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It is to St Luke’s wonderful gospel that many Christians turn as the year draws to a close and Christmas approaches, for it is to St Luke that we owe the fullest account of the nativity. Luke alone tells us the story of Mary and the angel’s visit to her, and has thus given the...

The story is told of a farmer who didn’t believe in Jesus. One snowy Christmas Eve, his wife was taking their children to a service at their local church. He refused to come saying: ‘Why would God lower Himself to come to Earth as a man? That’s ridiculous!’ So, they left him at home. During...

Almost certainly not.  But the story of how that date came to be chosen as His ‘birthday’ is one that stretches back long before His birth. it seems to have started on the Greek island of Rhodes in 283 BC. That year the solstice fell on 25th December, and it was also the year that...

‘John’s Gospel is like a pool in which a child may wade and an elephant can swim. It is for the beginner in the faith and for the mature Christian.’ (Leon Morris). The Apostle John is usually credited with the authorship of this Gospel, writing in Ephesus at the end of the First Century. His...

Chronically low incomes are devastating the lives of millions of people who don’t have enough income to afford food, essential bills and a safe home to live in. That’s according to the latest report by UK debt advice charity, Christians Against Poverty (CAP). CAP’s YouGov polling, which accompanies the report, shows that 11.8 million (22%) of...

Just 125 years ago, on 16th December 1899, Noël Coward, British playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, was born. His plays include Hay Fever, Private Lives and Blithe Spirit. Coward was a supremely talented individual, starting as a child dancer who made his professional debut at the age of 11 and progressing to become a...

It was 1,750 years ago, on 25th December 274, that the Roman Emperor Aurelian founded and launched the cult of Sol Invictus as an official religion. He erected a temple and declared 25th December a national holiday, to be known as the Feast of the Unconquered Sun. In 336, after the conversion of the emperor...

On the whole British people are happy with the title ‘Father Christmas’, a suitably neutral name for the central character in children’s Christmases, writes David Winter. In America, however, and by a process of cultural indoctrination increasingly in other English-speaking countries, the same red-coated and bearded fellow with his sack of presents is known as...

This, the Archbishop’s statement on assisted suicide below, was made ahead of a recent new Private Member’s Bill introduced in the House of Commons. “Though our society might be divided over the question of assisted suicide, we all ultimately want the same thing for those who are suffering. We want compassion offered to those in...

That coin in your Christmas pudding How much will you spend on Christmas this year? What does your TV licence cover? Think twice before buying that goat in Ghana What sort of a Christmas card person are you? Restrict number of dogs that can be walked ** Editor:  David Pickup considers the coin in Christmas...

It was back in 1954 when the charity, BibleLands Mission Aid Society, first tentatively decided to print a colourful compilation of popular Christmas carols, alongside images of some of the people BibleLands served. From the start, the scheme was an immense success. The carol sheets were so popular that even that first year, 100,000 copies...

Did you know that mince pies have been traditional English Christmas fare since the Middle Ages, when meat was a key ingredient?  The addition of spices, suet and alcohol to meat came about because it was an alternative to salting and smoking in order to preserve the food. Mince pies used to be a different...