Anyways, I've recently been continuing with Stave Two of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. (I had read Stave one at an earlier time), and I noticed some correlations between Christianity and the story itself. I'm, by far, not the first to point this out, as I watched PapistWitnesses' "Scrooge and Distribuitism" sort of as a rehash, as I had seen it before. If you're on YouTube, I suggest you subscribe to him if you haven't yet, but here's his video:
(But I thought I'd make my own post on this, and maybe post it as a video response later. Just a note to my subscribers. ;) )
First off, I'm not sure why Dickens' called the parts/chapters of his book "Staves," but after looking it up on dictionary.com ( http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/stave ), I found that it can mean the following in its noun form:
"1. one of the thin, narrow, shaped pieces of wood that form the sides of a cask, tub or similar vessel.
2. a stick, rod, pole, or the like.
3. a rung of a ladder, chair, etc."
As for what Dickens' was trying to imply when using this, I don't know with any certainty, and any comment on its significance is purely the opinion of whatever present author is writing whatever commentary, especially if it's based off of a priori assumptions, which it usually is (esp. when interpreting historical documents, anthologies, or images). So, you don't have to agree with any of my interpretations, but I think this could mean any number of things, all bear a relation to Christianity in some way. It could be that he named them "Staves" to refer to the rungs of a ladder. Ladders can be associated with any number of things as well that can be religious in nature: heaven, redemption, faith, righteousness, et al. But, again, as I haven't really done any in depth study of Dickens' or the historical context of his book, so I can't say anything with certainty, even objectively as possible. But, after looking it up, it did come to my mind, which is why I'm bringing it up. I should also say that commentary on the significance of a historical document is why I like history, or at least was inspired to major in it. You don't necessarily have to blindly surrender to consensus, which may or may not actually exist, just because some said quantity of Ph.D. wielding persons says so. At least, that's the impression I get as opposed to other fields I've read about, which may be completely naive and ignorant, but it's my impression nonetheless. But, elaboration on this statement is for a later post, if any at all.
Next, I should say that the second stave, as some of you might have guessed, is about the first spirit's appearance, i.e. the Ghost of Christmas Past, and as some of you may already know, specifically Scrooge's past. The particular edition I'm using is an online edition, which will be linked here: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/46/46-h/46-h.htm
Moving on, however, the particular edition I'm using describes the ghost as the following:
"It was a strange figure—like a child: yet not so like a child as like an old man, viewed through some supernatural medium, which gave him the appearance of having receded from the view, and being diminished to a child’s proportions. Its hair, which hung about its neck and down its back, was white as if with age; and yet the face had not a wrinkle in it, and the tenderest bloom was on the skin. The arms were very long and muscular; the hands the same, as if its hold were of uncommon strength. Its legs and feet, most delicately formed, were, like those upper members, bare. It wore a tunic of the purest white; and round its waist was bound a lustrous belt, the sheen of which was beautiful. It held a branch of fresh green holly in its hand; and, in singular contradiction of that wintry emblem, had its dress trimmed with summer flowers. But the strangest thing about it was, that from the crown of its head there sprung a bright clear jet of light, by which all this was visible; and which was doubtless the occasion of its using, in its duller moments, a great extinguisher for a cap, which it now held under its arm.
Even this, though, when Scrooge looked at it with increasing steadiness, was not its strangest quality. For as its belt sparkled and glittered now in one part and now in another, and what was light one instant, at another time was dark, so the figure itself fluctuated in its distinctness: being now a thing with one arm, now with one leg, now with twenty legs, now a pair of legs without a head, now a head without a body: of which dissolving parts, no outline would be visible in the dense gloom wherein they melted away. And in the very wonder of this, it would be itself again; distinct and clear as ever."
This spirit could be said to be any number of things thus far. A Christian may get the impression the being is synonymous to Jesus or a specific angel. Muslims may even think it's the angel Gabriel, and people of other religions may have their own interpretation. This is not to say their interpretations are invalid or inaccurate, but when we read a little further, it becomes a bit clearer who Dickens' is seemingly portraying.
'“Are you the Spirit, sir, whose coming was foretold to me?” asked Scrooge.
“I am!"'
As most of you who have read the gospels at least once or twice, Jesus referred to himself as "I am" several times, in gospels (probably more than one as well, however, I'm doing this by memory and haven't gone to look them up for this post, so I apologize if I'm mistaken in any subsequent claims). The most memorable is probably when he comes before the Jewish high priest Ananias, but he does so before that. One may also remember that in John's gospel, I believe, he tells a crowd of people "I am he," which for some reason knocks them down. If you look closely, the word he is in italics in KJV or NKJV versions of the Bible, or it has a footnote. This is because it was not included in some of the original transcripts that our Bible was translated from (for those of you who didn't know already). This makes some of the original translation into, "I am," which is also what the God of Moses used during the Burning Bush story in Exodus. Why this knocked the people down, I'll leave to the reader's conclusions. The Tetragrammaton (YHWH), whose translation, origin, et al. is very controversial, but the agreed upon translation so far is probably something along the lines of "I AM WHO I AM" or "I WAS, I AM, AND I WILL BE." If you want more elaboration, I will also have to do this in a later post. But whether you want to assign some supernatural significance to the name/event, or you just want to say he was a Jewish Heretic who was committing blasphemy, which is why the crowd fell down, then that's completely up to the reader.
