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Christmas Resources
By Mark D. Roberts | Monday, December 24, 2007
I’m putting up links to several Christmas and related resources. I’m doing this, in part, for listeners of the Hugh Hewitt radio show. Today Hugh and I will be talking about Christmas together, and the resources to which I’m linking are related to our on-the-air conversation.
On the Historicity of the Gospel Accounts of Jesus’s Birth
The Birth of Jesus: Hype or History?
See also my recent book, Can We Trust the Gospels? Investigating the Reliability of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John (Crossway, 2007)
When I wrote my series The Birth of Jesus: Hype or History? I had not yet written Can We Trust the Gospels? This book helps to establish the basic historical accuracy of the biblical gospels, in light of which one should acknowledge the historical intentions of Matthew and Luke in their birth narratives. In Can We Trust the Gospels? I also consider the problem of miracles and history, something that pertains to the issue of the historical accuracy of the birth narratives.
On the Meaning of Christmas and the Life of Jesus
“God in Flesh Appearing” - my recent article in Decision Magazine, a publication of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.
On the Divinity of Jesus
On Christmas Carols and Songs
“Joy to the World” - a piece I wrote for Worship Leader Magazine on the carol “Joy to the World” and its connection to Psalm 98.
On Charles Dickens and A Christmas Carol
Christmas in Today’s American Culture
Topics: Christmas | 3 Comments »
Advent Calendar for December 24
By Mark D. Roberts | Monday, December 24, 2007
Click here for the December 24 Advent Calendar entry!
Topics: Advent Calendar | 2 Comments »
Christmas Devotion: The Lighting of the Christ Candle
By Mark D. Roberts | Monday, December 24, 2007
Christmas Eve or Christmas Day
[Re-light the three purple candles and the pink candle]
We Celebrate the Birth of Christ
In the season of Advent we have used the Advent wreath and its candles to help us get ready for this great celebration of the birth of Christ.
When we lit the first purple candle, we asked God to come and be our Good Shepherd. God our Shepherd has come in Jesus Christ!
When we lit the second purple candle, we asked God to come and forgive our sins. God has come in Jesus Christ to take our sins and die upon the cross so that we might be forgiven!
When we lit the third, pink candle, we felt joyful even in our longing for Christ to come. Christ, who has been born in a manger, will come again in glory to wipe away every tear from our eyes!
When we lit the fourth candle, we remembered that Christ would come as a son — the son of Mary, the Son of David, and the Son of God! This Son has been born! He is Immanuel — God with us!
Today we celebrate the birth of Jesus the Christ, Jesus the Good Shepherd, Jesus who forgives our sins, Jesus who will come again, Jesus the son of Mary, the Son of David, and the very Son of God!
Prayer for God’s Help
Dear God, as we light the center candle today, may we celebrate with full joy the birth of your Son, Jesus the Christ. Amen!
Click here for the continuation of this Christmas devotion and to “light” the Christ candle.
Topics: Christmas, Advent | No Comments »
Advent Calendar for December 23
By Mark D. Roberts | Sunday, December 23, 2007
Click here for the December 23 Advent Calendar entry!
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Advent Devotion: The Lighting of the Fourth Candle
By Mark D. Roberts | Sunday, December 23, 2007
The Lighting of the Fourth Candle: Waiting for the Son
For the Fourth Sunday of Advent (or thereabouts)
[Re-light two purple candles and the pink candle.]
We Remember the Meaning of Advent
Advent is a word that means “coming” or “visit”. In the Christian season of Advent we prepare for the “advent” of Christ at Christmas. Our preparation includes many things:
• We remember Israel’s hope for the coming of God’s Messiah to save, to forgive, and to restore them.
• We remember our hope for the second coming of Jesus.
• We remember our need for a Savior to save us from our sins.
• We prepare to welcome Christ at Christmas into our world . . . and into our hearts.
By lighting one candle each week of Advent, we help ourselves to get ready for the birth of Jesus. So far we have lit three candles. The first reminded us to wait for God our Shepherd. With the second we asked the Lord to come and forgive our sins. The third, pink, candle signified our joy as we wait.
Today we focus on the coming of the Son — the son of Mary, the Son of God!
Prayer for God’s Help
Dear God, thank you for this season of Advent that helps us to prepare for the coming of Christ at Christmas. As we read the Bible and light a candle, may excitement for Christ’s coming burn in our hearts. Amen.�
Click here for this rest of this Advent devotion and to “light” the Advent candle.
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Advent Calendar for December 22
By Mark D. Roberts | Saturday, December 22, 2007
Click here for the December 22 Advent Calendar entry!
