In his new book, A Not-So-Silent Night: The Unheard Story of Christmas and Why It Matters (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2009), Verlyn D. Indeed, there is reason aplenty to rejoice at Christmas. in sin and error pining,” for that moment when the Son of God, the promised Messiah, would leave his glory in heaven to be born of a virgin, to walk among humankind in true humanity as the second Adam, in order that He might reverse the error of the first Adam. All of creation, not just the children of Adam and Eve, “lay. Thus the birth of the baby Jesus, announced by an angel of the Lord to humble shepherds in the surrounding fields and accompanied by an angelic chorus, is truly a time of joy. At Christmas we celebrate the birth of the promised Messiah, the fulfillment of the promise God made at the Fall, when sin separated Adam and Eve and all their offspring from the presence of God. Likewise, we tend to see Easter as a sad time of year. The Shadow of a Cross Hung Over the Manger in BethlehemĬhristmas is the happiest time of the year, or so we choose to believe. If you are not easily upset by other views that do not completely agree with yours, and are willing to read with an open mind, the book will not disappoint. Nevertheless, it was an interesting read and discusses some things that all Christians should contemplate. Catholics may also find it a bit offensive due to the Protestant view of Mary-how she was not a perpetual virgin, had other children besides Jesus, and needed Jesus to be her savior as well. I do not think this book is going to be enjoyable for everyone simply wanting to learn a little more about Christmas because it does presuppose a decent knowledge of scripture and Biblical history. I also thought the use of the word "Devil" was childish and that "Satan" would have been more appropriate and scholarly. They made reading cumbersome and would perhaps have made better footnotes for the reader to investigate if they so desired. There were too many quotes and references just thrown into the text. For one thing, the writing was not always very clear. Some of the examples I found to be more interesting included the extent of humiliation that Mary suffered for having become pregnant out of wedlock, the explanation of the word katalyma (which means 'guest room' more than the 'inn' that we normally picture) and that it could very well have been Joseph's own relatives that turned them away, the description of the extent to which Jesus humbled himself by coming as a completely dependent infant and leaving the glories of heaven, and the alternative picture of the 'chorus of angels' that very well may have been like a host of heavenly soldiers announcing the arrival of their 'chief'.Īlthough I do think the book succeeds in its purpose of presenting a perhaps more truthful view of the birth of Christ to the reader, I did have some issues with parts of it. Unfortunately, I was not able to finish this book before Christmas and I wish I had because it does succeed in making you think differently about our traditional perceptions of the Christmas story.Īlthough I was initially unhappy with the writing style and assertions made in the first few chapters (mainly that Christmas was the beginning of a war and the vague references to words and passages that may have a war connotations) the book held my interest in the later chapters.
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