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The Purpose of Christmas

Rick Warren

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 7 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Hailed by The Economist as the "the most influential pastor in America," and by Time as one of the 100 most influential people in the world, the bestselling author of The Purpose Driven Life expounds on the profound origins of Christmas, describing it as an opportune time to welcome peace into our lives.

In his powerful yet compassionate voice, Pastor Rick Warren sounds the clarion call to "remember the reason for the season," taking readers back in time to the most wonderful story of all -- the birth of the baby Jesus. When he was just a small boy, young Rick asked his parents if they could celebrate Christmas with a birthday party for Jesus -- and the tradition began that the Warrens have upheld for over fifty years. Now through stirring imagery and compelling personal insights, The Purpose of Christmas honors the significance and promise of this cherished holiday.

Pastor Warren encourages readers to identify and confront what drains peace from their lives. Warren explains that the way to respond to these peace-robbers is to learn how to surrender to God's will and not feel defeated or discouraged when life does not go as planned. True peace of mind is found by having an unshakeable faith in God -- knowing that his empowering Spirit will guide his children through life's challenges.

Beautifully written, The Purpose of Christmas will stir readers to honor the true significance of Christmas and to nurture God's gifts of love and peace in this world.

Watch For The Light: Readings For Advent And Christmas

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, John Donne, Meister Eckhart, T.S. Eliot, Gerard Manley Hopkins, C. S. Lewis, Thomas Merton, Archbishop Romero, Henri J.M. Nouwen, Philip Yancey

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 14 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Loved it!! 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

I love that this series, including "Bread and Wine:Readings for Lent and Easter," because it challeneges our complacent culture-dictated experience of Advent and Easter. This is not a feel-good book, it is a faith-building book. Be prepared to be shaken up and for God to meet you in a new way.

I bought copies for my friends and family. Everyone loved it!

The diversity of authors come together in surprising unity. This broadened my perspective and made me want to find books written by the individual authors. I also loved that the authors are from all points in history and geography. An experience like this is what all of us in the US need.

Company on the Journey 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

Like a kid counting down the days until Christmas, I took a spiritual journey by reading the days until Christmas. My guide, Watch for the
light. Cheaper than a real journey...no stops for gas , no waiting in line. Pop open the book's cover and begin to read. Some funny stories, some poetry, some known authors and some not so well known, all leading the way to Christmas. When Christmas comes, you will be ready.

Jotham's Journey: A Storybook for Advent

Arnold Ytreeide

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 26 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Great story / devotional book for Advent 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 2 people found this review helpful.

This was our family's best Advent yet! Occasionally "Jotham's Journey" was a bit too action-packed for our daughter (age 5), but she and our son (age 8) couldn't wait for each day's segment. Arnold Ytreeide is a master storyteller. His intricate blending of facts about biblical times into a fast-paced storyline captured our imaginations. We'll never look at Advent the same again. Our family can't wait to read Ytreeide's other books in 2006 and beyond.

all around great 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

accurate description of book, prompt service, and a great book in general- but especially for Advent and preparation for Christmas- I didn't want to stick to the Advent timeline they give because I wanted to keep reading

Family Advent Tradition 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This book was out of print for a while, and I was happy to see a new publisher pick it up. Our family incorporates this into our Advent traditions, reading a section each night (as laid out in the book). At bedtime, our three kids (ages 4-9) sit while I read, and even my husband sits in (and reads to catch up if he misses a night). Each night ends on a suspenseful note, so the next evening the kids get ready for bed in record time so that we can read that night's story (finding out how last night's climax was resolved, and again ending with them wondering what will happen next). It is a family strengthening story and tradition for us. This is one in a series of three books (Bartholomew's Passage and Tabitha's Travels are the other two) which we rotate over three years, then will start the cycle over again. I bought these two copies to give as gifts.

Editorial Review:

In this widely popular, exciting story for the advent season, readers follow ten-year-old Jotham across Israel as he searches for his family. Though he faces thieves, robbers, and kidnappers, Jotham also encounters the wise men, shepherds, and innkeepers until at last he finds his way to the Savior born in Bethlehem.

