Life

What has Isaiah's Immanuel prophecy got to do with the birth of Jesus?

What's gone before is a picture of muddle and confusion, fear, politics, war, destruction and hunger. We skip all that and go straight to the nice bit.

The lost message of Christmas: Why we need to read Matthew 1

One passage that's never, ever read at the carol service is Matthew 1: 1-17.

Why I don't care about putting on a perfect Christmas

There is nothing wrong with excelling at hospitality and there is certainly nothing wrong with opening up our lives to share with others in need.

UK scientists are more atheist than the rest of the population

Nearly half of the UK's scientists do not believe in God, researchers have found.

The more popular children are also more stingy

Children who are popular are less likely to be generous with their friends when it comes to Christmas gifts, research has found.

O come, all ye faithful: 5 reasons to sing Christmas carols

From Australia to Argentina to Anchorage, the message of Jesus will resonate from the mouths of his people in the same melodies and lyrics that his people have been singing for centuries.

Christmas is a spiritual eruption: What the West can learn from the Eastern Church

Jesus' birth is not primarily an historical event, though it was that. It's a spiritual one.

And Was He God With Us?: A meditation for Christmas

And was he God With Us the second the Spirit shadowed the virgin?

John's Gospel: Christmas on a cosmic scale

It's all too easy over the Christmas season to swap the important stuff for the big, shiny festive stuff and end up disappointed.

Doing good in secret: How George W Bush sponsored a child through Compassion International

An extraordinary story has emerged of former US president George W Bush's anonymous sponsorship of a Filippino child through Christian agency Compassion.

Diets heavy in junk food increase risk of depression, study finds

Eating too much fast food, processed meat and cakes is putting people at increased risk of depression, according to a new study.

Over a quarter of Brits and Americans would like to see a female or gender-neutral Santa

With the 'gender neutral' trend shaking up everything from personal identities to clothes and toys, it should come as no surprise that over a quarter of people also want it to shake up the tradition of a male Santa Claus.

Silent Night: the story of the carol that paused a war

Two popular stories contribute to its appeal: one concerning the circumstances of its composition in Oberndorf, near Salzburg in Austria, and the other its role in the Christmas Truce of 1914 when the opposing forces walked out of their trenches to greet their enemies and share food and drink.