Probably because of its repetition on Christmas cards, one of the best known phrases from the Bible is the angelic greeting from St Luke’s Gospel: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” That is how it is rendered in the King James Bible, and is no doubt partly why Christmas is known as “the season of goodwill”.

But it is not regarded as the most accurate interpretation of the Latin text. In the current English translation of the Roman Missal “Gloria in Excelsis Deo, et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis” is rendered as “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to people of good will.” There is a big difference between universal unconditional peace, and peace conditional upon good will. The angels were announcing that the baby just born in Bethlehem was the “Prince of Peace” foretold by Isaiah 9:6 in the famous text beginning, “Unto us a child is born …”