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More Christmas Carol Surprises
By Mark D. Roberts | Saturday, December 22, 2007
Part 1 in the series: More Christmas Carol Surprises
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Three years ago I did a blog series called Christmas Carol Surprises. As we draw near to Christmas, I thought it might be good to revisit and add to this series. What follows will be an edited and expanded version of my earlier material, with quite a bit of new stuff added in.
First, my confession: I love Christmas carols. I love the way they sound. I love the memories they evoke. And, in many cases, I love the truths they celebrate. So in the next few days I’m going to do a short series on Christmas carols. I promise that it will be informative, fun, and maybe a bit inspirational too.
There are limits to my love of Christmas carols, however. I don’t like hearing them in stores in October, or even most of November. It isn’t just the commercialization of Christmas that bugs me. Rather, listening to Christmas carols for three months dilutes their specialness. So, though I love Christmas carols, I should add that I love them in December, with a bit of overlap into November (after Thanksgiving) and January (until Epiphany on January 6).
Christmas Carol Fun
Do you like Christmas carols? Do you think you know Christmas carols pretty well? Then I have a website for you. FunTrivia.com, which claims to be the “world’s largest, best, and most fun trivia website” has a great collection of Christmas music trivia quizzes. My favorite is “Christmas Carol Trivia: Sacred Carols,” but there are many more. Warning: You can spend a lot of time at this site if you’re not careful.
Ancient Christian Songs
Early in the second century A.D. the Roman governor of Pontus and Bithynia (northern Turkey) wrote letters to the Emperor Trajan. In one of these letters he described the actions of some troublesome (from Pliny’s point of view) Christians: “They asserted, however, that the sum and substance of their fault or error had been that they were accustomed to meet on a fixed day before dawn and sing responsively a hymn to Christ as to a god, . . .” This is one of the earliest references to Christian singing.
Many scholars believe that early Christian songs are quoted in the New Testament letters of Paul. One of these, in Philippians 2:5-11, includes the following lyrics:
[Christ Jesus] who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited,
but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death—
even death on a cross. (2:5-8)
Though we wouldn’t call this a Christmas carol, it does focus on the birth of Jesus and His death. It sees this birth through the lens of theology rather than narrative, however. Some scholars view this song as a theological statement informed by the early stories of Jesus’s birth. This is possible, but cannot be proven. Of course the main point of this “song” isn’t the birth of Jesus, but His death.
Carols as Forbidden Folk Music
Although the church did include religious singing in its liturgy surrounding the birth of Jesus, carols were written in a more popular idiom. The word “carol” originally described a song that had verses and a repeating chorus. It was frequently sung in the context of folk dancing (circle dancing). Most of the Christmas carols in the Middle Ages were secular or pagan in origin, and thus they were not popular with religious officials. On more than one occasion, as early as the 7th century and as late as the 16th century, Roman Catholic councils attempted to ban Christmas carols altogether. Only the reverent sounds of sacred chant were deemed appropriate for memorializing the birth of Jesus.
My own theological ancestors, the Reformed Puritans of Britain, attempted to get rid, not only of Christmas carols, but also of Christmas itself. They attempted to “purify” the church of both secular and Roman Catholic elements. When they were in power in Britain in the middle of the 17th century, the Puritans actually succeeded in making the celebration of Christmas illegal. No carols, no fun, no Christmas! The earliest Europeans in America, coming from English Puritan stock, did not celebrate Christmas, and in fact made a point of not doing so. In fairness to these folk, however, we should understand that the secular and pagan celebrations of Christmas were often filled with drunken excess, rather more like Mardi Gras in New Orleans than most secular Christmas celebrations today (except, perhaps, for office parties run amuck).
The Influence of St. Francis
Many historians credit St. Francis of Assisi with vitalizing the Christian celebration of the birth of Christ. Early in the 13th century he created the first (or one of the first and surely the most famous) life-sized Nativity scenes, complete with live animals, a real baby in the manger, and a worship service. This service included the singing of lively, joyful Christmas music – something that was virtually unknown up to this time. Francis forged the combination of genuine love for Christ with genuine celebration, which almost always includes joyful music. (Photo: This painting by Giotto (c. 1300) depicts the “crib” of St. Francis. Notice the singers in the back row. In the photo below, the singers in the back row are easier to see in this detail. Notice the vigor of their singing! They’re singing joyous carols, indeed.)
The Revival of Christmas and Christmas Carols
Even though the celebration of Christmas was technically legal from the late 17th century and onward, the holiday was largely ignored by the English. Continental Europeans were more apt to celebrate Christmas with a combination of secular, pagan, and Christian traditions. It’s from the Continent that we get, for example, the traditions of Christmas trees and Santa Claus. In 19th-century England, however, Christmas was largely forgotten, a victim of religious disinterest and industrial urbanization.
