This isn't a book I thought I would ever see because I've never heard of it before, but I came across it and thought I'd give it a shot.
It was charming to think that Dickens was reading this to me, as there are spots where it's clear he's adding personal inflections and addendums for the sake of his children, rather than straight from the Bible. I always respected the man for reflecting what I believe to be true Christian values, so I saw the book as endearing, even if I'm no longer "God-fearing" myself.

Don’t confuse Dickens for Spurgeon or Calvin. His best qualities as a writer aren’t really found here either. There are many theological blunders and gaffes in this short work. His summary of the gospel and Christ’s life has significant holes (Jesus’ divinity, sin, repentance), or at least questionable distortions. Jesus is more great example and teacher than very Son of God. Further, one can’t help recognizing that regardless of the many noble characteristics of Jesus he highlights and commends to his children, Dickens failed to internalize or abide by them as evidenced via his infidelity and abandonment of his wife. On the other hand, the emphasis he places on Christ’s ministry to the downtrodden ought to be celebrated and mimicked by the church. This is the theme Dickens so winsomely depicts in nearly all of his greatest fiction.

A simple retelling of the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. I liked the chronological order of the events and the simple truths retold in a somewhat story-like form. A good read for December.

It seems unfair to rate a book that was privately written by a parent for his children, with the explicit desire that it not be published. Of course, after Dickens' death, The Life of Our Lord was published, so here we are.

I'm no theologian, but having read all the Gospels, I could find no fault with anything Dickens relayed. It seemed to be a pithy compilation of the information we have from ancient texts, written in a way that an older child (in the 19th century, at least) would easily understand. That said, I think all but the most die-hard Dickens fans would probably do just as well reading their Bibles.

At the end of the story are two prayers, one for mornings and another for evenings. In the latter, Dickens asks his children to pray that they will be well-behaved, kind children. In true Old Testament fashion, though, the prayer says, "...for if I am cruel to anything, even to a poor little fly, God, who is so good, will never love me." Well. I won't speak for God, but I hope that He takes into account the circumstances, intent, and remorse behind our actions, and shows us some degree of mercy, as Dickens tells us Jesus does in his interaction with sinners.

When the author starts out with:

“I am very anxious that you should know something about the History of Jesus Christ. For everybody ought to know about Him. No one ever lived who was so good, so kind, so gentle, and so sorry for all people who did wrong, or were in any way ill or miserable, as He was. And as He is now in Heaven, where we hope to go, and all to meet each other after we are dead, and there be happy always together, you never can think what a good place Heaven is, without knowing who He was and what He did.”

You know it’s going to be a good book! I loved the simpleness of it.

I didn’t know Dickens had written this one and it was a lovely surprise.
Overall it is a beautiful retelling of the life of our Lord, BUT the story is told with a distinct flavor that good works are necessary to earn salvation -instead of the true message of the gospel which is repent and believe.. period.

This is a difficult book to rate. It's a sweet little book that Dickens wrote for his children, but it contains some serious Biblical oversights (if you want to call ignoring the whole point of the book of John an "oversight"). Dickens clearly didn't believe in Jesus' divinity, which really strips His life of any real meaning. I do think that Dickens succeeded in taking some difficult points and making them easier to understand for a young audience and he points out importal morals. I would think of reading this to children myself if not for the glaring issues with Scriptural integrity (or lack thereof).

This is Charles Dickens' last published work. Written for his children it is Dickens' attempt to tell his children about Jesus Christ. At about the halfway point it is clear that Dickens was no theologian. He seems to believe that Jesus was merely a good man chosen by God, that we become angels after we die, and that if we are good enough we will go to Heaven. As I finished the book those points continued to be made but it became clearer that Dickens loved this Jesus Christ and wanted his children to know of Him as well. He shared enough Bible stories with his children to pique their interest in the Biblical Christ but failed to share the Gospel fully with them. It is a warning to parents and grandparents: share the Gospel from the Bible and read the Bible not just tell Bible stories from your perspective because that can teach only what YOU believe rather than what Christ wants us to believe from His Word. But it is an easy and beautiful one hour read and would be a worthy read to your children as long as you also read the Bible to them.

“Charles John Huffam Dickens (1812–1870) wrote The Life of Our Lord expressly for his ten children, and it was read many Christmases in the Dickens’s household. It was not published until after the death of his last child.”

Mixed feelings and thoughts on this little book. It seems sincerely written with a great love and admiration for the goodness of Jesus Christ. Most of it is super accurate to the words of the Gospels—which makes the inaccuracies especially jarring. Most of the inaccuracies just seem unnecessary. Why say the demoniac possessed by Legion was met along a road instead of after crossing the lake? Why say the Temple wall was broken when Jesus died instead of the curtain being torn? But then there are parts, mostly in the first half, where Dickens really emphasizes the belief of becoming an angel when you die (especially children), and that the point is to become a better person so that maybe God will forgive you and let you go to heaven. I was also not sure, by the way he worded certain things at the beginning, if he would admit that Jesus was the Son of God and not just a miracle-working, extra-good man…but by the end, he does let the words of Gospels speak to that.

He gives a brief, very good, overview of the early growth of the Church and then ends it this way:

“Remember—It is christianity to do good always—even to those who do evil to us. It is christianity to love our neighbour as ourself, and to do to all men as we would have them do to us. It is christianity to be gentle, merciful, and forgiving, and to keep those qualities quiet in our own hearts, and never make a boast of them, or of our prayers or of our love of God, but always to shew that we love Him by humbly trying to do right in everything. If we do this, and remember the life and lessons of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and try to act up to them, we may confidently hope that God will forgive us our sins and mistakes, and enable us to live and die in Peace.”

I was looking through my sock drawer for some fluffy socks and came across this book. I don't know where the book came from or why it was in that drawer, but I took it as a sign that I needed to read it. It's a quick read, only took me about an hour, and I loved it. I want to read it aloud to my family. It's written in story form and is very simply written for kids to understand. I’m glad I read this on Christmas Eve so as to remind me the real reason we’re celebrating right now.

This is nice. It's pretty much Dickens repeating several stories from the Gospels in a way his children would understand, adding some commentary. I think he embellishes on a couple aspects - he seems to think that Mary Magdalene and Mary of Bethany (Martha and Lazarus's sister) are the same person - but there's nothing heretical that I could find.

Written for his children over a three-year span (1846-1849), this is a retelling of the four gospels in the Bible (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John) that tell of Jesus' life. It seemed to be his way of teaching about the Christian faith and Jesus specifically to his children. There are short explanations in between the narrative, which were really sweet because I could imagine him stopping and explaining something foreign to the kids in an easier way to understand with things around them that they know about. I don't know about Dickens' personal life nor his faith journey, so it may have been helpful to research that a bit while listening to this, but I still enjoyed it during the week of Easter in addition to actually reading the Bible's account of the death and resurrection of Jesus. There were a few minor things he said that theologically I didn't align with or wish he would have explained a bit more ("Jesus was such a good man he was called the Son of God." He WAS the Son of God, not because the people decided to call Him that after seeing His goodness and miracles) and a few comments leaned more towards Catholic beliefs (that if we do good like He did then we will see Him in heaven one day). So I would definitely explain things a bit more fully if I would read this to my own kids, but for my own personal reading, I just mulled on the phrases I was unsure about and then kept going, not letting them detract me from the rest of the reading. I enjoyed how simply yet engaging he wrote about Jesus' story. No fluff or extra parts to make it more entertaining for young kids.