Christmas Jars

Jason F. Wright

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Total reviews: 105 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Worth the hour of your time 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This is a small book, but the story is captivating, heartwarming, and inspiring without being gag me with a straw sappy. I loved how there was a plot with twists, characters with imperfections (because I really hate a perfect character, they just aren't real) and a heart warming message that would be easily achieved by all who read it, regardless of ANYTHING. I was a little skeptical when I read that the main character's name is Hope, because that kind of sets the character up to be fabulous and perfect and sickening, but she isn't like that. She is hard working, trying to make her way in the journalist industry, meets her trials head on, but still has her flaws, tough decisions and accountability for her actions.

This probably took me an hour to read, maybe a little less, and with everything that is going on in the world, you really can afford an hour to feel like the world isn't all bad, to realize there are still good people, and remember that no good deed goes unrecognized.

Editorial Review:

Hope Jensen is a young, single woman and an aspiring newspaper writer, and when she receives a much-needed but anonymous Christmas gift, she's determined to find her benefactor. That search leads her to an unusual family with a longstanding Christmas tradition. Sensing a front-page feature article, Hope desperately wants to publish their story, but doing so would be a breach of trust. What she decides to do will change her life forever.

'Twas the Night Before Christmas Advent Calendar

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Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Advent calendar 5 out of 5 stars.
8 of 9 people found this review helpful.

I bought this Advent calendar and it was just as beautiful when I received it. By far the best selection online and I checked many web sites. My family throughly enjoyed this calendar.It matches the wonderful advent calendars I had as a child growing up.

outstanding 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 7 people found this review helpful.

the advent calendars that i received were really unique. i have had an advent calendar all of my life and that is alot of christmas'. these were lovely and much enjoyed.

Editorial Review:

A Santa and all of his reindeer are silhouetted against the snowcovered forest as they fly through the air in this traditional advent calendar.

The First Christmas: What the Gospels Really Teach About Jesus's Birth

Marcus J. Borg, John Dominic Crossan

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Peace and Justice in This World 1 out of 5 stars.
0 of 28 people found this review helpful.

Borg and Crossan give an esoteric and exhaustive exegesis of the birth of Jesus in the New Testament. The following quote summarizes their conclusion:

"It is not accurate to distinguish the imperial kingdom of Rome from the eschatological kingdom of God by claiming one is earthly the other heavenly, one is evil the other holy, or one is demonic the other sublime. That is simply name-calling. Both come to us with divine credentials for the good of humanity. They are two alternative transcendental visions. Empire promises peace through violent force. Eschaton promises peace through nonviolent justice.... That clash of visionary programs for our earth is the context and matrix for those Christmas stories, and they proclaim God's peace through justice over against Rome's peace through victory." (p.75)

They point out, for example, that Jesus' birth in Bethlehem symbolically says that he is the "son of David," the ideal king. According to Borg and Crossan, the divine conception of Jesus was a parable intended to counteract the claims that the Roman emperors were divine.

That Jesus chose twelve apostles symbolizes a reuniting of the tribes of Israel and shows Jesus was concerned about peace and justice on earth. But this is the beginning of a sign that the eschaton is a heavenly one promising hope for eternal life. This sign is not a single historical event, like the resurrection of Jesus, but a current event because it ends with the universal recognition that capitalism and democracy realizes for mankind "peace through justice."

Evidence of this new worldwide understanding is the demise of communism, the welfare reform movement, and the movement towards free trade between nations.

The end of communism in the Soviet Union and China proves there is no alternative to a market economy based on private ownership and control of businesses. Welfare reform in the United States reached its apex with the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act of 1996. This legislation came from the realization that well-intentioned government programs, such as War on Poverty in the United States, can have negative consequences. The fight against tariffs, quotas, and subsidies is based on the principle that a business should expand when it is profitable and contract when it is not.

