CHRISTMAS

Christmas cheers the birth of Christ with a fresh look at the festive season. English engages the rich theological and biblical themes of Advent as well as family traditions, popular carols, and legends of the holidays. Topics range from a theology of the incarnation of the Word, the role of Mary, the historical origin of December 25, the significance of Bethlehem and the star, the plight of the holy family in a hostile world, and the place of American pop icons like Frosty the Snowman, Santa Claus, and Buddy the Elf. Christmas brims with anticipation. Adam English weaves historical, spiritual, and religious aspects of the Christmas narrative together with contemporary customs and experience. Looking to the future, not a nostalgic past, he shows how the season inspires ways to live biblical truths of forgiveness and justice. A delightful saints section identifies ten ways to understand saints, making them more accessible. Christmas is an unusual addition to holiday literature, blending silly and serious, religious and secular, heavy and light. --Carol Myers, St. Nicholas Center In this follow-up to his popular and successful The Saint Who Would Be Santa Claus, Adam English offers a splendid set of theological reflections on the liturgical season of Christmas. With intellectual and literary verve, he brings light to the very mysteries of Christmas. Rooted in the scriptural narrative, steeped in the ancient Christian tradition, and at ease with culture both classical and popular, English dares his reader to ponder the incarnation, Mary the Mother of Jesus, Bethlehem, the luminous star spotted by the sages from the east, the flight to Egypt (Jesus as exile and migrant), the significance and meaning of Christmas day, and saints of the season. Let me invite you to unwrap this gift! --Mark S. Medley, Baptist Seminary of Kentucky The manger, cross, and consumerism rarely meet for anything inspiring. In Dr. Englishs telling, the texts of Christmas in church and cult