Without a doubt, the best thing about Christmas is of course, Jesus!
Along with that tremendous gift, He’s also blessed us with His undying word of truth. We can look to what He’s said, and discover how He’s always provided a never-changing history of promises kept as a reminder of His deep love. Isaiah 40:8
Today we’re taking a look at another piece of historical fact. The history behind the Christmas carol, ‘Hark! The Herald Angels Sing’, is a delightful reminder of how our Lord operates in the lives of each member in His church.
Charles Wesley, brother of John Wesley, was the author of 6,000+ hymns which is more than any other male hymn writer. The only other person accredited with more hymn writing is Fanny Crosby, who wrote over 8,000.1
This carol was originally published as a poem in 1739 in reference to Luke 2:14, and to be read with solemnity. Charles’ goal in writing hymns was ‘to teach the poor and illiterate sound doctrine’, and it obviously worked. His brother John told people that his brother’s hymnal was the best theological book ever written. It’s easy to see how this hymn alone is bathed with gospel terminology.
In 1753 the poem was slightly modified, and adapted into a carol by George Whitefield, a colleague of Wesley. One site provided the following info –
“The first line of the hymn originally read, “Hark! how all the welkin rings, Glory to the King of Kings.” Welkin is an old English word that means “vault of heaven.””2, 3
We hope you enjoy a look at the history of this beloved carol, and share the news with a Mormon you know!
Life After Ministries prays you, and your family enjoys the holiday our God has provided and remember the true reason we do so. May the Lord Jesus richly bless you all!
With Love in Christ –
Michelle
References:
3.Hark the Herald Angels Sing — Wikipedia
[…] History of Hark! The Herald Angels Sing 2024 […]
And Felix Mendelsshon wrote the music for it. Quite miraculous too. Mendelsshon was raised a secular Jew. His beloved sister converted to Catholicism, so he did too. But when Felix was in Leipzig he discovered Bach’s music buried away in dusty bins. He published it with his own money, AND came to a saving knowledge of Christ through Bach’s writings. If not for Felix, Bach would have been lost to us!
Great info – thanks for giving us a heads up about this! 🙂
Lost to us? What does that mean?
It was literally turning to dust. Mendelsshon copied it out by hand and published it. I doubt anyone else would have done that, and Bach’s music would have passed into obscurity. At the time Bach was writing music – none of his or any other composers music was printed and circulated. Bach regularly wrote all new music for every Sunday morning! The manuscripts Felix found were all Bachs original hand.
Thanks for the info! 🙂