The historical path from the birth of Jesus to peace and justice on earth has been long and circuitous, but it has arrived. We have peace because one Western nation will never again go to war against another Western nation. We have justice too, in the sense of just government, not because there is an ideal king, but because the lack of justice is due to the sinfulness, malice, ignorance, and apathy of individuals.

A sign is an event, such as a miracle, that is a reason to believe a prophet was sent by God. A sign the authors discuss concerns the messianic hopes of Israel. Referring to Matthew's quoting of the Old Testament, the authors say:

"It is the basis for what is sometimes called "the argument from prophecy"; namely, the fulfillment of prophecy proves that Jesus is the Messiah, the promised one of Israel." (p. 201)

Faith is a gift from God as well as a decision to believe. Christians give reasons for believing in Jesus of Nazareth and are summoning everyone to believe. But this summons should not cause anyone to think they will be criticized if they don't decide to believe.

All the signs considered together account for a positive response to revelation. That the Old Testament predicts the coming of an anointed one from God is one of the signs that Jesus was an authentic prophet.

Another sign is that the Hebrew Bible is mankind's first narrative history. Herodotus (484-425 BCE) is called the Father of History because he gave a narrative account of the Greco-Persian Wars, which started in 498 BCE. Since the Bible gives vivid accounts of historical events going back to 10,000 BCE, Jewish people were historiographically hundreds of years ahead of the Greeks.

Another sign is that the Hebrew authors, though not as philosophically advanced as the Greeks, gave God a philosophically profound name in Exodus 3.14. The name Yahweh ("I am he who is.") summarizes the existential proof of God's existence: God is a pure act of existence whereas a human being is a composition of principles called essence and existence. In other words, since there are finite beings whose essence limits their existence, there must be a supernatural being, analogous to human beings, whose essence is to exist.

It is clear something wonderful has happened in the West (United States and other former English colonies, the European Union, and Japan) by comparing the standard of living and health care available to everyone in these constitutional democracies with conditions in nineteenth century England, the richest country in the world by far at that time. Democracy in the West is not a sham, but means individuals participate in government decisions that affect their lives. The recent arrival of justice and peace on earth is a sign because of the connection between the West, the Roman Catholic Church, and Jesus. The Roman Catholic Church claims to be founded by Jesus and achieved with Pope Innocent III (1160-1216) the height of its political power. The Roman Catholic Church is a forerunner of Western governments and faith in Jesus is the reason mankind has peace and justice.

According to the doctrine of original sin, God gave Adam and Eve, or the first human beings, sanctifying grace. Accompanying this gift was the absence of death and concupiscence, as we know it. Their sin deprived them and all of their descendants of a paradisal existence and gave rise to the possibility of injustice and violence. Christians believed that sanctifying grace and salvation was only available to members of the church founded by the twelve apostles.

We can speculate about justice and peace when Adam and Eve found themselves on our island of scarcity and danger. Did they fight over the results of their hunting and gathering? Did they cooperate with each other to get the most out of nature? Was one the slave of the other?

If the utilities of goods can be measured on a cardinal scale, a master-slave economy might increase utilities. This would happen if the increase in utility of goods used by the master is greater than the decrease in utility of goods used by the slave(s). If utilities can only be measured on an ordinal scale, voluntary cooperation maximizes utilities.

However, utility theory, as well as moral laws and human rights, should not be followed blindly without considering the existing circumstances. Suppose Adam and Eve were unable to agree on where and how to get food and shelter, or who would do the most burdensome and dangerous tasks? Wouldn't one or the other be justified in using force to guarantee their survival? Might not the injured party at some point see the error of being uncooperative?

In 325 CE, Constantine the Great, possibly collaborating with the Bishop of Rome, invited all the bishops of Christendom to a legislative session, the First Council of Nicaea, to resolve a controversy between homoiousians (Arians) and homoousians about who Jesus was. The difference between the two is more subtle than the difference between Aristotelian and Newtonian inertia, however, the participants agreed that the homoousians were right. Fifty-five years later, Theodosius the Great made Roman Catholicism the only legal religion in the Roman Empire:

"It is Our will that all the peoples who are ruled by the administration of Our Clemency shall practice that religion which the divine Peter the Apostle transmitted to the Romans,... The rest, however, whom We adjudge demented and insane, shall sustain the infamy of heretical dogmas, their meeting places shall not receive the name of churches, and they shall be smitten first by divine vengeance and secondly by the retribution of Our own initiative,..."(The Theodosian Code, XVI.1.2)

The edict shows that Theodosius was zealous about his religious faith. The massacre at Thessalonica in 390 indicates he also took his imperial duties seriously. What happened after the massacre shows the political power the Roman Catholic Church wielded even in those early days.

