Far from Saving Christmas, Dickens Destroyed
Meaning of Christmas Exemplified by Scrooge
Christmas as a holiday was not fully embraced by the post-Reformation churches for several reasons; mainly its paganistic roots and lack of focus on true redemption of sin in Christ. However, there were two major literary events that saved Christmas; the first, the poem, Twas the Night Before Christmas, by Clement Moore {circa. 1822} and Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol, written in 1843. While the former introduced Santa Claus as visualized today, the latter was much more destructive in legitimizing the Social Gospel message into society in general and churches in particular. I invite you to read my post, Roots of Social Justice: Social Gospel Progressivism, discussing Social Gospel’s impact on today’s Social Justice movement. Continue reading “Scrooge: The Victim of Christmas”
