For Your Older Kids, Next Christmas

After Ben's dad found this book forgotten in a drawer at the Ogden temple, Ben's folks gave us a copy of this little gem by Charles Dickens, for Christmas this year. He wrote this manuscript for his kids, but never intended it for publication. (His kids published it after he died) I found it delightful and think it should be a staple in Christian homes. It was interesting to me that Dickens spoke of God and Jesus as two separate persons, just as I believe them to be, but I realize that could be my own interp of his words. Here's my Goodreads review:

The Life of Our Lord: Written for His Children During the Years 1846 to 1849 by Charles Dickens



rating: 5 of 5 stars

I've heard that critics hated this book, and I'm not at all surprised. This book should not be stacked up against Dickens' other works of art. It was clearly never meant to be a great literary masterpiece, and you can't expect most critics to get that. This is simply a father explaining the life of Christ to his children, in his own words, using his own interpretations.

That is precisely why I loved it so much. The scriptures can be daunting to wade through, but this book puts the New Testament in much simpler terms. I felt like a child he'd gathered in his arms and placed on his knee to talk to. I wish this would have been around when I was a kid to bridge that gap between Sally, Dick, & Jane and the gospel cannon. I absolutely intend to give this to my kids (when they're about 8 or so) to help them begin to foster a love for scripture stories.

View all my reviews.