The Redemption of Scrooge

by Matt Rawle

Is redemption possible for Ebenezer Scrooge? Pastor and author Matt Rawle believes so as he discovers the teachings of Jesus in the words of the Charles Dickens classic A Christmas Carol . Rawle dives deep into the dark, sad, greedy world of Scrooge and discovers a man in dire need of a second chance. Along with Scrooge, we meet the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future and in the process learn about living with and for others in a world blessed by Jesus. Rediscover and reinvigorate your Christian faith this Advent and Christmas season and look at this familiar classic through the lens of faith.


Chapters


Bah! Humbug!
The Remembrance of Christmas Past
The Life of Christmas Present
The Hope of Christmas Future

Genres: Christmas, Christian, Holiday, Faith, Inspirational, Religion, Nonfiction

144 pages, Paperback

Published September 6, 2016

About the author

Matt Rawle is Lead Pastor at Asbury United Methodist Church in Bossier City, LA. Matt is an international speaker who loves to tell an old story in a new way, especially at the intersection of pop culture and the church.

Matt has a B.A. in music from LSU and an M.Div. from Duke Divinity School. He and his wife Christie have three daughters. Matt loves meditating on Scripture, listening to the heart of God, and inspiring people to do the work of God—Love. He also loves thinking about new ways to tell an old story.

He is the author of a new series of books titled The Pop in Culture Series. The series includes The Faith of a Mockingbird, Hollywood Jesus, and The Salvation of Doctor Who.

Reviews

[Brent Soderstrum · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this book through GoodReads First Read program.

Music plays a big part in this book so when you read it you should have "Rubber Band Man" by the Spinners playing in the background. Rawle takes lines from Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" and stretches those lines to fit some theme he wants to espouse. I actually enjoyed his themes and agreed with a lot he said but to tie those valid points into the book was a stretch that was really too much for me. May be a good read for the advent season because the points he brings out are good.

It is my understanding that Rawle does this with other books. I hope the connections are clearer than they were here. Maybe he can use the "popular" books to bring someone to Christ. If so it is worth all the stretching he can do.

[quiltingbeautyandbooks ~ Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I throughly enjoyed this book.

Matt takes you through various scenes of the book and relates how Scrooge’s redemption is very similar to our own.

Matt is not afraid to dig into the deep darkness of Scrooge’s life. He reminds us that regardless of the depths of your darkness, God’s light can shine and lead you out.

Scrooge was worth giving a second chance and so are you!

I look forward to reading more from Matt!!!

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

The advent book using the concept of a Christmas Carol is original and one I can say is my favorite - I love it - the author first he gives you a stave from the Christmas Carol then the author goes on to tell you about that stave and how that relates to Christmas today. Then he tells you what the Advent weeks is about - the first is Peace - the author goes on to tells what peace means to the world around us and to the whole world today and in the past - how it affects people - along with all of that the author also backs up everything that he is trying to get across with Scripture and I am sure you all will agree - that is THE most important thing - Scripture. I received this book from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Dann · Rating 2 out of 5]

A kind of Advent guide, The Redemption of Scrooge tries to use Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol as a jumping off point to discuss the themes of Peace Hope, Love, and Joy. Unfortunately the connections are rather tenuous and there’s very little critical analysis of the Dickens novel. Rather, author Matt Rawle spends most of his time relating personal anecdotes about his family and ministry to illustrate how one can enhance their advent experiences. Each section includes questions for further reflections and Advent prayers. However, the chapters aren’t organized very well, which can be distracting and reduces the effectiveness of the material. The Redemption of Scrooge makes some interesting points and observations, but doesn’t really deliver what it promises.

[Pam Herbert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good correlation between Scrooge and our spiritual walk. My annual tradition is to read "A Christmas Carol" during Advent because it helps me stay focused on the meaning of the holiday. Dickens shows the power of one's past and the hope of one's future. This book helps with that correlation.

