By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist

Nick Baines, the Anglican bishop of Croydon in England, says traditional Christmas carols are embarrassing because they twist the birth of Jesus into a fairytale.

“Some of the traditional carols perpetuate images of Christmas that have more to do with Victorian sentiment than the story we actually read in the gospels,” Rev. Baines told Australia’s Adelaide Advertiser.

He said songs like Away In A Manger give kids a “misleading” image of Jesus.

“I find it bizarre when I see parents singing Away In A Manger as if it related to reality,” he said.

“I can understand little children being taken with the sort of baby of whom it can be said ‘no crying he makes’. But how can adults sing this without embarrassment? If we sing nonsense, is it any surprise that children grow into adults and throw out the tearless baby Jesus with Father Christmas and other fantasy figures?”

But Adelaide’s Anglican dean Sarah MacNeil said carols foster Christmas spirit and are reminders “of the great story of Jesus’ birth.”

“Christmas carols are of great value in laying down the story in people’s hearts,” she said.

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