Yet in the Victorian Age new champions of Christmas emerged, among them Clement Moore (who wrote the poem we know as “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas” in 1822) and Charles Dickens (who wrote several Christmas stories including, of course, “A Christmas Carol” in 1843”). Under the influence of these and other writers, Christmas became a popular celebration, a day for feasting and family. During this same period of time many of our favorite carols were either written or published for the first time. (I’ve written quite extensively on Dickens and Christmas.)
Resources
For more information about Christmas carols, see The New Oxford Book of Carols. A fantastic online source of information is The Hymns and Carols of Christmas. Much of what I have summarized in this post comes from these two sources.
Topics: Christmas Carols | 2 Comments »
Advent Calendar for December 21
By Mark D. Roberts | Friday, December 21, 2007
Click here for the December 21 Advent Calendar entry!
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Birthday Tribute
By Mark D. Roberts | Friday, December 21, 2007
Today I’m celebrating the birthday of one of the finest people I know . . . my son, Nathan. I don’t always blog about my children’s birthdays, but Nathan is turning 15 today, and it seems right to honor him.
I’m not exaggerating when I say that Nathan is one of the finest people I know. Now I’ll admit my bias . . . no question about it. If Nathan were in prison, I’d probably think of him as the finest inmate of all. But, even though I’m a hopelessly biased dad, I’d still like to tell you why I hold Nathan in such high regard. (Photo: Nathan and I enjoy a good laugh.)
First of all, he is a kind person. Oh, yes, he can be mean to his sister at times. But, all in all, Nathan cares for others and treats them with sweet gentleness. He is kind to folks who are five times his age and he is equally kind to those who are one-fifth his age. In fact, Nathan has a way of charming children, I think because they sense his respect and love.
Second, Nathan is fun. Sometimes he’s crazy fun. He wears silly hats, funny shirts, and says hilarious things. There are times he goes over the line a bit. But Nathan isn’t boring, that’s for sure.
Third, Nathan is creative. He’s an outstanding artist in several genres, including: singing, acting, drawing, writing, and film. If you’ll pardon a bit of bragging, last year Nathan was recognized as one of two students of the year in his class at a special arts school in Orange County, California. (Photo: Nathan and I begin our first backpacking trip together.)
Fourth, Nathan loves nature . . . just like his dad. He takes delight in the wonders of the natural world. He loves to hike, and has been known to do twenty miles in a day. Sometime last year Nathan crossed a hiking milestone, finding it easy to hike more rapidly than his dad. These days, as we’re driving along in Texas, it’s not uncommon for Nathan to shout out: “Dad, wait, stop. Look at that sunset!” He sees and delights in God’s good creation.
Fifth, Nathan is willing to accept change. In truth, change doesn’t come easily for him. Yet when change happens, Nathan doesn’t stew in his unhappiness. Rather, he looks for what is best and makes the necessary adjustments. If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you know that 2007 brought huge changes to the Roberts family, mainly associated with our move from Southern California to Texas. In this move Nathan said “goodbye” to his lifelong friends, to his extended family, to the only town, church, and home he had ever known. He left his arts high school where he had done so well to attend a Texas school where football is king. In all of this, Nathan has been honest about his unhappiness at times. But he hasn’t gotten stuck there. He’s looked for and found good things.
Sixth, Nathan has a strong faith in Jesus Christ. Now you might expect that of a pastor’s kid, but not if you’ve known many pastor’s kids. I hope I’ve had something to do with Nathan’s growth in Christ. But, in truth, his faith is his own. I am thankful for those who have had such a positive influence on Nathan’s discipleship, including: Bethy, Mrs. Guest, Mr. Raitt, Mr. Wolensky, “Wolf” (Josh Sullivan), and Ryan Nielsen. (Photo: Nathan and I hiking along the Frio River near Laity Lodge in the Texas Hill Country)
Seventh, Nathan is one of my best friends. Truly. Now there are times when I need to be the whip-cracking father, though these times are few and far between. Most of the time I enjoy being with Nathan as a friend, whether we’re goofing around, or going on long bike rides, or exploring the Hill Country, or talking about movies, or enjoying a sunset together.
Fifteen years ago today my life was forever changed by the entrance of a little red-haired boy into this world. During these last fifteen years, he has enriched my life more than I ever imagined. I can’t begin to express my pride in my son, or my gratitude to God for him. So on the occasion of his fifteenth birthday, I honor him and offer deep thanks to God for him. Happy birthday, Nathan, my son, my brother in Christ, my friend!
