Charles Dickens
In this charming, simple retelling of the life of Jesus Christ, adapted from the Gospel of St. Luke, Dickens hoped to teach his young children about religion and faith. Since he wrote it exclusively for his children, Dickens refused to allow publication. When Dickens died in 1870, the manuscript was left to his sister-in-law, Georgina Hogarth. From there it fell to Dickens's son, Sir Henry Fielding Dickens, with the admonition that it should not be published while any child of Dickens lived.
Just before the 1933 holidays, Sir Henry died, leaving his father's manuscript to his wife and children. He also bequeathed to them the right to make the decision to publish. By majority vote, they decided to publish the book in London. In 1934, Simon & Schuster published the first American edition, which became one the year's biggest bestsellers.
I confess I was not aware of the existence of this book until I saw it while browsing the library shelves. I immediately took it home, having great expectations for my reading experience. (See what I did there?) While the general story certainly was Dickensian, there were a few factual errors that went beyond narrative license. For instance: Mr. D. said that Herodias was Herod’s daughter instead of his wife and he had a centurian asking Jesus to raise his dead daughter back to life (while what really happened was the soldier asking Jesus to heal his sick daughter, but then she died while they were on the way there). But the biggest disappointment of all was this line, placed in the mouth of the herald angel speaking to the shepherds: "There is a child born today in the city of Bethlehem near here, who will grow up to be so good that God will love Him as His own Son." Wow...so Jesus earned his spot as God's Son because of how he lived? Sorry, Charlie, but that's just plain wrong. And truth be told, there's an awful lot of works-based salvation scattered throughout the book. Maybe it was an attempt to get his children to behave, but it's bad theology.
First Line: My Dear Children, I am very anxious that you should know something about the History of Jesus Christ.
Page 56 / Line 5: "Hear ye Him!"
A Good Line from Somewhere in the Middle: [Speaking of camels] At all events, they are brought over here, sometimes; and if you would like to see one, I will show you one.
Last Line: And pray God to bless and preserve us all, this night, and forevermore, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
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