Contrarian Christmas reading

In Sunday's section, I talked about a book that's a predictable publishing release for this season, "The Man Who Invented Christmas," which describes Charles Dickens' creation of "A Christmas Carol." At this time of year, there are plenty of gift books and special editions, reflections on the Nativity, not to mention a spate of awful, Santa-themed mysteries that invariably turn up.

And then there are other things.

David Berlinski's "The Devil's Delusion" is a book clearly directed at Richard Dawkins' "The God Delusion" -- it is a book, the subtitle declares, about "atheism and its scientific pretensions." Published at this time of year by Crown (its Forum imprint), it seems such an odd note to hear among all the hymns and caroling. On the other hand, Berlinski seems intent on respecting the mystery that religion creates (and mystery certainly is what the Incarnation is supposed to be all about). Here is what he has to say: "A defense is needed because none has been forthcoming. The discussion has been ceded to men who regard religious belief with frivolous contempt. Their books have in recent years poured from every press, and although differing widely in their style, they are identical in their message: Because scientific theories are true, religious beliefs must be false."

Among his targets are Dawkins ("He is not only an intellectually fulfilled atheist, he is determined that others should be as full as he") and Christopher Hitchens ("He has managed to convey his contempt for religious thought by propositions exhibiting a positively oriental degree of evasiveness").

Or else consider "The Masks of Christ" (which echoes a title by Joseph Campbell) by Lynn Picknett and Clive Prince (Touchstone). The subtitle is "Behind the Lies and Cover-ups about the Life of Jesus" which makes it sound like an extremely late guest to the Dan Brown party. What it offers is an overview of various arguments about the historical reality of Jesus and the miraculous figure in the New Testament.

The authors go over old familiar ground: problems of scriptural transmission, the virgin birth (some critics say it was a mistranslation of a verse from Isaiah), the circumstances surrounding the Nativity, the specifics of Jesus' trial and crucifixion, the problem of locating his grave, theories that he only fainted on the cross (which casts the Resurrection in an entirely different light), the Magdalene-bloodline story (which Brown has used to create a formidable retirement fund), the relationship between Jesus and his herald, John the Baptist, and on and on. If you're in the mood for an odd counterpoint to the season, this is certainly the reading for you.

Personally, I'll stick with "A Christmas Carol" and "The Chimes."

-- Nick Owchar

Photo credit: Morell / European Pressphoto Agency