The Christmas Stories

The 'Christmas Story' as we know it, is derived from a mixture of carols and carol services, nativity plays, children's Bibles and paintings. The Bible itself offers two stories, each quite different from the other, not just in detail, but in tone. Neither of them is reproduced in the familiar Christmas story, and indeed, that story sometimes runs counter to the biblical text. This book, which incorporates some of the authors own stories and poems on the Christmas theme, begins by examining the two biblical accounts in turn: Matthew's, which is a dark tale, or at least as tale of light shining in darkness, Luke's, which is full of light and joy. The author explores the concept of the virgin birth, while acknowledging that the narratives retain a certain ambiguity, and looks at the strangely neglected question: given the world and the God that we know, what story must we tell now? His response is that the church itself desperately needs the vision of the God in a manger, and must allow this vision (together with that of God on a cross) to determine its theology and practice.