ReviewsByErin

When offered the chance to review this book, the fact that it was from Answers in Genesis sealed my interest. Very familiar with AiG, I knew whatever was presented would be Biblically sound and not just thoughts put to paper. This is a collection of articles from many different AiG authors (including Tim Chaffey, co-author of The Truth Chronicles) and takes a close look at questions such as:

• When was Jesus really born?


• Where were the Magi from?


• What was the Christmas star?


• Did Mary remain a virgin after Jesus' birth?

There are also sections devoted to making Christmas relevant, examining which traditions are of pagan origin, and why we need a Savior in the first place.

The design of the book is really beautiful. It has the feel of a magazine, with full-color images and photographs evoking all the emotions we associate with this holiday. The focus of the exposition is looking at the Christmas story from a truly Biblical perspective, drawing from the original texts and also from archaeological information we have available today. For the most part, it was quite an interesting and informative read.

There were a few things that I thought detracted from the overall product. For one, there seemed to be a lot of repetition, as often specific points were covered by multiple authors. This made it a little tedious to get through. Also, while I agree that our need for a Savior goes all the way back to creation, and a study of creation from a Biblical perspective is very important, it didn't need to take up quite so much space in a book whose focus was Christmas. Did we really need photos and what read like an advertisement for the Creation Museum in this book? I have visited the Creation Museum and found it a fascinating place, but if we're discussing Christmas, I didn't see that such an emphasis at the end of the book on AiG itself was seemly or even appropriate given the stated purpose and overall theme.

If you are someone who wants to know more about what the Bible and real history teach about Christmas and its characters, this is something I would recommend to you. It's thought-provoking and visually stunning. May we ever seek to examine everything we do by the Scriptures.

I received my copy of this book from Handlebar Publishing in exchange for this honest review. All opinions are my own.