GroshLink

Praise God for followers of Christ which take the time to call us to remember/learn the context, history and meaning of the Christmas carols which have become part of the background in Christmas parties, coffee shops, malls, and road trips!  Here's a recent post passed along to me by my friend Kevin.  May this research bless your own journey in Christ this Advent/Christmas/Epiphany and be a blessing to others as you share Word-, Logos-, Light-, Incarnational- and Spirit-based reflections with others at your local congregation, home, workplace, and various Christmas-time socials.  By-the-way, make sure you follow the link to Ben Witherington's post No Inn in the Room-- a Christmas Sermon on Lk. 2.1-7. What a prophetic academic!

Advent slowly but surely gives way to Christmas, and most churches can't resist sneaking in a carol or two before all the candles on the wreath are lit. The hymnody of Christmas is perhaps the most diverse of any season of the Christian year: a lively blend of good and bad theology, spiced up with a generous helping of some rather ugly historical inaccuracies. On the latter, Ben Witherington has much to say. But bad history breeds bad theology, and much of the blame for the loss of the sacred elements of the Feast of the Nativity can be laid at the feet of an overly sentimentalized version of Christianity which is never more apparent than in the singing of some of the most cherished songs of the season. At the same time, however, some of the most deeply theological hymns of the faith are celebrations of the birth of the Christ child. What many mature believers know about the Incarnation, they learned from the stirring texts of some of their favorite Christmas carols. 

For the Christmas Hymnody go to

Christmas Hymnody: Theology and History (1)
Christmas Hymnody: Theology and History (2)

Note:  others posts regarding Christmas Hymnody include:
Theology of Christmas carols
Messiah's Debut
Songs for Christmas
and when you forget the tune or the words don't forget to go to Cyberal Hymnal!