But to me, it seems Dickens' was giving his impression of what the resurrected Jesus may have looked like. Not only to his 12 disciples that, according to the gospels, he talked and was friends with in life, and of course, some of them he loved in a brotherly manner. But also to Paul of Tarsus. Why? A few lines later, this is what Dickens' wrote:
Perhaps, Scrooge could not have told anybody why, if anybody could have asked him; but he had a special desire to see the Spirit in his cap; and begged him to be covered.
'“What!” exclaimed the Ghost, “would you so soon put out, with worldly hands, the light I give? Is it not enough that you are one of those whose passions made this cap, and force me through whole trains of years to wear it low upon my brow!”
Scrooge reverently disclaimed all intention to offend or any knowledge of having wilfully “bonneted” the Spirit at any period of his life. He then made bold to inquire what business brought him there.
“Your welfare!” said the Ghost.
Scrooge expressed himself much obliged, but could not help thinking that a night of unbroken rest would have been more conducive to that end. The Spirit must have heard him thinking, for it said immediately:
“Your reclamation, then. Take heed!"'
As you can see, this bears a resemblance to Jesus' asking Paul why he was "persecuting" him. It also bears a resemblance in that Jesus was not only aware of his thoughts, but his entire past. (How Heaven can be Heaven when its residents are completely aware of the suffering that goes on on Earth, I will not defend here. However, I should say it's been defended before in books such as Randy Alcorn's Heaven, which, while I should say I don't entirely agree with his opinions on the nature of Hell, what little I've read of his book, I think his opinions on Heaven are at least somewhat valid. I'll leave an amazon link here: http://www.amazon.com/Heaven-Randy-Alcorn/dp/0842379428/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1306970692&sr=1-1 .) Another resemblance is that he appears physically, but since the Judeo-Christian God is neither male nor female, and neither is the spirit. Note that Jesus may have appeared as a male, which makes sense since he's called "the Son" in the Trinity, but God himself is sexless and genderless.
There's one more resemblance I'd like to point out, which Atheists who haven't had any supernatural/religious experiences, especially due to conversion. This may or may not have been like what my conversion experience was like, and I probably won't share it in a public forum for a long time, if not forever. Why, again, I may elaborate in a later post. There are many more that could be pointed out, and that my readers may find when reading the passage (some may not necessarily even be religious), but this is the impression I got from the text.
"It put out its strong hand as it spoke, and clasped him gently by the arm.
“Rise! and walk with me!”
It would have been in vain for Scrooge to plead that the weather and the hour were not adapted to pedestrian purposes; that bed was warm, and the thermometer a long way below freezing; that he was clad but lightly in his slippers, dressing-gown, and nightcap; and that he had a cold upon him at that time. The grasp, though gentle as a woman’s hand, was not to be resisted. He rose: but finding that the Spirit made towards the window, clasped his robe in supplication.
“I am a mortal,” Scrooge remonstrated, “and liable to fall.”
“Bear but a touch of my hand there,” said the Spirit, laying it upon his heart, “and you shall be upheld in more than this!”
As the words were spoken, they passed through the wall, and stood upon an open country road, with fields on either hand. The city had entirely vanished. Not a vestige of it was to be seen. The darkness and the mist had vanished with it, for it was a clear, cold, winter day, with snow upon the ground.
“Good Heaven!” said Scrooge, clasping his hands together, as he looked about him. “I was bred in this place. I was a boy here!"'
As you can probably see, Scrooge's experience was, in some ways, synonymous with a religious experience, though as noted before not necessarily mine, but I have heard others describe it in a similar manner. Scrooge is a bit nervous and/or doubtful before going out the window, which may be a biblical allusion to any number of people in the Bible, or may be referring to how people described them during the time of the writing. What seems most significant, and gave me the biggest impression that it's synonymous with a conversion experience are a few things:
1. The spirit touching Scrooge's heart. I find this almost convinced me of the synonym, and I find it ironic that none of the film adaptations I've seen seem to include this, at least that I can remember. (The latest animated adaptation with Jim Carrey may have included it, but I can't remember for certain.) This is probably to be nonsectarian or politically correct, but I can only guess. I don't really know what the director's of any of the films intended, as I haven't been interested enough to study the making of any particular adaptation in much depth. I'm also not a film critic, and don't really have a necessity to.
2. Him flying. No one literally flies after a religious experience, of course. But I've heard other Christians, at the very least, in general describe their experiences this way. Others may have similar experiences, although, as I live in the Bible Belt area of the US, I generally hear about them from Christians. (This is not to be confused with light-headedness which results from alcohol, as that is probably due to lowered cognition resulting from the substance itself. Same with other drugs. Please don't try to make any false analogies.)
3. Along with him flying, the "fog" disappears. C.S. Lewis once said, "I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else." So, this also bears relation to Christianity and religious experience.
4. When Scrooge arrives in his past, he seems filled with joy. While this can probably be said about religious experiences in general, it can definitely be said about religious experiences of Christians, especially, though not exclusively, in evangelical and charismatic who have intense outward expressions of worship that are acceptable in those places. As noted, however, this is not exclusive to Protestants, and could be said about Catholics as well, albeit, their outward expressions of joy are more modest. As a side note, one could question whether these expressions are genuine, possibly on the basis of what appears to be hypocrisy to outside observers, along with other factors. But, my thoughts on hypocrisy in Christianity are for a later post.
These are my reasons for seeing such correlations. Many more could be pointed out as mentioned before, but these are the ones I noticed on my first read. My readers who are also bloggers are free to make their own commentaries. They may even borrow some of the elements, as I'm not claiming any copyright to it. ;)
Thanks for reading. :)
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