Topic
Christmas
One of the most important holidays on the Christian calendar, Christmas is also the most controversial. The so-called “Christmas Wars” garner headlines every year for battles over manger scenes and the use of “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Holidays” (and other seasonal greetings). But Christmas is also a time for theological and spiritual reflection on important foundations of the Christian faith, including the Incarnation and the Virgin Birth.
Philip Yancey: Hallelujah!
On a memorable London night, the bright and glistening theology of Messiah broke through my jet-lagged consciousness.
December 1, 2000
Christmas Shame
The year we had no tree, Mother planted within me a seed of discontent with all cultural displays of religion.
December 20, 2006
History
Worship Christ the Newborn King
This, this is Christ the King. It's not just imagery and metaphor.
December 21, 2012
Worship
Misreading the Magnificat
It's hard to find hymns that embody Scripture's sharp critique of the rich.
December 20, 2012
More on Christmas
Worship Christ the Newborn King
This, this is Christ the King. It's not just imagery and metaphor.
December 21, 2012
Go Overboard Celebrating Christmas
A godliness that won't delight in fudge and eggnog is no godliness at all.
December 20, 2012
Misreading the Magnificat
It's hard to find hymns that embody Scripture's sharp critique of the rich.
December 20, 2012
Sufjan Stevens's Conflicted Christmas
100 songs in, Stevens understands the joys, pains, and ironies of Christmas like no other artist.
December 18, 2012
Was the Real St. Nick Better than Santa Claus?
Author Adam C. English says St. Nicholas was social activist, businessman, lawyer—and man of God.
December 7, 2012
The Christmas Epistles: A Most Human Understanding of Godliness
Incarnational grace in the Pastoral Epistles.
December 22, 2011
A Christmas Prayer
We, like the shepherds in the field, like the woman at the tomb, are astonished, trembling in wonder and in fear.
December 22, 2011
Sitting in the Dark, Waiting for Emmanuel
Instead of fixing people's pain, maybe the most Christian act of love is to sit beside them, and wait.
December 22, 2011
Why Santa Belongs in Your Kids' Christmas
I'm tired of hearing Christian parents use the SATAN anagram. St. Nick was a saint.
December 20, 2011
Both Testaments at Christmastime
Andrew Peterson sings of Jesus in his annual tour.
December 5, 2011
Why We Need Jesus
Reason and morality cannot show us a good and gracious God. For that, we need the Incarnation.
December 2, 2011
Advent: Putting the Brakes on Christmas Insanity
The season of waiting reminds me that this world is not my home.
November 28, 2011
A Cosmic Culmination
Recalling the earth-shaking, kingdom-sized message of Christmas.
December 22, 2010
The Best Ever Christmas Gift
Women in particular, it seems to me, have a hard time thinking of themselves as gifts.
December 22, 2010
Yuletide Yarns
Christian authors discuss the best Christmas story not in the Bible.
December 21, 2010
An Un-Christmas-Like Idea
Four days of Advent readings, excerpted from 'God Is in the Manger: Reflections on Advent and Christmas.' By Dietrich Bonhoeffer
December 20, 2010
Redeeming December Days
Advent prompts a larger, cosmic question: What do I do while waiting?
December 17, 2010
Lynne Hybels: My Lazy Christmas Wish
At 29, 39, and 49, I couldn't imagine an unhurried holiday season. At 59, I have realized that very little matters.
December 16, 2010
Holiday Shopping for Jesus
How women—who have begun to out-earn men in the U.S. business sector—can use their holiday spending to glorify God.
December 15, 2010
'Happy Holidays' in Church?
While some Christian groups continue the battle over seasons-greetings language, I wonder if many churches are forsaking the reason for the season.
December 14, 2010
God's Quiet Signature
Why the rescue of the Chilean miners was a "great miracle," and what it tells us about Hanukkah.
December 13, 2010
'Hallelujah' Comes to the Food Court
Why one performance of Handel's 'Messiah' has attracted an audience of over 7 million.
December 3, 2010
Away With 'Away in the Manger'?
Should churches ban carols with questionable theology?
November 23, 2010
'Health Care King Herod Would Love!'
Advocacy groups wrap up an unusually busy Christmas season and prepare for 2010.
December 31, 2009
How to Have a Merry Christmas
And it doesn't require you doing another blessed thing.
December 23, 2009
The Problem of Goodness
It's not just the problem of evil that baffles the secularist.
December 22, 2009
Christmas in Afghanistan
Why, Lord, do you allow this time, of all times, to become for some a memorial of searing pain?
December 22, 2009
Who Owns Your Christmas Carols?
No, Kim Hill didn't write 'O Holy Night.' But she holds a copyright for it.
December 21, 2009
The Real Problem with Mary's Baby Bump
Jesus' mother likely didn't face the public shame associated with unwed mothers.
December 18, 2009
The Trouble with Depicting Jesus
Is a Bible showing the Holy Family in traditional Indian clothes any worse than one depicting them as doe-eyed Caucasians in pastels?
December 15, 2009
Opinion: When Christmas Was Banned in Massachusetts
After nearly 400 years, it's past time we learned our lesson and ceased hostilities. (Kevin Seamus Hasson, The Wall Street Journal)
Opinion: Hark! The Herald Angels Didn’t Sing
It takes a strong imagination to approach Scripture literally (Tanya Lurhmann, The New York Times)
Opinion: Lo, the Humble Christmas Pageant
In 1223, St. Francis staged the first living Nativity scene, complete with live animals. (Susan Beebe, The Wall Street Journal)
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