Theodosius ordered the massacre in a fit of anger when a riot over a false arrest caused the death of an officer in the Roman army. Theodosius's Gothic troops surrounded an amphitheater, filled because of a circus, and killed a predetermined number of the hapless spectators. In addition to the hooligans rounded up and executed by the local authorities after the riot, seven thousand were said to have been killed in the amphitheater. The bishop of the capital of the Western Roman Empire at that time (Saint Ambrose of Milan) denounced Theodosius publicly and excommunicated him for what he did. After performing public penance for eight months, Theodosius humbly went to Ambrose for the sacrament of Holy Communion.
In his letter of excommunication, Ambrose quoted the prophet Nathan chastising King David for killing Bathsheba's husband. In the following verses David accepts responsibility for his actions and acknowledges that his freedom is before God. This is the foundation of the morality of Jews, Christians, and Muslims:

"David said to Nathan, `I have sinned against Yahweh.' Nathan then said to David, `Yahweh, for his part, forgives your sin; you are not to die. But, since you have outraged Yahweh by doing this, the child born to you will die.'" (2 Samuel 12.13-14)

Theodosius's entire life shows he believed in God, tried to serve God, and hoped for salvation in the world to come. The following quotes from two famous nonbelievers shows what a lack of faith can mean. Sigmund Freud could be someone trying to justify betraying a friend and Jean-Paul Sartre could be someone contemplating suicide. Since self-centered atheists have ruled many an empire, the conversion of the Roman Empire to Christianity is a sign that God communicated himself to mankind through Moses, Jesus, and Mohammad:

"When I ask myself why I have always behaved honorably, ready to spare others and to be kind whenever possible, and when I did not give up being so when I observed that in that way one harms oneself and becomes an anvil because other people are brutal and untrustworthy, then it is true, I have no answer." (Ernest Jones, The Life and Work of Sigmund Freud (Three Volume Set), New York: Basic Books, Inc., Vol. II, p. 418)

"Every human reality is a passion in that it projects losing itself so as to found being and by the same stroke to constitute the In-itself which escapes contingency by being its own foundation, the Ens causa sui, which religions call God. Thus the passion of man is the reverse of that of Christ, for man loses himself as man in order that God may be born. But the idea of God is contradictory and we lose ourselves in vain. Man is a useless passion." (Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness: An Essay on Phenomenological Ontology (Routledge Classics), New York: Washington Square Press, p. 784)

In 496, the founder of the Frankish kingdom (Clovis I) converted to Catholicism, under the influence of his wife, Saint Clotilda, and the bishops of Gaul. The Catholic bishops supported Clovis's territorial conquests and the resulting kingdom was non-Arian, unlike some of the other Germanic kingdoms.

In 649, a council called by Pope Saint Martin I excommunicated certain bishops of the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantium) for Monothelitism, the doctrine that Christ had only one will. The Byzantine emperor supported the heresy and, after a failed plan to assassinate the pope, arrested Martin and transported him to Constantinople. There he was found guilty of failing to subscribe to the heresy and died in 655 after much suffering and public humiliation.

