Overview
Using the brilliant, deceptively simple device of telling the Christmas story backwards, Stephen Cottrell helps us encounter it as if for the first time. Narrating the story from the perspective of key characters gives us insights into its many horrors and uncertainties as well as its joys. The book may be used as a fresh and unique Advent study course or even as an adult Nativity play. Though the Christmas story is well known, most of us have learnt it from school nativity plays and carols. On the whole, this familiar version is more concerned with light than darkness. The backwards approach taken here allows the movement to be in the opposite direction, enabling us to get under the skin of a complex narrative. We begin by seeing through the eyes of Anna, the prophetess; followed by Rachel, who weeps for her children; King Herod; Casper, a wise men; David, a shepherd; Martha, the (so-named) innkeeper's wife; Joseph; Elizabeth; Mary; Isaiah and, finally, Moses. Each imaginative reflection is prefaced by a Bible reading and followed by a prayer.
Full Product Details
Author: The Most Revd and Rt Hon Stephen Cottrell
Publisher: SPCK Publishing
Imprint: SPCK Publishing
Weight: 0.149kg
ISBN: 9780281071470
ISBN 10: 0281071470
Pages: 128
Publication Date: 21 August 2013
Audience:
General/trade
,
General
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: In Print
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Language: English
Reviews
Cottrell has a gift for inhabiting the most diverse perspectives . . . All are rendered in glorious physical language, a strange but apt mix of Scripture and modern idiom. The result is revelatory. * The Tablet * An action-packed 114 pages brings the well-known story to new life. * Methodist Recorder * The author's approach tilts the narrative on its head, enabling the reader to get under the skin of the complex tale. * The Month *
Cottrell has a gift for inhabiting the most diverse perspectives . . . All are rendered in glorious physical language, a strange but apt mix of Scripture and modern idiom. The result is revelatory.', The Tablet 'An action-packed 114 pages brings the well-known story to new life.', Methodist Recorder 'The author's approach tilts the narrative on its head, enabling the reader to get under the skin of the complex tale.', The Month
Author Information
Stephen Cottrell is the Bishop of Chelmsford, serving Essex and East London. He is a well-known writer and speaker on evangelism, spirituality and catechesis. He is married to Rebecca and they have three boys.
