There’s no way Jesus was born on a “Silent Night”
On Christmas Eve in 1818, a small-town Austrian congregation heard the hymn "Silent Night" for the first time. Since then, the song has been translated into at least 142 languages. It's one of the world's best-loved Christmas carols. But was it really a silent night?...
If you only know the first verse of “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” you’re missing out.
Almost every line from "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" could be developed into an individual blog post, sermon, or book. The lyrics are poetic, encouraging, and (for the most part) biblical. I've been looking forward to examining this hymn against Scripture—I think...
I didn’t think I’d like “The First Noel,” but then I studied the last verse.
"The First Noel" is a tune that showed up in the 1800s (possibly earlier). I loved this melody as a kid, but after comparing the lyrics to the Bible, I like it a lot more now. It's one of those songs that we sing every year, but it's centered around a word we almost...
Away in a Manger: are the lyrics biblical?
If you grew up in the church, this may have been the first song you ever sang in public. It's "Away in a Manger," that Christmastime lullaby. I've been nit-picking my way through Christmas hymns like "O Holy Night" and "Joy to the World"—both of which have been pretty...
Facts about Zechariah (John the Baptist’s Father)
He’s the father of John the Baptist, and although he never shows up in your Nativity scenes, Zechariah is an important figure in the story of Christ’s birth. So important, in fact, that when Luke writes down the account of Christ’s life on earth, he begins with...
5 Biblical Facts about the Virgin Mary
She's at the center of most Christmas stories, and apart from maybe Eve, she's the best-known woman from the Scriptures. She's Mary, the virgin mother of Jesus. Christians have had a lot to say about Mary through the ages. Beliefs about Mary vary greatly. To some,...
“O Holy Night”: are the lyrics biblical?
"We Three Kings" doesn't have much biblical backbone, but for many, it's the main source of information about the wise men. This made me think about the other Christmas hymns we sing. I'm not talking about "Jingle Bells," "Let It Snow," or "The Littlest Angel"—I mean...
Wise men, wizards, and Nativity-scene myths
They're the best-dressed trio in any Nativity scene. You'll hear people singing about them, you'll see drummer boys tagging along with them, and you might even hear a sermon about them. They're the wise men, the magi, the rich visitors who worshiped the newborn King...
Where does the Bible talk about love?
We all know that "God so loved the world," that "God is love," and that when it comes to love, nobody exemplifies it better than Jesus (Jn 3:16; 1 Jn 4:8; Jn 15:13). We've often heard First Corinthians' "love chapter" (1 Co 13) at weddings. But if you wanted to take a...
What “thanksgiving” means in the Bible
The Bible ties a great deal of meaning to the concept of “thanks”—but what if most of that meaning is lost on us today? To us, thanksgiving is an expression of gratitude. As kids, we’re taught that “please,” and “thank you” are magic words—spells...
