Posted on 12/21/2022 4:46:49 PM PST by Roman_War_Criminal
Some say that Dickens is the father of the modern Christmas celebration—a tradition that was disappearing at the time he wrote the story. His portrayal of a Victorian snow-filled holiday celebrated with wassail, caroling, and families gathered around the table to eat the Christmas goose, perpetuated the secular Christmas celebration, which many Americans now enjoy. Yet, it was far more than a holiday tale. A Christmas Carol was a powerful, almost subliminal, message of Christian values and morality—though Jesus, God and the New Testament are barely alluded to in the story. How many readers knew that Dickens was an unconventional Christian, whose calling was to lead the reader to a greater understanding of the New Testament?
Considered by some contemporaries to be a great Christian writer, Dickens did not consider himself a Christian writer. Though a Christian, he was not pious, nor did he practice religiosity. He despised hypocritical evangelists who pounded the Bible, told the masses how sinful they were, warned them of the fires of Hell, then committed the very sins they preached against. He disliked factional, sectarian religion, writing that sectarian arguments over the letter of the Gospel drove the spirit from the Gospel. Dickens championed the working classes and the downtrodden. He scorned the church establishment and the uncaring upper classes of his time. Like Jesus, he loved the poor (the least of His people). His most sympathetic characters were the working class, the crippled, the poor and those charitable and humble souls who sought to help them. Tiny Tim was the crippled son of a poor working-class family, who was destined to die at a young age.
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Many wiser than I usually post well before i read FR articles. This post highlights a Christmas classic that deserves more accolades and comments than i am worthy to give.
For those among us, myself included, that forget to have Christmas Spirit in the face of all of the turmoil and idiocy of our neighbors, our nation and the world, I suggest that you start small. Salvation Army red kettle, MarinesToys for Tots, food banks, anything, something, surely there is someone you can give some hope and cheer this Christmas season. The Holy Spirit works in many different ways.
Or Bah humbug yourself.
I was thinking about Charles Dickens “A Christmas Carol” today and a revelation came to me that I had never noticed before. Notice the way it depicts the afterlife. Jacob Marley has been dead 7 years, but his soul is forced to wander around in heavy chains to atone for all his sins he did in life, and he warns Scrooge that his chains are already being forged for the afterlife and will be even longer if he doesn’t change his ways and the way he treats people. This basically fits the Catholic doctrine of purgatory.
As a kid I didn’t think anything about it, but if I was a fundamentalist “born again” protestant viewer, I’d be like “LIES! Either Marley accepted Christ and was immediately saved and is in heaven now, or didn’t and he’s now burning in hell for all eternity! No middle ground! Same is true for Scrooge! Scrooge just needs to accept Jesus as his Lord and Savior and BINGO! INSTANT salvation!”
Weirdly, I’ve never seen ANY protestants object to this story...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_Marley#Marley‘s_punishment
“The Man Who Invented Christmas” is a good movie about Dickens writing “A Christmas Carol”.
Good reflection!
Good point. A more secular observation I have is when Scrooge tells the charity solicitors are there no workhouses or prisons? In other words Scrooge can abdicate his Christian responsibilities to his fellow man because the State or government is taking care of them. President Hoover argued the same thing. State run charities decay the Christian fabric of society
Astute observation. It can be likened to the belief some hold that God, for his own reasons, allows some souls in purgatory to appear on earth to either to ask for prayers or as a warning to others as part of their penance. This may explain some instances of what we might call “ghosts”.
Was just thinking the same thing. Sent his wife away and continued to live with her sister as "housekeeper", while carrying on with mistress Ellen Ternan. Not cool.
Maybe its because they see it as just a good story and not a theological treatise.
Doesn’t matter, they’ll protest good stories they disagree with theologically. I believe that’s one of the reasons Maccabees is no longer in protestant bibles.
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