December 13, 2024

This edition is sponsored by SEMILLA

weekend reads

This week at Christianity Today, we reported on Christmas in Western North Carolina, where farms are selling “hurricane trees” and a mountain pastor-and-Santa is rebuilding his church. We covered the evangelicals in Italy waging a quiet war on Christmas, the believers in China lighting Advent candles, and the Filipino Protestants meeting for dawn masses in the run-up to Christmas Eve.

Our opinion desk has been in the Christmas spirit, too, with an encouragement to take angels seriously, an argument for why the star of Bethlehem is a Zodiac killer, and a reflection on how the holy family helps us deal with estrangement.

Plus: Joni Earackson Tada on our responses to the Incarnation, the histories of a few classic Christmas carols, and how confusing pieces of contemporary art teach us about Advent.

Have Yourself an Enchanted Little Advent

Angels are everywhere in the Bible. The Christmas season reminds us to take them seriously.

The Star of Bethlehem Is a Zodiac Killer

How Christmas upends everything that draws our culture to astrology.

The Holy Family and Mine

Nativity scenes show us the loving parents we all need—and remind me that my own parents estranged me over my faith.

weekend listen

This week on The Bulletin: A conversation about the modern relevance of Handel’s Messiah.

“Handel knew intimately what it was like to live in a worried and anxious moment. What is so astonishing is how that period—not of enlightenment and reason, but of deep worry about the state of the world—produced what is arguably our greatest musical monument to the possibility of hope.” | Listen here.

Exalting Every Valley with Charles King

It’s easy to become anxious and worried as we see war and conflict increase. However, it is precisely in these moments, says historian Charles King, that true faith can find its voice.

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editors’ picks

Daniel Silliman, news editor: Collision of Power, Martin Barron’s memoir of his time leading the Washington Post, is a crash course on all the issues currently facing the free press. He talks about changing technology, declining readership, declining trust, politicians who undermine the authority of facts, the challenges of reporting abuse allegations, new models of corporate ownership, and journalists who get formed (really, malformed) by social media. Even if you don’t agree with Barron’s take on things, this is the best overview of them.

Morgan Lee, managing editor, global: The Wyndham & Banerjee detective series is an incisive, exciting, and thought-provoking exploration of the Gandhian era.

Kate Shellnutt, editorial director, news: Even though Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland has “a true story” right on the cover, I checked twice to make sure I wasn’t reading a novelization. It’s a dark, detailed history of the Troubles, told flipping back and forth between IRA volunteers and victims. (If you’re an audiobook listener, it’s on Spotify Premium, read by a Northern Irish narrator.)

prayers of the people

For Christians in Syria.
For the survivors of abuse at a missionary school in Nigeria.
For the church’s witness against euthanasia through our rejection of a world “‘freed’ of the aged, the hurting, or the lonely.”

PAID CONTENT FOR REACHING SOULS

The World Has Changed. Can Global Missions Change with It?

Want to be part of the next generation of global missions? Discover how indigenous missionaries with Reaching Souls International are transforming communities through the Gospel—inspiring over 1 million decisions for…

Chick-fil-A Launches an App to Help Families Be Less Online

It offers the wholesome, values-centered content Christians expect from the closed-on-Sundays chain, but does the platform undercut its message?

Biblical Archaeology Gets Subatomic Help

A new tool finds use where digging is practically or politically impossible in Jerusalem.

Why Armenian Christians Recall Noah’s Ark in December

The biblical account of the Flood resonates with a persecuted church born near Mount Ararat.

The Virgin Birth Is More Than an Incredible Occurrence

We’re eager to ask whether it could have happened. We shouldn’t forget to ask what it means.

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IN THE MAGAZINE

As this issue hits your mailboxes after the US election and as you prepare for the holidays, it can be easy to feel lost in darkness. In this issue, you’ll read of the piercing light of Christ that illuminates the darkness of drug addiction at home and abroad, as Angela Fulton in Vietnam and Maria Baer in Portland report about Christian rehab centers. Also, Carrie McKean explores the complicated path of estrangement and Brad East explains the doctrine of providence. Elissa Yukiko Weichbrodt shows us how art surprises, delights, and retools our imagination for the Incarnation, while Jeremy Treat reminds us of an ancient African bishop’s teachings about Immanuel. Finally, may you be surprised by the nearness of the “Winter Child,” whom poet Malcolm Guite guides us enticingly toward. Happy Advent and Merry Christmas.

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