Journey to Bethlehem E-Book

Leland Ryken

• Herausgeber: Crossway
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Beschreibung

A 30-Day Anthology of Classic Christmas Writings  For centuries, Christians have treasured the same classic hymns and passages at Christmas. While these works have stood the test of time, believers can be tempted to adopt them as commonplace and fail to consider their deeper meaning.   Journey to Bethlehem presents an insightful selection of Christmas classics from the greatest English and American poets to important historical church figures such as Augustine, Luther, Calvin, and Spurgeon. Ideal for reading during the month of December, yet applicable for use year-round, each of the 30 readings consists of a classic work, literary analysis, takeaway summary, and Bible passage. Literary expert Leland Ryken analyzes hymns, poems, and prose, highlighting how each passage is edifying and stylistically satisfying. Readers will experience a new fondness for these classic works as they meditate on the mystery of Christ's incarnation. - 30-Day Christmas Anthology: Each daily reading guides readers through the month of December - Features Classic Christian Works: Writings by historical church figures, including Augustine, Luther, Calvin, and Spurgeon - Written by Leland Ryken: Literary expert and author or editor of over 60 books including The Soul in Paraphrase and The Heart in Pilgrimage - Offers a Fresh Perspective: Examines classic works from a literary perspective to provide Christians with new insights 

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“To read Journey to Bethlehem is to take a class in poetry, church history, and theology all at once—and to do so with a master teacher. And like the best teachers, Leland Ryken doesn’t just instruct, but he also delights. You will learn new things about old favorites in these pages as well as encounter hidden gems from the best Christian poets, preachers, and thinkers. This book is a gift—not only for Christmas but for any time.”

Karen Swallow Prior, author, On Reading Well: Finding the Good Life through Great Books

“With his insightful analysis of content, context, and form, Leland Ryken lifts the veil of familiarity from famous hymns, poems, and prose selections to reveal a new realm of Christmas, glowing with exuberant joy and singing with quieting peace. This is a weighty collection for the culturally curious as well as the literary enthusiast that opens the eyes afresh to what Christmas truly means. I highly recommend Journey to Bethlehem as a companion anthology to Ryken’s two previous treasuries, The Soul in Paraphrase and The Heart in Pilgrimage. There is rich reward in reading and rereading these works together.”

Carolyn Weber, Professor, New College Franklin; award-winning author, Surprised by Oxford

“This anthology is a feast. Choosing thirty classic texts for the Advent season is not an obvious undertaking. In Leland Ryken’s capable hands it has been beautifully done. Not only are each of these selections rich, but the commentaries by Ryken are most enlightening. Readers can memorize them, pray them, sing them, or simply revel in them. They will draw you closer to God.”

William Edgar, Professor Emeritus of Apologetics, Westminster Theological Seminary

“With his signature talent for identifying challenging but accessible devotional material and skill for unpacking what makes those devotionals work, Leland Ryken offers up a collection of poems, hymns, carols, and sermon excerpts that delve into the meaning of God made man, of the Almighty Creator lying helpless in a manger. The ideal companion for Advent.”

Louis Markos, Professor in English and Scholar in Residence, Houston Christian University; author, The Myth Made Fact

“Ryken has assembled, contextualized, explicated, and applied a strong group of classics, both familiar and lesser known, whether cheerful and comforting or provocative and edgy. You’ll learn a lot as you’re being blessed and fortified. I think every pastor should have a copy handy for the Christmas season, as should families for their devotional gatherings. And aspiring writers of hymns, poetry, and edifying prose will get a short course in literary standards and ideals.”

Mark Coppenger, Former Professor of Christian Philosophy and Ethics, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary; author, If Christianity Is So Good, Why Are Christians So Bad?

“Leland Ryken is a master anthologist with an encyclopedic knowledge of devotional poetry and literature. This Yuletide anthology is a rich feast designed to nourish the soul on the truth and wonder of the incarnation with a masterful selection of hymns, devotionals, and poems.”

Gregory E. Reynolds, Editor, Ordained Servant; author, The Word Is Worth a Thousand Pictures and Yuletide: Poems and Artwork

“Leland Ryken’s Journey to Bethlehem is such a rich resource. Sometimes it’s overwhelming how many books, devotionals, and resources exist for Advent. Ryken solves the problem by curating the best of the best for us. This volume will become an annual coffee-table staple in our household!”

