Exquisite Words (6): Christmas Edition
A bunch of theological -ologies ... (The Bus 4.24)
Welcome aboard The Bus!
The Stop
It is easy to forgot that the heart of Christmas is a very important religious holiday. Gift-buying, lights and ornaments, Christmas parties, Santa visits, holiday films, and Wham’s ‘Last Christmas’ on endless repeat wherever you go distracts from its religious roots. For most people, including me, this is fine - I’m much more interested in the holiday aspect than the ‘holy day’ part - but as, theologically speaking, Christmas is the second most important date in the Christian calendar,1 I thought today’s instalment of Exquisite Words could be a whistle stop tour of five theological sub-disciplines which at this time of year get a chance to shine like a light on the proverbial tree.
Christology (from Greek Christos (Christ) + logos (to study)), is the branch of theology concerned with the nature and work of Jesus. This includes such matters as the Incarnation (the belief that he was God in the flesh - the baby born at Christmas), the Resurrection (the belief he returned from the dead three days after his death), and the relationship between his human and divine natures and how these do or do not reconcile themselves.
Eschatology (from Greek eskhatos (last) + logos (to study)) is the study of ‘last things,’ in particular the ‘formation of ideas about the end of life, or the end of the world.’ In Christian theology, these include doctrines and beliefs about the ‘end of history, the resurrection of the dead, the Last Judgment,’ and the very sticky ‘problem of theodicy’ - the attempt to explain how evil can exist (or be allowed to exist) in a world created by a supposedly all-powerful (omnipotent) and all-loving (omnibenevolent) God.
Mariology (from … well, you should be able to figure this one out) is the theological study of Mary, the mother of Jesus. This particular discipline attempts to relate doctrines and dogma about Mary to other doctrines within the Christian faith.2 One of the problems with understanding Mary is that there is ‘very limited mention’ of her in the New Testament, and ‘relative, although not complete, silence’ about her in the early church. Nevertheless, over the centuries, many central beliefs have developed about her, including the Virgin Birth of Jesus, her own Immaculate Conception (that she herself was born sinless of a virgin), a complicated role in the redemption of sinners and her supposed ability to interceded in heaven on their behalf.
Pneumatology (from Greek pneuma (breath or spirit) + logos (to study)) refers to the particular discipline within Christian theology which studies the Holy Spirit - the third member of the Trinity, along with the Father and Son.3 Within Christian theology, there are particular beliefs about the Holy Spirit with regard to its role in Christian teaching about new (spiritual) birth, spiritual gifts given to believers, baptism, sanctification and its role in inspiring prophets.
Soteriology (from Greek soter (saviour) + logos (to study) is the theological study of religious doctrines of salvation. In Christianity, though there are innumerable views on what defines sin and the manner of its removal, it’s generally understood as being the process of ‘saving’ human beings from sin and its eternal consequences. For Christians, this is the reason God became human at Christmas. And died on a cross around 33 years later.
The Detour
Today’s Detour is to ‘Fairytale of New York’, a short (5:09) video of its performance at Shane McGowan’s funeral in Nenagh, Ireland last week. McGowan - who wrote the song - was the lead singer of the seminal Anglo-Irish Celtic punk band The Pogues, and died on 30 November. It’s a great performance, the priest sitting behind the band has a certain … look on his face, and there are people dancing in the aisles. As one of the commentators wrote: ‘If they dance at your funeral, you must have done something right.’ Worth a watch - and it’s a great Christmas song, too.
Fairytale of New York (McGowan Funeral)
The Recommendation
Today’s Recommendation is How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966).4 Based on the eponymous 1957 book by Dr Seuss, this made-for-television special was originally broadcast on 18 December 1966 and has since become a Christmas classic. Voiced by Boris Karloff (as both the Grinch and the Narrator), it is the story of The Grinch - a grumpy, antisocial creature with a heart ‘two sizes too small’ who lives alone in a cave on Mt Crumpit, above the village of Whoville. A hater of Christmas and annoyed by the town’s over-the-top celebrations, he decides to put a stop to it all. Disguising himself as Santa and dressing his dog, Max, as a single-antlered reindeer, while the Whos sleep, he sneaks into their houses and steals all the presents, food and decorations.