[Kasper · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was good but I'm lowkey convinced Matt Rawle just had a bunch of unused advent sermons he wanted to publish and decided to use A Christmas Carol as a conceit to do so.

[Tracy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was our advent study. It was interesting. This is a 3.5.

Merged review:

This was our advent study. It was a different way of looking at Scrooge.

[Thomas Brooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Matt Rawle is doing what John and Charles Wesley did in his day. With his eyes and ears focused on contemporary culture, Matt discovers the Christ to be found in our entertainments and then reveals them to us. In his previous books, 'The faith of a Mockingbird', 'The Salvation of Dcotor Who', and 'Hollywood Jesus'. Matt ruminates on the messages of salvation which can be unearthed in these works.

In 'The Redemption of Scrooge' Matt is back at it again. Of course, one might argue that Dickens 'Christmas Carol' is hardly contemporary. Absolutely, and yet, for some reason our culture seems to be in love with this work and is constantly redoing 'A Christmas Carol' in many different guises.
Bill Murray's 'Scrooged'. 'A Diva's Christmas Carol', 'Ghosts of Girl Friends Past' all come to mind.

When Jesus' disciples once caught someone preaching in his name. Good gatekeepers that they were sought to stop this individual. Jesus told them to stop saying, "Those who are not against you are for you." Dickens in his day, truly understood the Christian message of redemption and showed us what Salvation looks like when it walks the earth. Matt Rawle gets it and in a well argued case pairs Dickens story with copious references to Scripture as well as hymnody.

Well worth the effort for a culture that has become a mile wide and an inch deep.

If there is any fault to be found here it would be that Matt tends to ramble on quite a bit. But, then he's making a case that our shallow culture needs to hear.

This is a devotional work which invites the reader to not simply enjoy Dickens' story; but to also live it in their own lives - and particularly at the time of Christmas.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good starting point for a really interesting Bible Study based on Dickens' original "A Christmas Carol". I gave a look each week at the Leader's Guide that goes with this and we watched the DVD, but found a lot of it very superficial. The Scrooge actor was Scottish and the supposed house where Scrooge lived was so obviously not ANYTHING like the house in the book that it became a laugh each week. Yes, the story of Scrooge is a story of Christian redemption, but I had to pull a lot of quotes from the actual written story that weren't included in this study to make the point clear. In the end we all got a great deal from it. So, Bible Study leaders, if you're willing to put in the extra work this can be a deeply meaningful study on salvation and transformation to prepare the way for Advent and Christmas.

[Brad Rice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bah Humbug is only part of the story. This is a great book for a bible study during advent to examine Christmas traditions, those that are good and bad and to really look at the important things. It isn't completely important to come in with a reading of "The Christmas Carol," but I recommend it. If you are fairly familiar with the story through movies, that will be enough to go on. Matt Rawle examines the 4 ghosts of Christmas and what they meant to the story and what they can mean to us as we go through advent to Christmas. The story of Christmas Present was the best chapter for me. "I've also heard it said the present is called the present because it is a gift." In the midst of the hectic season, it is important to reflect on what is important.

[Jess M · Rating 5 out of 5]

In pop culture Scrooge is the epitome of stingieness, grumpiness and bad moods. We focus so much on the Ebenezer at the start of his story and not his journey or who he becomes!

The Redemption of Scrooge takes readers through A Christmas Carol through a lense of Advent and Christ. I found lots of great info in the book about Dickens' story, Christmas songs and stories in the Bible.

I lead a study of this book and used the leader guide and DVD. I feel the DVD did enhance our study but if you really needed the Leader guide could be enough. And the book itself has questions as well which could be used for a group study.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Our bible study watched the George C Scott version of A Christmas Carol and then did this study. I would recommend starting with watching the movie before starting the study; it just refreshes your memory of the story.

