A Carol Without Christmas?

December 30, 1989
Musings 1990

Over the years, several movie and TV versions of Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” have been produced. Every Christmas season one can rely on “A Christmas Carol” being shown on several occasions. Most of us have read the story at least three or more times.
In his own time, Dickens himself read the “Carol” to audiences. We read that he changed the story from time to time. The text was plagiarized or pirated by various publishers in Europe and America and varying versions were published.

But one can wonder why “A Christmas Carol” is so popular with Christians because there isn’t very much “Christian” about it. There is no mention of the Christian scheme of salvation where God incarnated “Himself” as the baby Jesus who would grow, preach, teach, heal, and finally die on the cross to save all humans from the consequences of Adam’s (and Eve’s?) “sin.”

In “A Christmas Carol”, I did not observe anyone going to church services. There was no creche visible. Neither Santa Claus nor Father Christmas put in an appearance. There was no Christmas tree. True, Scrooge is awakened in the morning by church bells ringing. But that is all that is “churchy”.

Scrooge experienced a belated recognition of human need. He sent a large turkey (in some versions, a fat goose) to the Cratchit home. He surprises his housekeeper with silver coins. He gives Bob Cratchit a raise in pay. Implied is his financing medical aid for Tiny Tim so that the lad does not die – but grows strong and tall. Scrooge overcomes his “loner” mentality and visits his nephew and wife. There is great jollity in that home. Dancing, eating and warm friendship abound. But he brings no Christmas gifts and there are none in sight in the happy home of the young couple.

“A Christmas Carol” is not Christian theology. Scrooge could have been a Moslem, Jew, Hindu, or atheist, and still have turned away from lonely miserliness to happier generosity, becoming more appreciative of the Cratchit family and the nephew’s family and friends.

The only prayer is Tiny Tim’s, “God bless us everyone.”

But outside of that theistic prayer, the whole story of Scrooge could be that of an agnostic secular Humanist who found liberation from his self-imposed chains by using his treasure and talents to improving the human condition, where he was and where he could. Do you know of better ways?