In December’s ‘Lutheran Witness’

At the mall, Alvin and the Chipmunks are blasting through the speakers and credit-card bills are growing longer than the line to see Santa.

But within the Church, Christians are marching slowly through Advent, the season that “not only prepares us for Christmas, but for the final consummation of our life in Christ,” as December Lutheran Witness author Matthew Machemer explains. In this Christmas issue of The Lutheran Witness, readers will likewise be paced, working their way through a variety of misconceptions regarding Christmas.

Is Dec. 25 an arbitrary date to celebrate Christ’s birth? Are the angels portrayed in Hollywood anything similar to those described in the Scriptures? Does saying “Happy holidays!” instead of “Merry Christmas!” make you less of a Christian? What’s the history of the children’s pageant? Were there really three kings, and were they from the Orient? Was the inn where Mary and Joseph stayed a glorified Holiday Inn Express?

The answers to these and other questions can be found in the December Lutheran Witness.

Subscriptions are available at witness.lcms.org, where readers also may find free online content. For more information, “like” The Lutheran Witness on Facebook.

Posted December 2, 2016