Author: Nick Page
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
ISBN: 1529334098
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 229
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Book Description
Why is Christmas the way it is? How did we get from the birth of Jesus to everyone pushing their credit card and their belts to their maximum extent? Starting with the events surrounding Jesus' birth, this book takes us through centuries of commemoration, celebration and over-consumption. Along the way we'll find out why we eat turkey, how an obscure Turkish saint turned into a man flying a sleigh, and why that tree in your house should really contain an apple and a snake. Combining in-depth historical research, cheerfully irreverent humour and cutting-edge guesswork, Nick Page explores what this festival really means, and how we can get back to something real and true beneath all that wrapping.
Author: Nathaniel Parry
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 1476647089
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 261
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Book Description
In some respects, the contrasts of Christmas are what make it the most delightful time of the year. It is a time of generosity, kindness and peace on earth, with broad permission to indulge in food, drink and gifts. On the other hand, Christmas has become a battleground for raging culture wars, marred by debates about how it should be celebrated and acknowledged as a uniquely Christian holiday. This text argues that much of the animosity is based on a fundamental misunderstanding of the holiday's core character. By tracing Christmas's origins as a pagan celebration of the winter solstice and its development in Europe's Christianization, this history explains that the true "reason for the season" has as much to do with the earth's movement around the sun as with the birth of Christ. Chapters chronicle how Christmas's magic and misrule link to the nativity, and why the carnival side of the holiday appears so separated from traditional Christian beliefs.
Author: Nick Page
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
ISBN: 1444750143
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 584
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Book Description
From Abelard to Zwingli, via a multitude of saints and sinners, Nick Page guides us through the creeds, the councils, the buildings and the background of the Christian church in an illuminating, and perhaps ever so slightly irreverent way. Well-known as a writer, speaker, unlicensed historian and general information-monger, Nick Page combines in-depth research, historical analysis and cutting-edge guesswork to explore how on earth the Christian church has survived all that 2,000 years of heroes, villains and misfits could throw at it (mostly from the inside) to remain one of the most influential forces in the world today. 'I was predestined to read this.' John Calvin. 'I felt my heart strangely warmed. Or it could have been indigestion.' John Wesley.
Author: Alex Palmer
Publisher: Running Press Adult
ISBN: 0762470402
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 256
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Book Description
Discover the fascinating (and sometimes downright odd!) ways that people and nations celebrate the holiday season and share this festive compendium's unique traditions together with family and friends. Do you know that in Guatemala there's a "Burn the Devil" tradition to kick off the Christmas season, where revelers gather to set fire to devil-piñatas? In Sweden, a popular figure in Christmas traditions is the Yule Goat, a rowdy, menacing character who demands gifts. And in Japan, a big bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken has become the classic Christmas Day feast. These and many other global Christmas traditions are featured here in this delightful book. From decorations and activities to feasts and special treats, there's a wide range of both lovely and unusual traditions from around the globe.
Author: Judith Flanders
Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
ISBN: 1250118344
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 257
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Book Description
First published: Great Britain: Picador, 2017.
Author: Nick Page
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
ISBN: 1444703382
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 387
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Book Description
Fools. Rebels. Ignorant peasants. That's how the Roman world saw the first Christians. Led by fishermen, tax collectors and renegade Pharisees, the first Christians shunned power and welcomed the poor and uneducated. Roman commentators mocked their upside-down values, but the apostle Paul - himself a Roman citizen, and a Pharisee to boot, affirmed that 'God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise.' Its followers were persecuted and its leaders killed, yet this ragged collection of lowly tradesmen, women, slaves - and a smattering of turncoat high-born Jews - created a movement that changed the world. How did this happen? How did the kingdom of fools conquer the mighty empire that was Rome? In this fascinating new biography of the early church, Nick Page sets the biblical accounts alongside the latest historical and archaeological research, exploring how the early Christians lived and worshipped - and just why the Romans found this new branch of the Jewish faith so difficult to comprehend. THE KINGDOM OF FOOLS is a fresh, challenging, accessible portrait of a movement so radical, so dangerous, so thrillingly different that it outlasted the empire that tried to destroy it and went on to become the driving force of our cultural development - and claims more followers today than ever before in history.