Brett McCracken, Senior Editor, The Gospel Coalition; author, The Wisdom Pyramid

“What a valuable collection of Christmas gems: classic hymns, devotionals, and poems that celebrate Christ’s coming with words of weight and beauty. They are polished and packaged for us here, offered with just enough background and explication to help us relish and understand. This is a Christmas gift that will last.”

Kathleen Nielson, author; speaker

“This powerful but accessible volume instructs, delights, and edifies. It is a blessing that readers will long to share with others.”

David V. Urban, Professor of English, Calvin University; author, Milton and the Parables of Jesus

“Leland Ryken has been rendering great service to the church by recovering its rich devotional heritage and making it accessible for contemporary Christians. Now he takes up Christmas, the favorite holiday, helping us meditate on the birth of Christ by unpacking the classic works of songwriters, poets, and theologians.”

Gene Edward Veith Jr., Professor of Literature Emeritus, Patrick Henry College; author, Reading Between the Lines: A Christian Guide to Literature

“This volume provides the reader with a rich selection of well-edited Christmas texts drawn from across the ages, selected for their unique perspectives and artistic expression, and paired with thoughtful essays. The texts and commentaries are brief enough to read as devotionals, say after a family meal, and weighty enough to prompt one to ponder throughout the day.”

James C. Wilhoit, Professor of Christian Education Emeritus, Wheaton College

“Advent can often feel like a treasure barely opened; we can tell the glories go far deeper than we’ve seen, even after many seasons. In Journey to Bethlehem, Leland Ryken plunders the poems and prose of Christian history to help us pause before the manger and, with the shepherds, stand in deeper awe. The devotionals included here shed fresh light at every turn, showing the riches of Christ more clearly—and showing why those riches are called ‘unsearchable.’”

Scott Hubbard, Editor, Desiring God; Lay Pastor, All Peoples Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Journey to Bethlehem

Journey to Bethlehem

A Treasury of Classic Christmas Devotionals

Leland Ryken, editor

Journey to Bethlehem: A Treasury of Classic Christmas Devotionals

Copyright © 2023 by Leland Ryken

Published by Crossway1300 Crescent StreetWheaton, Illinois 60187

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, except as provided for by USA copyright law. Crossway® is a registered trademark in the United States of America.

Cover design: Jordan Singer

First printing 2023

Printed in China

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations in the devotional commentary by Leland Ryken are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated into any other language.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the King James Version of the Bible. Public domain.

All emphases in Scripture quotations have been added by the editor.

Scripture quotations in reprinted devotional passages have been left in their original form and translation.

Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-4335-8419-0 ePub ISBN: 978-1-4335-8422-0 PDF ISBN: 978-1-4335-8420-6

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Ryken, Leland, editor.

Title: Journey to Bethlehem : a treasury of classic Christmas devotionals / Leland Ryken, editor.

Description: Wheaton, Illinois : Crossway, 2023. | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2022032559 (print) | LCCN 2022032560 (ebook) | ISBN 9781433584190 (cloth) | ISBN 9781433584206 (pdf) | ISBN 9781433584220 (epub)

Subjects: LCSH: Christmas—Literary collections. | Christmas stories. | Christmas poetry. | Hymns.

Classification: LCC PN6071.C6 J68 2023 (print) | LCC PN6071.C6 (ebook) | DDC 808.8/0334–dc23/eng/20220927

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022032559

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022032560

Crossway is a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

2023-08-11 03:31:21 PM

For Tom and Dyanne Martin

Contents

Editor’s Introduction

Part 1: Christmas Hymns

1  Joy to the World (Isaac Watts)

2  Angels from the Realms of Glory (James Montgomery)

3  Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus (Charles Wesley)

