, paleontologists unearthed the supposed “Neanderthal Man” in the summer of 1856.

Next time you hear the term “Neanderthal Man,” think rather of the beloved hymnwriter who had indeed become a “new man” in Christ.