Professor Timothy Larsen is McManis Professor of Christian Thought, Wheaton College; an Honorary Fellow, School of Divinity, University of Edinburgh; and an Honorary Research Fellow, University of Wales Trinity Saint David. He has been a Visiting Fellow at Trinity College, Cambridge, All Souls College, Oxford, and Christ Church, Oxford. His books include Crisis of Doubt: Honest Faith in Nineteenth-Century England (OUP 2006); A People of One Book: The Bible and the Victorians (OUP 2011); The Slain God: Anthropologists and the Christian Faith (OUP 2014); and John Stuart Mill: A Secular Life (OUP 2018).

• Part I: History


• 1: Paul F. Bradshaw: The Dating of Christmas: The Early Church


• 2: Kati Ihnat: The Middle Ages


• 3: Katrina Jennie-Lou Wheeler: The Reformation and Early Modern Periods


• 4: Timothy Larsen: The Nineteenth Century


• 5: Christopher Ferguson: The Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries


• Part II: Theology


• 6: John Barton: The Old Testament


• 7: Markus Bockmuehl and Evangeline Kozitza: The New Testament


• 8: Katherine Sonderegger: Jesus Christ and the Incarnation


• 9: Katherine G. Schmidt: The Blessed Virgin Mary and the Virgin Birth


• Part III: Worshipping Communities


• 10: Anne McGowan: Roman Catholicism


• 11: Mary B. Cunningham: Eastern Orthodoxy


• 12: Kirsi Stjerna: Lutheranism


• 13: Martyn Percy: Anglicanism


• 14: Andrew R. Holmes: Reformed and Dissenting Protestants


• Part IV: The Nativity Story


• 15: Holly Taylor Coolman: The Holy Family


• 16: David Lyle Jeffrey: Gabriel and the Angels


• 17: Leroy A. Huizenga: Bethlehem and the Census


• 18: D. H. Williams: The Magi and the Star


• 19: Jody Vaccaro Lewis: The Inn, the Manger, the Swaddling Clothes, the Shepherds, and the Animals


• Part V: Traditions


• 20: Daniel Gifford: The Winter Solstice and other Celebrations of the Season


• 21: Adam C. English: St Nicholas to Santa Claus


• 22: David Bertaina: Trees and Decorations


• 23: Ellen M. Litwicki: Gifts and Charity


• 24: Marcia J. Bunge: Children and Childhood


• 25: Paul Freedman: Food and Drink


• Part VI: The Arts


• 26: Tova Leigh-Choate: Carols and Music to 1900


• 27: Todd Decker: Carols and Music since 1900


• 28: Barbara von Barghahn: Paintings


• 29: Frances Clemson: Plays


• 30: Emma Mason: Poetry


• 31: Natalie McKnight: Fiction


• 32: Mark Connelly: Film and Television


• Part VII: Around the World


• 33: Elizabeth Monier: Bethlehem and the Middle East


• 34: Nadine Cretin: Catholic Europe


• 35: Joe Perry: Germany and Scandinavia


• 36: Francesca Silano: Russia


• 37: Martin Johnes: The United Kingdom


• 38: Daniel Vaca: The United States


• 39: Joel Cabrita: Africa


• 40: Joseph Tse-Hei Lee: Asia


• 41: David Thomas Orique, O.P.: Latin America and the Caribbean


• Part VIII: The State and Society


• 42: Richard W. Garnett and Jackson Blais: Public Holidays and the Law


• 43: John Schmalzbauer: Commercialism and Consumerism


• 44: David Nash: Secularity


• 45: Gerry Bowler: Culture Wars


• Epilogue: The Many True Meanings of Christmas

The Oxford Handbook of Christmas provides a comprehensive account of all aspects of Christmas across the globe, from the specifically religious to the purely cultural. Contributions by experts from across numerous disciplines cover a range of topics, such as decorating trees, carols, cinema, the Nativity, and the influence of consumerism.