Joy to the World, by Scott Hahn

 Joy to the World: How Christ’s Coming Changed Everything (And Still Does), Scott Hahn (Image, 2014), hb. 175 pp. I really enjoyed this book where Scott Hahn expounds key texts related to the Christmas story. Hahn writes for a popular audience and provides clear exposition. Of course, in places his Catholic take on things (e.g., …

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Wonderful New Christmas Hymn

Merry Christmas from the Van Nestes! Here is a new favorite of my family’s after singing it at our church’s Christmas Eve service last night. It is a marvelous hymn, theologically rich and lyrically beautiful, written by Justin Wainscott. You can read Justin’s discussion of the hymn here. It can be sung to the tune …

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“Second Adam from Above, Reinstate Us in Thy Love”

One of the best things about classic Christmas hymns is how good they are at biblical theology, of grasping how the incarnation fits in the story of the whole Bible. Many of these songs are filled with allusions to Old Testament texts which people today often miss, and these songs often connect Christ’s coming with …

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“All My Heart This Night Rejoices”

Here is wonderful 17th century Christmas hymn by Paul Gerhardt which expounds the meaning of the Incarnation. This is hymnic gospel proclamation! Let us take great comfort in the work of Christ, God come to get us. All my heart this night rejoices, As I hear, far and near, sweetest angel voices; “Christ is born,” …

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