Christmas: The Season of Life and Light (The Fullness of Time)
Overview
Of all the seasons of the church calendar, Christmas is the one most recognized and celebrated by our society at large. That means it’s the season we’re most familiar with—but that can also make it harder to see past Christmas’s many cultural trappings to its timeless beauty.
At the first Christmas, God exchanged the glories of divinity for the vulnerability of human existence, uniting himself to us in order to unite us to God. In this short volume, priest and theologian Emily Hunter McGowin invites us into the church’s celebration of that great exchange, in all its theological and liturgical splendor.
Each volume in the Fullness of Time series invites readers to engage with the riches of the church year, exploring the traditions, prayers, Scriptures, and rituals of the seasons of the church calendar.
This is a Logos Reader Edition. Learn more.
- Explores the traditions, prayers, Scriptures, and rituals of the seasons of the church calendar
- Invites readers to engage with the riches of the church year
- Introduction
- 1. The Origins of Christmas
- 2. God of the Great Exchange
- 3. God of the Poor
- 4. God of Creation on Re-creation
- 5. God of Life and Light
- Conclusion: God of the Crèche and the Cross
- Appendix: The Scriptures and Collects of Christmastide
I have systematically read the best Christmas books, but this is the one I have been waiting for. Rather than addressing just the cultural or theological aspects, Emily Hunter McGowin brilliantly connects them. For those who sometimes feel uncertain about how to navigate the holiday season, Christmas: The Season of Life and Light illuminates a faithful, Yuletide lane with the festive glow of twinkling lights.
—Timothy Larsen, editor of The Oxford Handbook of Christmas
I've wanted to make Christmas more spiritual without nagging about nonreligious symbols or being an impolite guest while partygoers sip champagne to the melody of 'Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire.' Thank you, Emily, for showing the way! Christmas: The Season of Life and Light both reveals the history and mystery of the birth of Jesus and shows us how to celebrate it in truly spiritual ways.
—Todd Hunter, founding bishop of the diocese of Churches for the Sake of Others and author of What Jesus Intended: Finding True Faith in the Rubble of Bad Religion
As a pastor I used to dread the Christmas season, in fear that the church had lost the narrative. In Christmas, Emily Hunter McGowin masterfully blends her theological mind and her pastoral heart and goes a long way toward reclaiming the story and its meaning. She breaks the knot of syrupy sentimentalism and rampant commercialism, not with a snub nor judgment but with a generous resanctification of our traditions that creates space for us to experience the life and light of this treasured time of year. With this book in hand, I can't wait to enter into the next Christmas season!
—Jin Cho, Anglican priest and cohost of The Micah Podcast
- Title: Christmas: The Season of Life and Light (The Fullness of Time)
- Author: Emily Hunter McGowin
- Series: Fullness of Time Series
- Publisher: IVP
- Print Publication Date: 2023
- Logos Release Date: 2023
- Pages: 140
- Era: era:contemporary
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Reader Edition
- Subject: Christmas
- ISBNs: 9781514000410, 9781514000403, 1514000415, 1514000407
- Resource ID: LLS:CHRSTMSSSNCHRYR
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2023-08-25T20:48:40Z
Reviews
1 rating
Glenn Crouch
10/11/2023
I thought I’d grab this short book to see what the “Fullness of Time” series of books on the Church Calendar were going to be like - and I am now quite looking forward to the rest of this series :) Naturally for those of us who are liturgical in our worship, the placement of Christmas within the church calendar is quite important. However, this fine book is a worthwhile read for all who celebrate Christmas. It includes a good though brief coverage of the origins of Christmas, and always reminds us of the connection of the Incarnation to the Crucifixion. Presented as 5 chapters covering different areas, this is a nice easy read that is both informative and devotional. For a small book, I very much applaud the “For Further Reading” at the end of each chapter, and I think having the Scriptures and Collects for the Christmas season as an appendix is a nice extra. Highly recommended.