An excellent new Christmas book from Timothy Keller. Richly gospel-informed, devotionally warm, and well suited for the unbeliever too – just as we’ve come to expect from Keller.
Excerpt from Chapter One:
Christmas, therefore, is the most unsentimental, realistic way of looking at life. It does not say, “Cheer up! If we all pull together we can make the world a better place.” The Bible never counsels indifference to the forces of darkness, only resistance, but it supports no illusions that we can defeat them. Christianity does not agree with the optimistic thinkers who say, “We can fix things if we try hard enough.” Nor does Christianity agree with the pessimists who see only a dystopian future. The message of Christianity is, instead, “Things really are this bad, and we can’t heal or save ourselves; things really are this dark – nevertheless, there is hope.” The Christmas message is that “on those living in the land of shadow a light has dawned.” Notice that it doesn’t say “from the world a light has sprung,” but “upon the world a light has dawned.” It has come from outside. There is light outside of this world, and Jesus has come from it to save us.
Table of Contents:
1. A Light Has Dawned
2. The Mothers of Jesus
3. The Fathers of Jesus
4. Where is the King?
5. Mary’s Faith
6. The Shepherds’ Faith
7. A Sword in the Soul
8. The Doctrine of Christmas
An excellent resource for Christians of every age and of all stripes. Highly recommended.