"O wondrous exchange!"

Of all the seasons of the church calendar, the Christmas season is the one most recognized and celebrated by our society at large. That means it's the season we're most familiar with—but that can also make it harder to see past Christmas's many cultural trappings to its timeless beauty.

At the first Christmas, God exchanged the glories of divinity for the vulnerability of human existence, uniting himself to us in order to unite us to God. Inthis short volume, priest and theologian Emily Hunter McGowin invites us into the church's celebration of that great exchange, in all its theological and liturgical splendor. Get your copy today and discover how the church has celebrated all twelvedays of the season of Christmas throughout history and how you can take part in this rich tradition today!

About the Series

Each volume in the Fullness of Time series invites readers to engage with the riches of the church year, exploring the traditions, prayers, Scriptures, and rituals of the seasons of the church calendar.



Emily Hunter McGowin (PhD, University of Dayton) is associate professor of theology at Wheaton College. She is the author of Quivering Families and Christmas, and coeditor of God and Wonder. Her articles have appeared inChristianity Today and The Week. She is a priest and canon theologian in the Anglican diocese of Churches for the Sake of Others. She and her husband, Ron, also a priest, live in Chicagoland with their three children.







Esau McCaulley (PhD, St. Andrews) is associate professor of New Testament at Wheaton College and a contributing opinion writer for the New York Times. He is the author of Reading While Black and Sharing in the Son's Inheritance, as well as the children's book Josie Johnson's Hair and the Holy Spirit. He lives in Wheaton, Illinois, with his wife and four children.



Series Preface



An Introduction

1. The Origins of Christmas

2. God of the Great Exchange

3. God of the Poor

4. God of Creation and Re-Creation

5. God of Life and Light

Conclusion: God of the Crèche and the Cross



Acknowledgments

Appendix: The Scriptures and Collects of Christmastide

Notes