Books in Review: The Characters of Christmas

Due to the seasonal nature of this book as well as my commitment to review this book within a particular time frame, this will probably be my shortest review to date. Posting this Christmas Day means that you all are probably not looking for an advent book. I also apologize to any faithful followers of my blog for my lack of posts in 2019, since I have only published a dozen reviews (this being the 13th) and nothing else. But I am working on some awesome plans for my blog and YouTube channel in the coming months that I cannot wait to share. I also hope you are still encouraged by this review, even as we continue to remember the significance of the incarnation beyond Christmas Day ~ Bethel

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​In his book, The Characters of Christmas, Daniel Darling walks through the different stories of the nativity narrative from the perspective of each major and even some minor characters surrounding the birth of Jesus. Giving historical context along with personal insights, this book gives a new perspective to many of the characters we don’t think much about, and even those we do. Even going back to some of those in the lineage of Jesus, Darling illustrates the incredible tapestry of people that God wove together over 2000 years to help bring Jesus into the world, and with Him, the redemption of all mankind. This book is much different from many devotional book, or even books on advent. It’s an invitation to step into their world in order to become a part of the redemptive story of mankind. This book is pretty straightforward and a great compliment to any holiday tradition. Get your copy today!

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Personal Rating. My major criticism of this book that there were several details about Joseph and Mary that we being asserted as facts that are not mentioned in the Bible and cannot be proven from external sources. For example, the author makes the assertion that Mary would have been illiterate. Although it’s true that she came from a small town in a small country, this is not a detail I am comfortable with him asserting as fact. This is one of several examples in the first several chapters of this type of assumption. The last chapters (starting with the one about the Wise Men) are much better in this respect, after you are dealing less with specific details about Joseph and Mary that the Bible doesn’t give. Because of this problem, I might struggle with recommending it to others.

* I received a copy from the publisher for the purpose of this review

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To learn more about gaining a more biblically and historically grounded perspective on the birth of Jesus, make sure to check out my devotional The Arrival of Emmanuel
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