Topics: Tributes | 6 Comments »
A Great Christmas Post and A Dream Cruise
By Mark D. Roberts | Thursday, December 20, 2007
A Great Christmas Post
Marcus Goodyear, my colleague in the H.E. Butt Foundation, has become one of my favorite bloggers. Marcus has lots of fascinating things to say about all sorts of topics, but I love his commentary on family life most of all (see this post from a couple of weeks ago).
This week Marcus put up a post called: “You Know You’re Celebrating Christmas with a Three-Year-Old When . . .” Lots to laugh about here, and some things to ponder as well. Plus, I absolutely love the picture of Marcus’s children. Priceless!
Here’s an excerpt:
You know you’re celebrating Christmas with a 3-year-old when….
You find yourself saying, “It’s time to decorate Christmas cookies, stop chasing your sister with the vacuum.”
You splurge on a Lionel Train set to go around the tree because you’ve always wanted one and your three-year-old probably wants one, too.
He thinks the naughty list sounds like more fun, but finally decides, “I’ll be on both lists, Daddy.”
Thanks, Marcus, for sharing your family experiences with us. You make me laugh and you make me think (and you make me miss the times when my own kids were young).
A Dream Cruise
As you may know, I’m a big fan of cruises, thanks to Hugh Hewitt, who invited me to tag along on a couple of his, including one last summer.
I recently received word of another fantastic Mediterranean cruise. It’s called “A First Century Voyage: Retracing the Missionary Journeys of Paul in Turkey and Greece.” The trip host and teacher is the Rev. Earl Palmer. (Photo: Earl Palmer and his wife in front of the library in Ephesus.)
Many of my readers will be familiar with Earl, who is one of the best-known and best-loved Bible teachers in the world today. He combines intellectual brilliance with deep insight into Scripture and rich illustrations from literature and culture. Earl is currently the Senior Pastor of University Presbyterian Church in Seattle, one of the largest and finest Presbyterian churches in the country.
“A First Century Voyage” happens next summer, from June 18 through June 27. It begins in Izmir on the west coast of Turkey, and ends in Istanbul. Stops include: Ephesus, Patmose, Santorini, Corinth, and Athens. The cruise is on the Sea Cloud, an extraordinary “tall ship” type vessel. For more information on this ship, check out the “Sea Cloud” website. (Photo: The Sea Cloud at sail.)
As you can well imagine, a cruise like this costs a pretty penny. But I can’t imagine a more wonderful experience. Like I said, a cruise of a lifetime. (No, I won’t be there. My summer is pretty much taken up hosting and/or teaching retreats at Laity Lodge. By the way, we’ll have Earl Palmer with us at Laity Lodge next summer, July 24-27. If you’re interested in attending, check out the Laity Lodge website.)
We won’t have classic architectural sites at Laity Lodge, however. For these, you’ll have to go on Earl’s cruise. For more info, check out the brochure on the First Century Voyages website.
My Interview at tothesource
tothesource recently interviewed me on the topic of my book Can We Trust the Gospels? The interview is now “up.” Be sure to check out the tothesource archives, and then subscribe to their excellent newsletter.
Topics: Recommendations | 3 Comments »
Advent Calendar for December 20
By Mark D. Roberts | Thursday, December 20, 2007
Click here for the December 20 Advent Calendar entry!
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Advent Calendar for December 19
By Mark D. Roberts | Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Click here for the December 19 Advent Calendar entry!
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A Review of Simply Christian by N.T. Wright (Section 4)
By Mark D. Roberts | Wednesday, December 19, 2007
In the series: Considering N.T. Wright
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In Part One of Simply Christian, N.T. Wright discusses four “echoes of a voice” that incline our hearts in God’s direction. These echoes are: the longing for justice, the quest for spirituality, the hunger for relationships, and the delight in beauty.
In Part Two of Simply Christian, Wright shows how these echoes are sounded in the true Christian story of God’s work in the world, a story that begins in Genesis with the first creation and concludes with the new creation of Revelation. Wright wraps up Part Two by speaking of Jesus and the Trinity:
And it’s all because of Jesus. Once we glimpse the doctrine – or the fact! – of the Trinity, we dare not slide back into a generalized sense of a religion paying distant homage to a god who (though somewhat more complicated than we had previously realized) is merely a quasi-personal source of general benevolence. Christian faith is much more hard-edged, more craggy, than that. Jesus exploded into the life of ancient Israel – the life of the whole world, in fact – not as a teacher of timeless truths, nor as a great moral example, but as the one through whose life, death, and resurrection God’s rescue operation was put into effect, and the cosmos turned its great corner at last. . . . It’s all because of Jesus that we speak of God the way we do.