Having completed his task, the Grinch returns with his sleigh to the summit of icy Mt Crumpit, where he is about to dump the bags of loot, but he suddenly hears the sound of singing from the town far below. Curious, he realises that the Whos, despite having no gifts, decorations or food, have joined together in the middle of the town to sing as the day begins. The Grinch suddenly has an epiphany: he realises Christmas is about much more than stuff and things, and his heart grows three sizes. He stops the sleigh from sliding over the precipice, returns the presents, food, ornaments and other belongings to the Whos, and joins in the town’s celebrations. And they, of course, welcome him.
How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966) Trailer
How the Grinch Stole Christmas streams on various platforms, and inevitably will be broadcast on television at least a few times this season. However, you can also watch the full show here (it’s only 25 minutes long): How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966).
The Sounds
Today’s playlist is a selection of five tracks from 2023 that have made the ‘Best Of’ list on Earworms and Songloops's
. Produced by Steve in conjunction with three other Substackers (Sam Colt, who writes , Kevin Alexander, who writes , and Jami Smith, who writes )5 the top 5 list was published yesterday and I added a host of them to my driving playlist. From the lot, these five immediately stood out: ‘Twins’ (Cory Hanson, Western Cum), ‘Heaven is a Place’ (The Arcs, Electrophonic Chronic), ‘Sugar - Live at RBC Echo Beach’ (Khruangbin & Men I Trust, Live at RBC Echo Beach), ‘That Feeling’ (Durand Jones, Wait Til I Get Over) and ‘Float’ (Janelle Monáe, The Age of Pleasure). New music at Christmas! Enjoy!The Thought
Today’s Thought is from Richard Dawkins, the British evolutionary biologist who’s work focusses on the gene as the ‘driving force of evolution.’ A staunch advocate of atheism, his views have certainly caused ‘significant controversy.’ He’s quite interesting - especially with his willingness to take on those with whom he disagrees.6
‘We are all atheists about most of the gods that humanity has ever believed in. Some of us just go one god further.’
If you have a thought on this Thought - or any part of today’s issue - please leave a comment below:
And that’s the end of this Stop - I hope you enjoyed the diversion!
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Until the next Stop …
Number one would be Easter, with its emphasis on the Resurrection, but it’s just not as much fun. Sources for today’s Stop include eponymous Britannica articles, Oxford Dictionary links and my own knowledge. Previous Exquisite Words Issues are 1.47 (19.9.22), 2.16 (24.11.22), 2.36 (2.2.23), 3.16 (22.5.23), and 3.47 (7.9.23). Some issues are paywalled, but soon this will be removed!
This is done through a rather convoluted process of mental gymnastics, as there’s nothing concrete in the way of, well, evidence to really work with. Kind of like all the other theological disciplines ….
The Trinity is how God is described by Christian theology - as one substance (God), but three persons (Father, Son and Holy Spirit). A topic in which I was once very interested, this will need to be unpacked at a later Stop. Maybe.
I had one of those moments last week when I genuinely thought I’d lost a bit of my mind. My younger students were taking a favourite TV show or movie, selecting an episode they particularly liked and then rewriting it as a short narrative. A couple had chosen the Grinch, but when they started reading their work they were mentioning Cindy Lou travelling to the mountain to confront him and something about a goat!? I had no idea what they were talking about as - to my memory - neither happens in this film. Luckily, a few questions later revealed that there are other versions of the film and that I wasn’t (at least not then) losing my mind.
Caveat: I haven’t read these three, but have just signed up to them.
For more information, see: Richard Dawkins (Britannica).
That's funny you include Boston Rag because that is the first song that came to mind when I read your comment!
OK - but you need to think about the song. Difficult choice. I have been considering options and do not have it narrowed down at all yet.