A Light Has Dawned: Meditations on Advent and Christmas
Reflections on the Wonder of Christmas
A Light Has Dawned recovers the best Advent and Christmas articles from half a century of Christianity Today. Guiding the reader through Advent, Christmas, and the climax of Epiphany and including contributions by Billy Graham, Tim Keller, Elisabeth Elliot, Ruth Bell Graham, Eugene Peterson, and more. A Light Has Dawned will inspire readers with the wonder of Advent and Christmas.
Praise for A Light Has Dawned
A Light Has Dawned is a one-of-a-kind book that excels in every possible way. It surpasses any book of Christmas devotions that I have read. Variety is one of the most obvious virtues of the book. As the list of authors keeps accumulating, the angles of vision on Christmas likewise keep expanding. The effect is like turning a prism in the light. This is a “best of the best” book—the best evangelical authors giving us the best of their Christmas insights. I found the book to be a page turner, as I wondered who would be next on the playlist, and what aspect of Christmas would be the focus of meditation. I dare to predict that anyone who reads this book will be unable to envision any future Christmas without rereading it.
—Leland Ryken, Professor Emeritus of English, Wheaton College
Top Highlights
“The true Christmas story scares us spitless. If God undressed, we might have to join him—remove our self-sufficiency suits, pull off our health-and-well-being designer sweats. Perhaps instead of shopping we need to spend December reminding ourselves of God’s choice of vulnerability and pondering its implications. Perhaps we need to call December 25th the Celebration of the Incarnation, to greet each other with incarnation greetings—instead of ‘Happy Holidays’ or ‘Merry Christmas’ we could shout, ‘God chose flesh!’ ‘God became one of us!’” (Pages 51–52)
“Because the woman was the vessel through which God would bring his Son and our salvation into the world, she became one of Satan’s most hated enemies. She may have opened the gate that let in the enemy, but she also bore the One who would close it permanently. While she had been the one that Satan first approached as an ally in his plan to bring down God’s perfect creation, Satan would be at war with her forevermore because her seed would ultimately defeat him.” (Page 38)
“Christmas calls us to accept a life of vulnerability and simplicity in the face of God’s acceptance of our weak estate” (Page 185)
“When Paul uses the word ‘saved through childbearing,’ he is not referring to the physical survival of humanity through procreation, but to the birth of the Child, literally ‘the Childbirth,’ as William Mounce and John Stott have pointed out in their respective commentaries. The Greek use of a definite article that points to the unique, one and only nature of this childbirth, and the larger context of the discussion of Eve in the Garden in the previous two verses, bring us full circle to God’s prophecy: Through the woman would come the Savior who would defeat Satan. She would be saved, or redeemed, through the birth of the Child.” (Page 37)
Since 1956, Christianity Today has been the voice of evangelicalism in America—a bellwether of theology, politics, and culture for evangelicals. The Best of Christianity Today is a new series, featuring the most enduring articles from decades of Christianity Today written by the most respected voices in modern evangelicalism. Lexham Press is proud to partner with Christianity Today to bring these treasures of evangelicalism's heritage to readers today.
Learn more about the other titles in this series.
- Introduction by Carolyn Arends
- “Advent” by Alice Slaikeu Lawhead
- “Drive-Through Christmas” by Stanley Grenz
- “The Poverty of Christmas” by Katelyn Beaty
- “Bethlehem on a Budget” by Tim Stafford
- “Away from the Manger” by Mary Ellen Ashcroft
- “Saved through Child-Bearing” by Wendy Alsup
- “Christmas in Afghanistan” by Leigh C. Bishop
- “Gift Wrapping God” by Mary Ellen Ashcroft
- “Christmas Shame” by Eugene H. Peterson
- “Christmas on Tiptoe” by Donald J. Shelby
- “A Cosmic Culmination” by Charles Colson with Catherine Larson
- “Misreading the Magnificat” by David Neff
- “Let the Pagans Have the Holiday” by Rodney Clapp
- “God’s Gift on God’s Tree” by Ruth Bell Graham
- “Christmas Unplugged” by Bill McKibben
- “The Prince of Peace” by Addison H. Leitch
- “Peace: At Times a Sword and Fire” by Billy Graham
- “Hallelujah!” by Philip Yancey
- “The Invasion of God” by Charles Colson wiht Anne Morse
- “Saved by the Bell” by Verne Becker
- “His Kingdom Is Forever” by D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
- “Painting Christmas” by Walter Wangerin, Jr.
- “Stars on a Silent Night” by Charlotte F. Otten
- “When God Came Down” by Walter A. Elwell
- “On the Festival of Christ’s Nativity” by Thomas Howard
- “My Dad’s Death Brought Christmas ‘Home’” by Thomas C. Oden
- “Yabba-ka-doodles!” by Mike Mason
- “The Advent of Humility” by Tim Keller
- “The Wondrous Gift” by Elisabeth Elliot
- “The Most Beautiful Story Ever Told” by Frank E. Gaebelein
- “Our Divine Distortion” by Carolyn Arends
- “Mary Rejoicing, Rachel Weeping” by Wendy Murray Zoba
- “Simeon and the Child Jesus” by Harold John Ockenga
- “The Men Who Missed Christmas” by James Montgomery Boice
- “Ongoing Incarnation” by Philip Yancey
- “Christmas Implications” by L. Nelson Bell
- “Why I Celebrate Christmas” by Helmut Thielicke
- “The Blessed Evangelical Mary” by Timothy George
- “An After-Christmas Gift” by Lee Knapp
- “Not Yet Home for Christmas” by Jen Pollock Michel
- “The Magi’s Worship” by Kent R. Hughes
- Title: A Light Has Dawned: Meditations on Advent and Christmas
- Series: The Best of Christianity Today
- Publisher: Lexham Press
- Publication Date: 2020
- Pages: 280
- Format: Logos Digital, Hardcover
- Trim Size: 5x8
- ISBN: 9781683594222
About Christianity Today
Since 1956, Christianity Today has been the voice of evangelicalism in America—a bellwether of theology, politics, and culture for evangelicals. Some of the most influential and respected modern evangelical leaders have written for Christianity Today, shaping the minds and hearts of millions of Christians for more than half a century.
