{"id":6413,"date":"2009-12-16T23:29:41","date_gmt":"2009-12-17T04:29:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/community\/jesuscreed\/2009\/12\/16\/beyond-a-dickens-christmas\/"},"modified":"2009-12-16T23:29:41","modified_gmt":"2009-12-17T04:29:41","slug":"beyond-a-dickens-christmas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2009\/12\/16\/beyond-a-dickens-christmas\/","title":{"rendered":"Beyond a Dickens Christmas"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

The response, mostly private, to the following book was so good I want to repost it: Verlyn Verbrugge is known to many authors as their editor, but few know of his expertise in reading and interpreting the Bible, so I\u2019m quite happy to recommend his brief meditation on Christmas, called A Not-So-Silent Night: The Unheard Story of Christmas and Why It Matters<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/strong><\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
It is not unusual for pastors and parents to wander into the observation that Christmas season has gotten out of hand; it is not unusual, at the same time as that wandering, to admit that not much can be done about it. But Verlyn\u2019s book might be what we need: a book that examines the underbelly, the dark side, of the Christmas story.\u00a0<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Christmas was a time of pain, of humiliation, of fear and of danger. Verlyn suggests that the cross lurks over the Christmas scene, and giving such themes more attention at Christmas has the capacity to bring us back to the gospel we believe and the gospel we are called to preach. Think of how we sing about Bethlehem and then think of Mary\u2019s (or Rachel\u2019s) Bethlehem.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Eleven short chapters, good for a week of devotional reading \u2014 or perhaps late at night in the quiet of one\u2019s home.\u00a0<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Let me put it this way: the Olympics have a vision \u2013 for all nations to put aside their difference to participate in healthy, fair competition. Christmas is not a time for us to put aside our differences but for us to stare into the face of God\u2019s love and the incredible depths to which our God has gone to make his loving grace and redemptive love real.<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The response, mostly private, to the following book was so good I want to repost it: Verlyn Verbrugge is known to many authors as their editor, but few know of his expertise in reading and interpreting the Bible, so I\u2019m quite happy to recommend his brief meditation on Christmas, called A Not-So-Silent Night: The Unheard […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nBeyond a Dickens Christmas<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The response, mostly private, to the following book was so good I want to repost it: Verlyn Verbrugge is known to many authors as their editor, but few\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2009\/12\/16\/beyond-a-dickens-christmas\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Beyond a Dickens Christmas\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The response, mostly private, to the following book was so good I want to repost it: Verlyn Verbrugge is known to many authors as their editor, but few\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2009\/12\/16\/beyond-a-dickens-christmas\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Jesus Creed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-12-17T04:29:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.assoc-amazon.com\/e\/ir?t=jescre-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0825439094\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Scot McKnight\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Scot McKnight\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2009\/12\/16\/beyond-a-dickens-christmas\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2009\/12\/16\/beyond-a-dickens-christmas\/\",\"name\":\"Beyond a Dickens Christmas\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2009-12-17T04:29:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2009-12-17T04:29:41+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#\/schema\/person\/5919e847c58ffe6efb5899fb61797252\"},\"description\":\"The response, mostly private, to the following book was so good I want to repost it: Verlyn Verbrugge is known to many authors as their editor, but few\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2009\/12\/16\/beyond-a-dickens-christmas\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2009\/12\/16\/beyond-a-dickens-christmas\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2009\/12\/16\/beyond-a-dickens-christmas\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Beyond a Dickens Christmas\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/\",\"name\":\"Jesus Creed\",\"description\":\"Scot McKnight on Jesus and orthodox faith in the 21st century\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#\/schema\/person\/5919e847c58ffe6efb5899fb61797252\",\"name\":\"Scot McKnight\",\"description\":\"Scot McKnight is a recognized authority on the New Testament, early Christianity, and the historical Jesus. 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