an Advent lesson that is found in the Church of England s Book of Common Prayer. Perhaps that is what attracts Christians to the story of A Christmas Carol. Every Advent Christians revisit this old Victorian moral story with its images of snow covered English cobblestone streets, the sentimentally portrayed ragged poor, and its familiar story line doesn't seem to grow tiresome through the years. We revisit this story because it echoes with the ancient lessons of Advent. Hearing the Gospel Through Charles Dickens s A Christmas Carol is a Christian devotional that uses A Christmas Carol as a tool to teach the ancient Advent lessons of Hope, Faith, Peace, Love and Joy. Each week s devotion begins with a section from A Christmas Carol which dramatizes the Advent Lesson and is followed with a scriptural Advent lesson from the Church of England s Book of Prayer. The word Ebenezer is defined in scripture as The Lord is my help (1 Samuel 7:1 2). As we travel through Ebenezer s redemptive healing journey, the devotional invites the participants to examine how Christ is born in their past, present and future. As a Christian pastor, I am grieved that the modern evangelical church has diminished the Advent season to a single Christmas Eve service or Christmas Sunday service. As a community, we no longer spend time preparing our hearts for the season of Christ coming.  I am also grieved at how a calloused attitude toward the poor is equated with Evangelical thinking in the press and politics. Perhaps if we spent more time pondering the means by which Christ entered this word, we could free ourselves from this bias.  Charles Dickens did this in his age with A Christmas Carol, now it is crucial time to revisit these lessons. Hearing the Gospel Through Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol has won the 2013 Illumination Award in ExegesisFor more information visit our website at dickensandchristianity.com.The Author does not recommend the 2010 edition because of poor editing. In order to enjoy the full experience of the book please purchase a later edition.

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