Author: Maria Hubert
Publisher: The History Press
ISBN: 0752471066
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 176
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Book Description
A delightful history of how Christmas has been celebrated in Britain over the past 2,000 years. From the legend of Arthur pulling the sword from the stone one Christmas day, to when the Puritan Parliament tried to 'ban' Christmas, through to Charles Dickens's vivid recollections of his boyhood celebrations, and his delight in the present of a jumping frog. Amongst the wealth of stories and personal reminiscences this book also teaches us how the traditions we now hold so dear came into being, including Mrs Beeton's recipe for the original Christmas cake (made with a horn of mead), the birth of Christmas carolling, the first ever Christmas tree to be brought to England from Germany by Prince Albert and the origins of the Christmas cracker. This is simply the perfect book with which to celebrate Christmas and all the traditions that surround it.
Author: Mark Forsyth
Publisher: Penguin UK
ISBN: 024197755X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 103
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Book Description
BY THE SUNDAY TIMES NO.1 BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF A SHORT HISTORY OF DRUNKENNESS Discover the unpredictable origins and etymologies of our Christmas customs this festive season. For something that happens every year of our lives, we really don't know much about Christmas. We don't know that the date we celebrate was chosen by a madman, or that Christmas, etymologically speaking, means "Go away, Christ". We're oblivious to the fact that the advent calendar was actually invented by a Munich housewife to stop her children pestering her for a Christmas countdown. And we would never have guessed that the invention of crackers was merely a way of popularising sweet wrappers. Luckily, like a gift from Santa himself, Mark Forsyth is here to unwrap this fundamentally funny gallimaufry of traditions and oddities, making it all finally make sense - in his wonderfully entertaining wordy way. 'Witty and revelatory. Blooming brilliant' Raymond Briggs 'Everything we ever thought about Christmas is wrong! Great stuff' Matthew Parris
Author: Dominique Foufelle
Publisher: Chronicle Books
ISBN: 1452165696
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 170
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Book Description
A collection of the stories, legends, and rituals surrounding Christmas, featuring colorfully illustrated lithographs. This festive follow-up to The Little Book of Saints and The Little Book of Angels explores the wonderful rituals and rich history surrounding Christmas. From the story of the nativity to the legends that have inspired beloved holiday traditions (like why Father Christmas arrives through the chimney), this collection includes Christmas customs from around the world. Beautifully illustrated with color lithographs taken from missals and prayer books, this joyful little book is a Christmas treasure for the whole family to gather around year after year.
Author: Christopher Winn
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781784882006
Category : Christmas
Languages : en
Pages : 160
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Book Description
What is the significance of mistletoe at Christmas? Why do we eat Brussels sprouts for Christmas dinner? When did turkeys become the plat du jour? Just who is, or was, Santa Claus? In The Book of Christmas, best-selling author and acclaimed historian, Christopher Winn, casts a witty and revealing eye on the stories, myths and legends of the most celebrated festival of the year: Christmas. In this lovingly written collection of festive myths, legends and (quite often) bizarre traditions, discover the fascinating stories behind some of our most cherished Christmas rituals and customs. Along with the stories behind many of the more mainstream customs, Christopher Winn unearths some of the more unusual traditions from around the world; from the burning of the 13-foot Yule Goat of Sweden to Japan's predilection for a Kentucky Fried Chicken Christmas dinner; the Peter Pan swim in London to the hiding of broomsticks in Norway, discover the fascinating truth (and oddities) behind this very special religious holiday. Beautifully produced and charmingly illustrated, The Book of Christmas is a treasure trove of all things Christmas to delight the whole family.
