The War on Christmas is a new book edited, compiled and partially authored by Bodie Hodge who is associated with Answers in Genesis. You can find the book here: New Leaf Publishing. I am privileged to be part of the launch team and to have the opportunity to review the book!

The layout, atypical size, photography, explanatory graphs, lists and other illustrations and the numerous topics that are addressed make quite a launching point to discuss Christmas, Christ and ultimately the Gospel. Hodge has taken head-on the controversy over what Christmas is or should be, forth-rightly questioning what the reader worships, pointing us back again and again to a variety of scriptures.

Having grown up in the church, I was shocked that I had many things just plain wrong about this holiday. The taboo topic of whether or not we should come clean with the greatest grown-up hoax- Santa Claus- is discussed. Christ's lineage, Joseph's role, Mary's virginity, the nativity, the “three” wise men, the role of the Christmas tree are also thoroughly researched and well-explained, often ending a chapter either with the respective author's individual gospel presentation or a challenge to consider our familial traditions and holiday habits. Here is one such example of the beginning of the gospel presentation, page 68, “The reason so many reject Jesus, the light of the world (John 8:12), is because they love the sin that Christ's light exposes.”

The most extraordinary chapter of the book from my reading, was Dr. Jason Lisle's chapter on the Christmas Star. The Magi, King Herod, and the shepherds all make an appearance in this section and the heavens are revealed as never before. Being one of the longest chapters of the book, it is perhaps one of the most informative as well.

If you think you know your Christmas history, take the quiz you can find on pages 106-107. You will most likely get at least one answer wrong because we have all heard so many versions of Christ's birth, of the circumstances, of the angels, of Mary and Joseph, and the historical context. We may not successfully separate myth from truth without the effort of Hodge's book to navigate this most important of events to mankind's history and eternal hope- even if the Bible doesn't instruct us to make Christ's birth an official holiday.