Blog Post

Anglican Bishop Calls Christmas Carols “Embarrassing”

By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS Staff Journalist Nick Baines, the Anglican bishop of Croydon in England, says traditional Christmas carols are embarrassing because they twist the birth of Jesus into a fairytale. "Some of the traditional carols perpetuate images of Christmas that have more to do with Victorian sentiment than the story we actually read in the gospels," Rev. Baines told Australia’s Adelaide Advertiser. He said songs like Away In A Manger give kids a "misleading" image of Jesus. "I find it bizarre when I see parents singing Away In A Manger as if it related to reality,” he said. “I can understand little children being taken with the sort of baby of whom it can be said 'no crying he makes'. But how can adults sing this without embarrassment? If we sing nonsense, is it any surprise that children grow into adults and throw out the tearless baby Jesus with Father Christmas and other fantasy figures?" But Adelaide's Anglican dean Sarah MacNeil said carols foster Christmas spirit and are reminders "of the great story of Jesus' birth." "Christmas carols are of great value in laying down the story in people's hearts," she said. © All Rights Reserved, Living His Life Abundantly®/Women of Grace®  http://www.womenofgrace.com

Categories

Archives

2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008