The subservience of bishops in Byzantium to secular rulers, in contrast to Martin's steadfastness, is shown in the controversy over religious images. In 726 Emperor Leo III, under the influence of several Eastern bishops and Caliph Umar II, published an edict saying religious images were idols forbidden by Exodus 20.4-5 and commanding that they be destroyed. The patriarch of Constantinople protested, but Leo replaced him with one Anastasius. Because of the unpopularity of iconoclasm, Leo's son-in-law was able to temporarily depose Leo's son and successor, Constantine V. Constantine regained power and continued the fight against images by blinding and publicly flogging Anastasius, who had changed his mind about iconoclasm when Constantine was out of power. In 754 Constantine convoked an ecumenical council to condemn the worship of images. Bishops from Rome, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem refused to attend, but over 340 bishops from Byzantine sees condemned image-worshipers. Iconoclasm was abandoned for good in 842.

In 732 at Poitiers in west central France, Charles Martel defeated an army of Caliph Hisham. In 754 at the Abbey of St. Denis near Paris, Pope Stephen II personally anointed Martel's son (Pepin the Short) King of the Franks. In return, the Franks sent an army into Italy to force the King of the Lombards to donate land to the pope, beginning a thousand-year reign over the Papal States.

Charlemagne (Pepin's son) was protective of Pope Adrian I and Pope Saint Leo III. When the Roman clergy and people elected Leo to succeed Adrian in 795, the family of Adrian, out of spite and jealousy, plotted to have Leo removed from office and attacked him viciously in the street in broad daylight. Leo was rescued and reinstated to his office by Charlemagne in 799. In 800, Charlemagne was crowned Imperator Augustus by Leo.

In 1073, Pope Saint Gregory VII was elected by the cardinal-bishops of Rome and confirmed in the office by Henry IV, German King and Roman Emperor, in accordance with an election law voted on by 113 bishops at a synod in Rome in 1059. In 1075 Gregory called a synod that banned the appointment of bishops by layman, making bishops dependent on the papacy rather than kings and other lords. This was especially threatening to civil authorities in Germany because the bishops there were feudal lords over vast territories in addition to being ecclesiastical authorities. At one point in the so-called investiture conflict, Henry lost so much support from rivals and bishops loyal to Gregory that he humbly submitted to Gregory at the Castle of Canossa to remove an excommunication against him. Gregory also made plans to raise an army to oppose the Seljukian Turks, but it was Pope Urban II who sent four crusading armies into the Holy Land in 1097.

Pope Alexander III was a professor at the University of Bologna, one of the first degree granting institutions in the world. He was the author of a commentary on the Decretum Gratiani, which is a 1400 page treatise on ecclesiastical law (canon law) written in 1040 by a Bolognese monk. Canon law is the positive law of the Roman Catholic Church and stood along side imperial, tribal, feudal, urban, mercantile, and manorial law. It was a constitutional body of law because it recognized limitations on the Church's authority, sets forth processes for selecting officials, and allocates legislative, administrative, and judicial powers.

In a famous case, Alexander added to the general theory of self-defense by ruling that two monks committed criminal sins by tying up two robbers, who ended up dead. Alexander incurred the enmity of Frederick I (Barbarossa) when he was Papal Chancellor by asserting at the Diet of Besançon in 1157 that the imperial crown is bestowed upon the German King by the pope. This caused a long schism that ended when Frederick reconciled with Alexander after his defeat at the Battle of Legnano in 1177.

Pope Innocent III, through excommunications and force of arms, wrested control over most of Italy from German knights and Norman barons. Educated at the University of Paris and the University of Bologna, Innocent wrote a number of decretals that became part of canon law. One decretal denied a request from a feudal lord in France to legitimatize two sons from a second marriage while his first marriage was canonically valid. Another decretal claimed the pope's right to settle the war going on between France and England. This decretal admitted the pope had no competence in purely feudal disputes, but said in matters where sins were being committed the papacy had jurisdiction. A third decretal addressed a civil war in Germany caused by the election of two rival kings and said the pope has the authority to decide between the two kings and whether a king of Germany is fit to be emperor. In another case, Innocent excommunicated the entire country of France, with the exception of unbaptized infants, to pressure its king (Philip II Augustus) to reconcile with his lawful wife who he abandoned for another woman.