And it is all because of Jesus that we find ourselves called to live the way we do. More particularly, it is through Jesus that we are summoned to become more truly human, to reflect the image of God into the world. (p. 140)
Whew! When N.T. Wright gets on a rhetorical roll, he really preaches!
Part Three of Simply Christian picks up the idea of “reflecting the image of God into the world.” This reflection leads into a discussion of worship (ch. 11), prayer (ch. 12), the Bible (chs. 13 & 14), and Christian community/mission (chs. 15 & 16). I’m not going to try to summarize all that Wright says in these chapters. They are filled with biblically-inspired wisdom that reflects the life experience of a faithful Christian who is also a caring pastor.
Let me include a couple of excerpts from Wright’s discussion of the Bible so you can get a flavor of his writing in Part Three:
It’s a big book, full of big stories with big characters. They have big ideas (not least about themselves) and make big mistakes. It’s about God and greed and grace; about life, lust, laughter, and loneliness. It’s about birth, beginnings, and betrayal; about siblings, squabbles, and sex; about power and prayer and prison and passion.
And that’s only Genesis. (p. 173)
But the main things to recognize are that God intends that we should have this book and should read and study it, individually and corporately; and that this book, by the power of the Spirit, bears witness in a thousand ways to Jesus himself, and to what God has accomplished through him. To repeat a point I made earlier, but a vital one: the Bible isn’t simply a repository of true information about God, Jesus, and the hope of the world. It is, rather, part of the means by which, in the power of the Spirit, the living God rescues his people and his world, and takes them forward on the journey toward his new creation, and makes us agents of that new creation even as we travel. (p. 191)
What I so appreciate about these passages is, on the one hand, their rhetorical power (especially the first one). On the other hand, Wright is able to talk about what really matters in a way that is clear and compelling.
So it is with the last paragraph of Simply Christian, which circles back to the themes of Part One, picking up themes from Parts Two and Three:
Made for spirituality, we wallow in introspection. Made for joy, we settle for pleasure. Made for justice, we clamor for vengeance. Made for relationship, we insist on our own way. Made for beauty, we are satisfied with sentiment. But new creation has already begun. The sun has begun to rise. Christians are called to leave behind, in the tomb of Jesus Christ, all that belongs to the brokenness and incompleteness of the present world. It is time, in the power of the Spirit, to take up our proper role, our fully human role, as agents, heralds, and stewards of the new day that is dawning. That, quite simply, is what it means to be Christian: to follow Jesus Christ into the new world, God’s new world, which he has thrown open before us. (p. 237)
When I come to the end of Simply Christian, I find myself extraordinarily grateful for N.T. Wright and his effort to communicate with non-Christian people in today’s world. Bookstores are flooded these days with sundry versions the atheistic “gospel,” which is hardly good news, after all. Christian responses to Hitchens, Dawkins, and the like are often logically coherent, but many times fail to move the hearts of unbelievers. We win the argument but lose the battle for people’s souls. N.T. Wright has attempted to do in our generation what C.S. Lewis attempted to do in his: to speak of Christianity in a simple and truthful way that touches the minds and hearst of contemporary people. In my view, the attempt itself deserves our thanks. Moreover, I think Wright’s attempt works, at least to a significant degree.
No doubt Wright’s critics will find problems with Simply Christian. And, no doubt, some problems exist. But as they try to tear apart what Wright has joined together, I hope they’ll try to do better in the positive task of communicating with secular people in today’s world. It’s one thing to win intramural Christian arguments, and quite another to hold up Christianity in a postmodern, multicultural, relativistic world. Wright has attempted what few Christians dare today, and I, for one, am both impressed and grateful.
Topics: N.T. Wright | 5 Comments »
A Couple of Helpful Links
By Mark D. Roberts | Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Eyewitness Testimony in Mark’s Gospel
My guest blogger, Dr. James Arlandson, has put up the next post in his excellent series on the Gospels. Here’s everything you wanted to know about Mark and the reliability of this particular Gospel. Thanks, James.
Ramblin’ Dan on Flattened Silos
My colleague at The High Calling of Our Daily Work, Ramblin’ Dan Roloff, has a valuable post on a recent process we went through at the HEB Foundation, the parent organization of Laity Lodge. Good biblical connection too. Dan’s blog is worth a regular visit. (Here’s his RSS feed.)
Topics: Guest Bloggers, Links | No Comments »
Advent Calendar for December 18
By Mark D. Roberts | Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Click here for the December 18 Advent Calendar entry!
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