Some Good Old Fashioned Religious Awe

A while ago I studied Great Awakening Hymns—America circa 1730s and 40s. John Newton’s

“Amazing Grace” came a few decades later, and has British roots, but it still serves as one of the most iconic pieces in that genre, and proves the indelible mark that the first Great Awakening had on America and American religion.

As a rule, Great Awakening hymns are lyrical, i.e. they’re mimetic of the movement of the individual mind in the process of engaging with a question or negotiating with a problem. They use “I.” And they present a universal Christian struggle. These conventions seem to set up a welcome venue for awe—and they seriously work in “Amazing Grace.” I’ll just include the first two stanzas now:

Amazing grace! How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found;
Was blind, but now I see. 

 ’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed.
 

The singer here is in obvious awe of Christ’s ability to save and heal. Some ways the speaker expresses that awe, aside from out-and-out saying it (such directness is another solid characteristic of the period), include juxtaposition and natural metaphor. I like this line as an example:  “The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,/ The sun forbear to shine;/ But God, who called me here below,/ Will be forever mine.”

It doesn’t seem like anyone’s current research fits with religious awe, which is kind of sad. Am I missing any obvious connections? I guess I’ll pose the conventions of religious awe for +Andrew Perazzo's consideration as he continues his research on science fiction. What does religious awe have that science fiction awe doesn’t, vice versa, and how do they compare?