In 1212, Innocent deposed King John of England because of a disagreement about who should be the Archbishop of Canterbury, leaving it to Philip II Augustus to enforce the order. After being threatened by Philip, the English king followed the pope's advice. In a further attempt to placate the pope, King John entered into a feudal arrangement with Innocent in which the Roman Catholic Church would get 1000 marks per year and King John would get to rule England. This added to the grievances the English barons had against John and they forced him to sign the Magna Carta in 1215. Innocent opposed this important document in the development of constitutional law, not because of the rights it bestowed, but because it done without his consent.

The secular power of the papacy declined after Innocent, but England and France became modern nation-states by emulating the Roman Catholic Church. The first legislatures in Europe, after the fall of Rome, were the ecclesiastical councils, the first modern legal system was canon law, and the first administrators were church officials. Since the Middle Ages, the West has become one nation-state unified by the knowledge that democracy and capitalism is what people desire and what makes people happy.

The West's prosperity is due to mass production, technology, the division of labor, and the time-consuming and roundabout methods of production used. The West has been accumulating the means of production or capital for centuries.

According to Hernando de Soto, author of The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere Else, a cause of poverty outside of the West is the absence of a system of property rights that is available to all citizens. Such systems have courts of law, title deeds, articles of incorporation, contracts, liens, easements, and public registries. Property rights create a large network or market for capital that has the effect of maximizing the usefulness of all assets, something that doesn't happen when ownership is informal and extralegal.

Another reason for the West's prosperity is the value Christians attach to honesty and other civic virtues. The following quote from St. Paul supports civic virtue because it implies that membership in families, clans, tribes, and ethnic groups is not as important as membership in the human race:

"So the Law was serving as a slave to look after us, to lead us to Christ, so that we could be justified by faith. But now that faith has come we are no longer under a slave looking after us; for all of you are the children of God, through faith, in Christ Jesus, since every one of you that has been baptized has been clothed in Christ. There can be neither Jew nor Greek, there can be neither slave nor freeman, there can be neither male nor female--for you are all one in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3.24-28)

The importance of honesty in forming good governments is supported by the following quotes from Polybius (203-120 BCE) and Thomas Macaulay (1800-1859):

"But the quality in which the Roman commonwealth is most distinctly superior is in my opinion the nature of their religious convictions.... The consequence is that among the Greeks, apart from other things, members of the government, if they are entrusted with no more than a talent, though they have ten copyists and as many seals and twice as many witnesses, cannot keep their faith; whereas among the Romans those who as magistrates and legates are dealing with large sums of money maintain correct conduct just because they have pledged their faith by oath." (Polybius: The Histories, Book VI, paragraph 56)

"The mightiest princes of the East can scarcely, by the offer of enormous usury, draw forth any portion of the wealth which is concealed under the hearths of their subjects. The British government offers little more than four per cent.; and avarice hastens to bring forth tens of millions of rupees from its most secret repositories." (Miscellaneous works of Lord Macaulay in five volumes, Vol. III, New York: Harper and Brothers, Publishers, 1880, p. 51)

Modern science has progressed along with technology and productivity. Technology involves invention and innovation and the West's success can be explained by the freedom citizens have to take risks and accumulate wealth.

But what drove Nicolaus Copernicus and Johannes Kepler to spend hours, days, and years analyzing the earth-based observations of the sky? They made this effort because they believed the universe is intelligible, orderly, and lawful. This conviction was based on the belief that the universe was created by a supernatural God, who has knowledge, free will, and reason analogous to the knowledge, free will, and reason of human beings. China in the Middle Ages was more advanced technologically than the West, but modern science did not develop in that civilization. The following quotes from Albert Einstein and the Bible support this thesis:

"All science of a high order presupposes a kind of act of faith in the intelligibility of nature. And the wonder of all wonders is that in fact nature has shown itself to be intelligible." (quoted by N. Clarke, The One and the Many: A Contemporary Thomistic Metaphysics , University of Notre Dame Press, p. 17)

"The most incomprehensible thing about the universe is its comprehensibility." (quoted by D. Overbye, "Einstein Letter of God Sells for $404,000," New York Times, May 17, 2008)

