Christmas Study

As winter comes and the hours of darkness overtake the light, we seek out warmth, good food, and good company. But beneath the jollity and bright enchantment of the festive season, there lurks a darker mood - one that has found expression over the centuries in a host of strange and unsettling traditions and lore. Here, Sarah Clegg takes us on a journey through midwinter to explore the lesser-known Christmas traditions.

Unique to this title is: A historical introduction and a study of the themes present in A Tale of Two Cities, A Christmas Carol and The Chimes. Charles Dickens was an English writer and social critic. He was born in 1812 in Portsmouth. When his father was sent to jail because of unsettled debt, Dickens had to leave school and get a job in a factory. Dickens is believed to be the best novelist of the Victorian era and he became very popular during his lifetime. His novels are still widely read and translated.

Not so very long ago, Yuletide was as much a chilling season of ghosts and witches as it was a festival of goodwill. In The Old Magic of Christmas, you'll rub elbows with veiled spirits, learn the true perils of elves, and discover a bestiary of enchanted creatures. Rife with the more frightful characters from folklore and the season's most petulant ghosts, this book takes you on a spooky sleigh ride from the silvered firs of a winter forest to the mirrored halls of the Snow Queen.

Join Strobel as he invites you to push past the distractions of the holiday season and come into the presence of the baby who was born to change your life and rewrite your eternal destination: the greatest gift of all.

This enchanting Christmas story by beloved author and preacher Barbara Brown Taylor follows the three wise men on their world-changing journey to Bethlehem. In this beautiful retelling of their adventure, Taylor captures the power of one very special star and gives listeners a new perspective on the three wise men and their encounters with King Herod, Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus.

The Quarrel of Sword and Bone was a death sentence for anyone who stepped into the arena with the deranged Queen, whose soul had crisped to frost in an age long since past. Sixteen-year-old Helen Bell understood tragedy better than most kids growing up—she knew what it was like to wear clothes from donation bins and be mocked by the beautiful girls in school. She thought these brutal experiences made her ready for anything.

Grow close to the Lord this Advent season with 25 insightful and meaningful devotions from The Christmas Code by best-selling author O. S. Hawkins. Trace the birth of Jesus from its roots in the Old Testament to the ultimate gift of God: salvation. With a short devotion each day leading up to Christmas, this booklet will be the perfect way to keep daily focus on the true meaning of Christmas. Each day includes a passage of Scripture, a devotional thought, a Code Word, and a prayer of reflection.

Dramatized story of the Christmas story from the New Testament and the story of the wise men from the New Testament.

He sees you when you’re sleeping, he knows when you’re awake. He knows if you’ve been bad or good, so be good for goodness’ sake. This lighthearted song is a bit more ominous in the context of other Christmas traditions. From beasts that threaten to cook children into stew to sinister crones who snatch little ones from their beds, you won’t find any dancing sugar plums here. Outside of the heartwarming Christmas tales we all know and love, there are an abundance of frightening stories to chill all who hear them to the bone.

Christmas should be a time of peace, togetherness, and celebration; yet it can leave all too many of us feeling overwhelmed by loneliness, stress and worry. In This Light is a timely collection of thoughtful meditations. The Most Revd Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury, leads contributions from celebrities, business leaders, athletes, politicians and others, whose names you might not know but whose stories you will come to love.

The folklore roots of Christmas under its many other guises (Yule, the Winter Solstice, Saturnalia) is examined in a different, darker light. The Winter Solstice is a time to be afraid. It’s the shortest day of the year, the longest night. In some parts of the world, the sun doesn’t rise at all. It’s dark, and we have to wonder if the sun will ever come back at all. Christmas has always been creepy and with The Fright Before Christmas, you'll see that side. This is a book for everyone who loves a little darkness around the holidays.

The Carols of Christmas is a heart-warming devotional inspired by some of the most beloved Christmas carols of all time. Inside, you’ll enjoy a fresh glimpse of some of the same joyful and nostalgic melodies you sing every year now set to personal reflections in this 28-day devotional journey.

For more than fifty years, Madeleine L'Engle has delighted and inspired readers/listeners with her warm, eloquent prose and inspirational poetry. She continues this tradition with Miracle on 10th Street, a collection of poignant writings and reflections that give listeners a glimpse of how the wonder of Christmas resonates in her personal life, which deeply involves her family and faith: "I think back to that Christmas when my husband and I did not know whether our little girl would live to grow up," she writes.

Just as Jane Christmas decides to enter a convent in mid-life to find out whether she is “nun material”, her long-term partner Colin, suddenly springs a marriage proposal on her. Determined not to let her monastic dreams be sidelined, Christmas puts her engagement on hold and embarks on an extraordinary year-long adventure to four convents - one in Canada and three in the UK.

An overview of Einstein's theories and what they mean for Christian belief, published on the 100th anniversary of the confirmation of the theory of relativity. On 29th May 1919, British astronomers tested Einstein's theory of relativity by measuring the path of the stars travelling near the sun during an eclipse. On 7th November 1919, the results of that experiment were announced in London, proving Einstein's theory of relativity. A Theory of Everything (That Matters) has been written in celebration of this 100th anniversary.

In Light of the World: A Beginner's Guide to Advent, author, professor, and biblical scholar Amy-Jill Levine explores the biblical texts surrounding the story of the birth of Jesus.

A holiday classic by Charles Dickens. Originally published in 1843, Dickens worried about the disparity between the wealthy and the impoverished, and it was his attempt to bring this disparity into the light of day, to appeal to the die-hard capitalists to take care of the downtrodden masses. Since this inequity continues, this story is still popular, and will probably continue to be so for the foreseeable future.

In A Christmas Carol a mean old man named Ebenezer Scrooge sits at his office on a cold Christmas Eve. His clerk, Bob Cratchit, shivers with cold because Scrooge refuses to spend money on heating. Scrooge's nephew, Fred, visits him and invites him to a Christmas party, as he does every year. Two gentlemen drop by and ask Scrooge for a contribution to their charity. Scrooge reacts to both his nephew and the two gentlemen with bitterness and venom. Later that evening, Scrooge is visited by the ghost of his dead partner, Jacob Marley.

More than any other time of year, Christmas brings with it an undeniable sense of wonder and awe. The Advent season gives us the opportunity to delight in the promises we celebrate at Christmas: the HOPE that Jesus will return and make all things new; the JOY that comes from worshiping Him today and for eternity; the PEACE we experience with God today and we long for our world to experience when it is redeemed; and the LOVE of a God who sacrificed His own Son to be in relationship with us.

Let Advent come alive in your life this Christmas. Every Christmas, Christians all over the world celebrate the advent season, recognizing the love, hope, joy, and peace that is found only in Jesus Christ.