4  Brightest and Best of the Sons of the Morning (Reginald Heber)

5  It Came upon the Midnight Clear (Edmund Sears)

6  Once in Royal David’s City (Cecil Frances Alexander)

7  As with Gladness Men of Old (William Chatterton Dix)

8  Hark! The Herald Angels Sing (Charles Wesley)

9  O Little Town of Bethlehem (Phillips Brooks)

10  Silent Night (Josef Mohr)

Part 2: Classic Prose Devotionals

11  Mary, Our Example (John Calvin)

12  Bethlehem, the Town God Chose (Bernard of Clairvaux)

13  Journeying with the Wise Men (Lancelot Andrewes)

14  The Paradoxes of the Incarnation (Augustine)

15  A Christmas Prayer (from Lessons and Carols)

16  The Greatest Birthday (Charles Spurgeon)

17  Nicene Creed

18  On the Incarnation (Athanasius)

19  The Excellency of Christ Seen in Christmas (Jonathan Edwards)

20  The Birth of Jesus (Martin Luther)

Part 3: Christmas Poems

21  The Magnificat (the Virgin Mary)

22  A Hymn on the Nativity of My Savior (Ben Jonson)

23  In the Bleak Midwinter (Christina Rossetti)

24  The Consecration of the Common Way (Edwin Markham)

25  A Christmas Carol (G. K. Chesterton)

26  A Christmas Hymn (Richard Wilbur)

27  No Room for Jesus (author unknown)

28  Wilt Thou Love God as He Thee? (John Donne)

29  On the Morning of Christ’s Nativity (John Milton)

30  Journey of the Magi (T. S. Eliot)

Acknowledgments

Notes

Person Index

Scripture Index

Editor’s Introduction

This book is an anthology of classic Christmas devotionals. As I did the research for this book, it quickly became obvious that the Christian world needs an alternative to the lightweight Christmas books that flood the market. The classic texts that I have brought together in this volume have stood the test of time and for discernible reasons.

The word classic in this book’s title is not simply honorific but denotes specific qualities of the texts that make up this anthology. One of these traits is that the authors and/or texts are famous. I hope that as my readers read the table of contents, they will have their curiosity aroused by questions such as: What did Luther, Calvin, Spurgeon, and other famous preachers say in their Christmas sermons?Why are hymns included as examples of devotional poems?What ten Christmas poems rose to the top in the field? In regard to the last question, I will share a secret: as I envisioned my project of collecting classic Christmas literature, I assumed that the section of poems would be the easiest to fill, but in fact it was difficult to find ten Christmas poems that were sufficiently weighty to lend themselves to a five-hundred-word analysis.

Being famous is one criterion for being a classic, but what qualities make a devotional famous? The answers fall into the categories of content and form. At the level of content, a devotional included in this anthology needs to yield fresh insight into Christmas. Often there is a surprise twist or paradoxical aspect to a classic devotional. We are left feeling that we have never thought of the situation in that particular way before. Because of this original slant, a classic devotional stays in our memories or at least strikes us as being worthy of being a permanent part of our experience even on a first reading. The Bible speaks of singing a new song, and the devotionals in this anthology are either literally or figuratively a new song of Christmas. A classic devotional gives us more than we already know.

If we turn to the form and style of a classic devotional, the quality of originality just noted applies here too. Excellence of style consists partly in the freshness of expression. Literary qualities also elevate a passage above conventional expository discourse. The presence of figurative language is a prevalent but not indispensable technique. Verbal beauty, or what we call a well-turned phrase, is equally characteristic of the selections in this book. Readers of the devotionals in this anthology will feel artistically as well as spiritually refreshed.

These qualities of content and form relate to the explications that accompany the selections in this book. Explication is the term that literary scholars use for the practice of close reading of a text. The close readings of the passages in this book were governed by the impulse to show what makes each passage great at the levels of both spiritual edification and excellence of expression.

Several principles determined the selection of devotional texts for this anthology. The first criterion was spiritual edification. The second was that the selections as a group met the test of being the best in their categories. Because they all meet that criterion, they are also a roll call of the famous. In this regard, there is a latent educational agenda at work. In the history of theology, why is the name of Athanasius automatically linked with the incarnation? Why, according to a survey, is “Silent Night” the world’s most popular Christmas hymn ever? What was the very first Christmas poem? Why does the Nicene Creed replace the Apostles’ Creed in Sunday morning services during December in some churches? For people who have a curiosity about these and similar matters, this book will provide answers.

I hope that my readers will not be disappointed by my refusal to say anything in this introduction about the history of Christmas as an observance. It is not relevant to the subject of this book. Although all of the selections in this anthology were occasioned by the celebration of Christmas, they are not about the institution that we know as Christmas. They are about the events of the nativity and incarnation as recorded in the Bible, along with the meaning of those events.

