There is a phrase in the beautiful carol that is of particular interest to me.
“made heaven and earth of naught . . . ”
The Dart has me thinking about beginnings. I plan on a post in the future. But lovely music is the first thing that comes to my mind.
Now, I need to find out if the stirring voice of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir makes this hymn soar through the rafters.
Thinking of heart issues . . .
Jesus in Idaho Falls 
Does “naught” = absolute nothing, or relative non-being? 🙂
Not that it really matters anyway, however, since it was certainly written at a time when “creatio ex nihilo” was a commonly held view–very much unlike the periods in which the bible was written though, I might add.
I can’t ever remember singing those words though, Todd…what verse are they in?
Only two verses of “The First Noel” appear in the LDS hymnal.
Well, everybody edits their respective hymnals. The following verse, for example, does not appear in the Broadman (Baptist) Hymnal’s version of “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence”:
“King of kings, yet born of Mary,
as of old on earth he stood,
Lord of lords in human vesture, in the Body and the Blood
He will give to all the faithful
his own self for heavenly food.”
This omission, of course, is ironic, given that this hymn is derived from a very old Eucharistic liturgy, dating to the Third Century at the latest.
Brianj, I need to pick up an LDS hymnal.
Greg, I could sing those words heartily, thinking of the context of John 6 and Hebrews. But of course, when I think of John 6, I am not thinking of the Eucharist or the need for a continual sacrifice.