"My dear children, I am very anxious that you should know something about the History of Jesus Christ. For everybody ought to know about Him. No one ever lived, who was so good, so kind, so gentle, and so sorry for all people who did wrong..." - from "The Life of our Lord" by Charles Dickens Last night at Bookgroup we all shared favorite Christmas stories. One worth mentioning is Charles Dicken's "The Life of our Lord." It's a quick read and especially enjoyable during the Christmas season.
The Life of Our Lord was written during the same time period (around 1846) that Dickens was working on his classic work, David Copperfield. But it was written specifically for his children. Dickens never intended it to be published (which always makes me, a nonrelative, feel a tad guilty about reading it).
It's basically a retelling of the New Testament Book of Luke. While it's not a literary masterpiece, it was never meant to be. The text is simple. It's like a bedtime story version of the birth and life of Jesus Christ.
It makes me laugh when critics scorn the book for inane reasons (like being didactic). Charles Dickens had strong feelings about the Savior and a desire to share that message with his children. It's what I love most about the book, the sense of importance Dickens feels to make sure his children understand the significance of Jesus Christ. I find Dicken's motivation behind the message really touching (perhaps as only parents can).
"Remember! It is Christianity to do good always - even to those who do evil to us. It is Christianity to be gentle, merciful, and forgiving, and to keep those qualities quiet in our own hearts, and never make a boast of them, or of our prayers or of our love of God, but always to show that we love Him by humbly trying to do right in everything." -Charles Dickens, The Life of our Lord