"The heavens declare the glory of God,
the vault of heaven proclaims his handiwork,
day discourses of it to day,
night to night hands on the knowledge.
No utterance at all, no speech,
not a sound to be heard,
but from the entire earth the design stands out,
this message reaches the whole world." (Psalms 19.1-4)

Modern science began when the Bishop of Paris wrote a letter condemning 219 heresies based on the science of Aristotle. The source of these heresies was the Islamic philosopher Ibn Rushd (1126-1198), known in the West as Averroes. The letter is known as the Condemnation of 1277:

"We excommunicate all those who shall have taught the said errors or any one of them, or shall have dared in any way to defend or uphold them, or even to listen to them, unless they choose to reveal themselves to us or to the chancery of Paris within seven days; in addition to which we shall proceed against them by inflicting such other penalties as the law requires according to the nature of the offense....
25. That God has infinite power, not because He makes something out of nothing, but because He maintains infinite motion....
66. That God could not move the heaven in a straight line, the reason being that He would then leave a vacuum.... "

Heresy No. 25 is a single attack and Heresy No. 66 is a double attack on God's omnipotence. The Bishop of Paris and his advisers from the faculty of theology at the University of Paris knew that vacuums did not exist in nature. However, they could see no reason why vacuums could not exist. They assumed that God thought the same way they did, and concluded that vacuums were possible. They also reasoned that God could move heaven, just as He could move everyone to believe in Him, if He wanted.

Editorial Review:

In The First Christmas, two of today's top Jesus scholars, Marcus J. Borg and John Dominic Crossan, join forces to show how history has biased our reading of the nativity story as it appears in the gospels of Matthew and Luke. As they did for Easter in their previous book, The Last Week, here they explore the beginning of the life of Christ, peeling away the sentimentalism that has built up over the last two thousand years around this most well known of all stories to reveal the truth of what the gospels actually say. Borg and Crossan help us to see this well-known narrative afresh by answering the question, "What do these stories mean?" in the context of both the first century and the twenty-first century. They successfully show that the Christmas story, read in its original context, is far richer and more challenging than people imagine.

A Family Christmas

Caroline Kennedy

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Total reviews: 26 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

"When I began assembling [this] collection, I was skeptical that I would learn anything new about Christmas, but reading and reflecting on the history and spirit of Christmas brought back many memories, and taught me a great deal … The literature of Christmas ranges from the miraculous to the tragic, the profound to the ridiculous, but always represents the connection to something larger than ourselves." –Caroline Kennedy

In A Family Christmas, Caroline shares the Christmas poetry, prose, scriptural readings, and lyrics that are most dear to her, drawing on authors as diverse as Harper Lee, Nikki Giovanni, Martin Luther King Jr., Billy Collins, John and Yoko, and Charles Dickens. There are also many lesser-known gems throughout and personal treasures from her own family -- including a young Caroline’s Christmas list to Santa Claus and a letter from her father as President to a child concerned about Santa’s well-being. This diverse and unique anthology will become a timeless keepsake, and will enrich your heart and mind with the spirit of Christmas.

A Family Christmas includes selections from:

Groucho Marx, Emma Lazarus, Mark Twain, Sandra Cisneros, Pearl S. Buck, Truman Capote, Gabriela Mistral, Ogden Nash, Clement Clarke Moore, Vladimir Nabokov, Marianne Moore, Calvin Trillin, E. B. White, and many more.

Caroline Kennedy is the editor of the New York Times bestselling A Family of Poems, Best-Loved Poems of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, A Patriot’s Handbook, and Profiles in Courage for Our Time, and is the coauthor of The Right to Privacy and In Our Defense: The Bill of Rights in Action. She serves as the Vice Chair of the New York City Fund for Public Schools.

Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus: Experiencing the Peace and Promise of Christmas

Nancy Guthrie

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

An anthology of Advent readings collected from the writings and sermons of 22 classic and contemporary theologians and Bible teachers.

