History of Christmas carols in the LDS hymnbook
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The following information about each of the Christmas hymns found in the English 1985 LDS hymnbook is taken from "Our Latter-day Hymns: The Stories and the Messages"; and information from Karen Lynn Davidson, author of "Our Latter-day Hymns: The Stories and the Messages"; and Craig Jessop, dean of the Caine College of the Arts at Utah State University and former music director for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.
For more information about the carols, click here.
For more information about the carols, click here.
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The numbers for the hymns in the LDS Hymnbook are not page numbers; they're hymn numbers!
To the best of my knowledge, the *original* text of "Joy to the World" said "the Lord is come". W. W. Phelps changed it to "the Lord will come", and actually rewrote the entire hymn, changing it from a Christmas song to a Second Coming song. The 1985 hymnal restored the original first line, but left the rest of Bro. Phelps' millennial text basically intact.
I've long been concerned that our version of this hymn may be a stumbling block for some of our friends of other faiths, who may assume our insistence on a total rewrite of the lyrics must mean we have major theological objections to the traditional text -- something I really don't think is the case.
Oh please on the page numbers.