December 25, 2023

Is there any Christmas song better than O’ Holy Night? That’s debatable but certainly the list of candidates is short. This beautiful song is centered around the birth of Jesus but it also highlights the significance of what Jesus and the New Covenant represent as a turning point for the moral progress of mankind. The song lyrics are based on an 1843 poem written in French by poet Placide Cappeau. French composer Adolphe Adam created the music to accompany the poem in 1847. John Sullivan Dwight created the slightly altered English version of the song.

Even secular listeners can reflect on and appreciate the triumph of objectively-derived moral principles taking hold over the “sin and error” of Man operating primarily on selfish motive alone. We will all break the chains of oppression that bind ourselves and others if we willfully “bend to”, and proclaim, His word (love, virtue, righteousness), and have faith in that which is beyond our human understanding alone.

The full lyrics of the song are as follows:

“O holy night, the stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of the dear Saviour’s birth;
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
‘Till he appeared and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn;

Chorus
Fall on your knees, Oh hear the angel voices!
O night divine! O night when Christ was born.
O night, O holy night, O night divine.

Led by the light of Faith serenely beaming;
With glowing hearts by his cradle we stand:
So, led by light of a star sweetly gleaming,
Here come the wise men from Orient land,
The King of Kings lay thus in lowly manger,
In all our trials born to be our friend;

Chorus
He knows our need, To our weakness no stranger!
Behold your King! Before Him lowly bend!
Behold your King! your King! before him bend!

Truly He taught us to love one another;
His law is Love and His gospel is Peace;
Chains shall he break, for the slave is our brother,
And in his name all oppression shall cease,
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful Chorus raise we;
Let all within us praise his Holy name!

Chorus
Christ is the Lord, then ever! ever praise we!
His pow’r and glory, evermore proclaim!
His pow’r and glory, evermore proclaim!”

I for one appreciate the line, “until he appeared and the soul felt its worth” because I am of the mind that humanity is inherently ruled by what Immanuel Kant referred to as “the good principle,” that is, we are morally predisposed for goodness. A kingdom of evil was set up on Earth in defiance of the good principle, fueled by Man’s “sin and error.” Christ’s birth and life showed us that we can willfully take control our our own souls by rejecting the “evil principle” and devoting ourselves to the good. From Kant’s book, “Religion Within the Limits of Reason Alone, “…the good principle has descended in mysterious fashion from heaven into humanity not at one particular time alone but from the first beginnings of the human race (as anyone must grant who considers the holiness of this principle, and the incomprehensibility of a union between it and man’s sensible nature in the moral predisposition) and it rightfully has in mankind its first dwelling place. And since it made its appearance in an actual human being, as an example to all others, [it may be said that] “he came unto his own, and his own received him not, but as many as received him, to them gave he power to be called the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.” That is, by example (in and through the moral idea) he opens the portals of freedom to all who, like him, choose to become dead to everything that holds them fettered to life on earth to the detriment of morality; and he gathers together, among them, “a people for his possession, zealous of good works” and under his sovereignty, while he abandons to their fate all those who prefer moral servitude.”

Kant notes that Christ’s birth, life and death did not conquer the “evil principle,” which still has dominion on the earth, but rather for humanity a “moral dominion is now offered them as an asylum where they can find protection for their morality if they wish to forsake the former sovereignty.”  What was built was the foundations for a truly universal religion and church reflecting universal moral law; the rigid dogma and exclusivity of the Jewish Theocracy at the time and the patch-work collection of pagan-like moral and ethical belief systems still rooted in worldly ends could not make for a solid foundation in this regard. As O Holy Night indicates, “Truly He taught us to love one another, His law is love and His gospel is peace,” was the revolutionary philosophy that rung so true in the souls of his followers and spread throughout the masses because it became evident that the good principle was reflected within us. “For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn,” the savior’s birth, and eventual sacrifice, offer hope and inspiration for humanity so long as his word is cherished and followed.