Between purchasing presents and planning travel, enjoying holiday pageants and attending parties, it is all too easy for Christmas to silence the sacredness and crowd out a quiet anticipation of the season’s truths. So when editor Nancy Guthrie decided she wanted a reflective book of Advent readings that would help her pause and consider the riches of Christ come to earth, she embarked on what she calls “a sacred adventure,” putting together such a collection herself.

The result—this special volume—draws from the works and sermons of classic theologians such as Whitefield, Luther, Spurgeon, and Augustine, and from leading contemporary communicators such as John Piper, J. Ligon Duncan, Randy Alcorn, John MacArthur, Francis Schaeffer, R. C. Sproul, Skip Ryan, and Joni Eareckson Tada to beckon you and your family into the wonder of Jesus’ incarnation and birth.

With its high view of Scripture and its focus on the gift of Jesus, this lovely book is sure to ready your heart and mind for a fresh experience of “Immanuel, God with us” this and every Advent season. Open the cover and discover what Christmas was meant to be…

Advent And Christmas Wisdom From Henri J.m. Nouwen: Daily Scripture And Prayers Together With Nouwen's Own Words (Redemptorist Pastoral Publication)

Henri J. M. Nouwen

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Wonderful! Can't go wrong with this purchase! 5 out of 5 stars.
30 of 32 people found this review helpful.

This is a wonderful little devotion book for Advent. I have become a huge Henri Nouwen fan.....he always shares his journey and is transparent...I especially enjoy the Advent Action given with each devotion.....the daily devotions give just enough without being overwhelming, allowing me to reflect on it all day. Redemptorist Publishing always offer heart warming devotionals.

Excellent for meditative prayer 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.

Excellent book for getting a better understanding the meaning of Christmas. Short daily advent readings and meaningful prayers. Author writes in a clear, easy to understand manner that you don't have to be a Bible scholar to read it. Great book for those who wants to know more about the Christian celebration of Christmas or seeks to draw closer to God amidst the busyness and commercial season.

The 88 page soft-cover book includes 28 days of advent devotionals and 12 days of Christmas devotionals. Each day has a short excerpt of writing from Nouwen, a scripture reading, a prayer and a call to action. The devotional is reflective, practical and will help you put God in the middle of the Christmas season.

I also highly recommend this book as a Christmas gift.

The Adventure of Christmas: Helping Children Find Jesus in Our Holiday Traditions

Lisa Whelchel

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 17 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

The ADVENTure of Christmas is a guide for moms concerned that their children are losing sight of Jesus in the midst of the distractions the holiday season brings. Lisa Whelchel was such a mom, but instead of abandoning the traditions of Christmas she rediscovered their original meanings, which were intended to remind people of God’s unfathomable gift. Hanging lights on the house, wrapping gifts, and decorating the tree have become opportunities to teach her children about how they relate to Jesus’ birth. With The ADVENTure of Christmas, mothers can redeem what’s been lost from the very symbols that are gentle reminders of the true meaning of Christmas.

Have you discovered that Jesus sometimes gets lost in the middle of the hustle and bustle of His birthday party? Would you like to be able to keep your children's focus on Jesus and also join them in the wonder of the celebration?

For each of the twenty-four days preceding Christmas, The ADVENTure of Christmas serves as a fun and handy guide that describes the significance behind your favorite traditions. Hanging lights on the house, wrapping gifts, and decorating the tree will become opportunities to share how these customs relate to Jesus' birth. The ADVENTure of Christmas recaptures the true meaning of this beloved season, giving reasons to celebrate for years to come.

Story Behind the Book

Feeling like Jesus had gotten lost in the frenzy of the holiday season, I asked the Lord to show me what I could do to teach my children the true meaning of Christmas. I was caught off-guard when He simply replied, "Don’t do anything differently. Look in the middle of the celebration and you will find Me." He was right. There was no need to orchestrate moments to pontificate about "the commercialization of Christmas." Instead, Jesus is beckoning us to come to the party and bring the kids. In doing so, we run into Him at the mall, the movies, even at school. He hides in the lights, the carols, and the cards. He is there when we dress the evergreen tree, when Dad dresses up in a red suit, and even when we eat turkey and dressing!