This book is broken into 4 quick chapters of study. I'll warn you that the author bounces around in his focus within the book. Christmas Past, to me, was especially hard to focus on. But, with that being said, I was interested to keep reading and discover his connections to Dickens and how the Christmas Carol relates to Jesus---his birth, his life and his second coming.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

At times I was really irritated that the author kept bringing up so many seemingly unrelated ideas in each chapter; it was hard to follow. But in the end, I decided it was fine. I found several new and wonderful take aways (and I filled the pages with highlights and notes). Recommend if you are looking for a contemporary spiritual Advent devotion. (note that this is not Christian-lite ... and it's not just for lovers of A Christmas Carol.)

[Mary Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exploring how Scrooge can learn to change is the focus of Matt Rawle's book The Redemption of Scrooge. The intertwining of A Christmas Carol, Rawle's commentary, and scripture makes this a perfect book for small group studies. One does really need to have a copy of the text for A Christmas Carol by Dickens to read to really dig into the human nature side of the study, but one is available through Project Guttenberg with free access for all.

[Gloria · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author goes through A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, drawing on the story to illustrate "how redemption works".

Looking at the Past, the Present, and the Future, the journey of Scrooge from focusing on money to people is slowly picked apart and compared to the Advent journey, as each chapter highlights a week of Advent.

It's a very quick study, and only has four parts.

I have many highlights from this study.

[Go2therock · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Christmas Carol is one of my favorite movies to watch in the Christmas season. When I came across this little gem in the sale pile at my library, I snatched it up. It did not disappoint. I loved the depth brought to the familiar Dickens tale by looking at it through biblical eyes. I will definitely be re-reading this for years to come.

[Beverly Mccollum · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book as I was teaching an Advent series in my Sunday School class. I thoroughly enjoyed how the author related Dickens’ classic tale to scripture in general and this season of the year in particular. It’s quite thought-provoking and can offer much “ meat” for discussion. In fact-I plan on reading some of Rawle’s other works in His Pop Culture collection. Certainly recommend it.

[Michael Cody · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good over all. Sometimes the prose is a bit problematic. The book follows the form of the story by Charles Dickens, but it doesn't engage with Dickens's text as much as I'd hoped and, as a result, sometimes seems to go off on seemingly unrelated tangents.

[Laura Powell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the book our Bible Study did to finish up our year before the holidays. I read the Christmas Carol as I worked through the book. Very thought provoking and sometimes made me feel bad about how I deal with the holidays. A good study book!

[Mel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I taught about Scrooge for years. When the chance came to share in this class I took it. The book is good and give an Advent slant to Dickens story. Thought provoking and I will make a part of my Advent next year.

[Daniel Wray · Rating 4 out of 5]

I gave it four stars because I'm kind of stingy with my stars and give 5 out to books either completely blow my mind or elicit an amazing emotional effect. That being said I was very impressed with this study, more so than your average cookie cutter Bible study.

[Pam Oconnor · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have always loved a Christmas Carol story. The season is not complete for me unless I see at least one production of this story. This book is a study guide for religious groups and compares many parts of the story to teachings in the gospel and advent.

[Lisa Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are some worthwhile nuggets in this book, to be sure. Rawle does a decent job pulling together themes from A Christmas Carol and themes of Christianity and faith, though some are a bit didactic for my taste. The main downfall of this text: Rawle uses masculine God-language heavily throughout.

[Frederick Bartelt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a decent book to read in the Advent season.
My only critique is that the author falls into unintentional anti-Jewish tropes in attempts to make Jesus look better. However, all this really does is rob him of his context and traditions that actually help elevate him as the Christian Messiah.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting look at Scrooge of A Christmas Carol. This was a refreshing advent study.

[Linda Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book was okay. Estate was creative and good but author needs to work on not jumping around so much and paragraph structure.

[Lorilee Laber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

Perfect book for the Advent season. The author wrote in a way that I could relate to. The author put in great comparisons that I would never have seen on my own.

[Lou Florio · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy read with some helpful incites. Great for a small group session.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good way of relating the Christmas story by Dickens to God's redemption story.

[Ellen Spes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bible study.