The Anointed Story 2015
Now in Video

by Terrence Clark

A Night Before Christmas and before the Story


Thirteen years after it was published, anonymously, in a New York newspaper in 1823, Professor and scholar Clement Moore stepped up to claim authorship of the Christmas story most commonly known as T'was The Night Before Christmas. The official tile is A Visit from St Nicholas.

A professor of classics at the General Theological Seminary in New York City,Moore disavowed ownership to the culture inspiring poem because of its light-hearted wit. The poem was originally written for a Christmas Eve story for his six 

children. It was a friend  who was responsible for secretly having the poem  published in the Troy. Moore borrowed ideas from His friend Irving Washington and was inspired by a sleigh ride by a potbellied bearded Dutchman performing errands.

Moore is not the only person who laid claim to the story's authorship. Some believe the story to have been written by New Yorker  Major Henry Livingston, Jr. who is was of Dutch and Scottish ancestry lending to German vernacular used in the poem.

I'm sure that Moore, a son of a preacher, had good intentions with the fable intended as fantasy for his children. However, it is his story that has come to shape the image of Santa Claus in our day.

For the last few years the Voice of One has made available Chief Editor Terrence Clark's Christmas story "The Anointed Story" written by him at age 17. It is read in the flow of Moore's classic. This year, we are making it available as a free document download (below). We have also set it to music and video for you enjoyment. May it bless you and you household, church, or organization this year. Merry Christmas from the The Glory Cloud publications and the Voice of One.