Some readers will have noticed by now that I have not used the word advent in connection with this anthology. Is this an advent book? Yes and no. If we define the word advent to mean “coming or arrival,” it is an advent book, concerned from start to finish with the coming of Jesus to earth in human form. Similarly, if we think of advent in a liturgical sense of preparing for the coming of Christmas, the definition again fits, and in fact the thirty selections could be read during the weeks of December ending on Christmas Eve. But at the level of content or subject matter, the selections do not deal with preparation for Christ’s coming to earth. They are instead about the events of the nativity and incarnation as accomplished facts.

I also need to make a distinction between the genres of anthology and a book of daily readings in a devotional book based on the calendar. An anthology is not tied to a schedule. It can be read in a week if one desires. It can be dipped into intermittently, with no guilt feelings about having missed a day. Of course the determination of thirty selections invites daily reading according to the traditional Advent period of late November through December 24. But even here there is a twist: one is unlikely to reread a calendar devotional book after the days have passed, whereas I hope that the readers of this anthology will reread it many times and do so year round.

Everything that I have said in this introduction is a variation on a central theme, namely, that this anthology provides something new. The mixture of the three categories of hymns-as-poems, prose selections, and poems is new. Limiting the selections to famous classic texts is new. Accompanying each passage with a five-hundred-word analysis is new.

All of the entries in this anthology follow an identical format: (1) the devotional text; (2) an analysis and explication of the text; (3) a summing up paragraph that identifies the practical takeaway of the entry; (4) a parallel Bible passage that clinches and enhances the devotional experience. All of this will seem familiar to some of my readers because this anthology is a companion to two previous Crossway books—The Soul in Paraphrase:A Treasury of Classic Devotional Poems and The Heart in Pilgrimage: A Treasury of Classic Devotionals on the Christian Life.

The best way to combine the devotional passages with the explications is first to read the devotional entry, then read the explication as a way of reaching a fuller understanding and enjoyment of what you have just read, and then read the devotional a second time, using the tips from the explication as a lens through which to view the passage more fully.

Part 1

Christmas Hymns

Every hymn begins its life as a poem. It becomes a hymn only when it is paired with music. Until the 1870s, hymnbooks were words-only books, five inches by three inches in size. They were essentially anthologies of devotional poems. Our experience of hymns is revolutionized when we see them printed as poems and interact with them as devotional poems.

The first thing we see is that the text was composed on the principle of the line as the basic and recurrent unit of thought. The sentences do not run all the way to the right margin. If hymnic poems are composed on the principle of line construction, we need to read them that way. When we do, we immediately sense that the thought units are much briefer and more succinct than prose is.

A second thing we note is that the flow of thought in a hymnic poem is packaged as a series of stanzas. We do not fully experience this until we see the stanzas before us in vertical sequence. The progression is not circular, as when we return to the same starting point in a hymnbook but sequential. Then as we stare at the stanzas arranged in this way, we can identify the specific function of each stanza in the ongoing flow and in the overall superstructure.

When these things are in view, we can take the next step to identify the unifying theme or “big idea” of the poem. Usually a poet signals the unifying idea or motif of a poem in the first line or two. Once we train ourselves to identify the unifying core of a hymnic poem, we naturally start to think in terms of theme and variation (a formula borrowed from music). The individual stanzas are not self-contained units but are building blocks in a coherent whole.

The foregoing considerations have to do with the organization or structure of a poem. We need to balance that with the poetic texture—the individual details such as images and figures of speech. It takes time to unpack the meanings of these details, and treating a hymn as a poem allows us take the time that is required, instead of being forced to resort to the speed reading that singing necessarily imposes.

The explications in this section include material that has been repurposed from my book 40 Favorite Hymns of the Christian Year (2020), published by Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Company; acknowledgment is hereby gratefully recorded (see acknowledgments page for more information).

1

Joy to the World

Isaac Watts (1674–1748)

Joy to the world! the Lord is come;

Let earth receive her King;

Let every heart prepare him room,

And heaven and nature sing.

Joy to the earth! the Savior reigns;

Let men their songs employ;

While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains

Repeat the sounding joy.

No more let sins and sorrows grow,

Nor thorns infest the ground;

He comes to make his blessings flow

Far as the curse is found.

He rules the world with truth and grace,

And makes the nations prove

The glories of his righteousness,

And wonders of his love.