I picked up The Life of Our Lord by Charles Dickens partly out of curiosity and partly inspired by the buzz around the upcoming movie King of Kings. Knowing the film aims to bring the story of our Lord Jesus to life on the big screen, I felt compelled to explore Dickens’s own retelling of the same story—especially since it was written with such a personal touch for his children.

As a Sunday School teacher for little kids, I feel it’s important to mention that while Dickens’s retelling is heartfelt, nothing replaces the Bible itself as the true and reliable source of Jesus’s life and teachings. Books like this can enhance our appreciation and understanding, but they are no substitute for Scripture.


I would encourage anyone inspired by Dickens’s words or by movies like King of Kings to pick up the Bible and experience the Gospel firsthand. It’s the most powerful and authentic account we have.

The Life of Our Lord is a touching and heartfelt retelling of the life of Jesus Christ, written by Charles Dickens exclusively for his children. Unlike his more famous novels, this book is a simple and straightforward narrative intended to impart moral lessons and religious teachings in an accessible way.

The language is gentle and clear, making it easy to read and understand. Dickens takes the reader through the major events of Jesus’s life—his birth, teachings, miracles, crucifixion, and resurrection—always emphasizing the importance of living a good and charitable life.

As I read, I was particularly moved by Dickens’s final words in the book, where he emphasizes that Christianity is a religion of love and peace. For Dickens, the message of Christ was clear: to love one another, regardless of our differences, and to live in peace with each other. His words serve as a reminder that the heart of Christianity is about living in harmony and showing compassion to everyone.

Dickens’s love for his children is evident in every line, and the work feels like a father’s gift to them—a guide for life rooted in love, kindness, and moral integrity.

One reason I love this book is that Charles Dickens and my dad have the same "voice" and I can just hear my dad reading this book to me. It was beautifully simply written and I loved it.

A lovely retelling regarding the life of Jesus Christ! My son and I read it together and thoroughly enjoyed it! I'd like to purchase our own copy and read this every December!

Charles Dickens wrote this for children, and I think I loved the sentiment just as much if not more than the content: "My dear children, 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 anyway ill or miserable, as he was. And as he is now in Heaven, where we hope to go, and all meet each other after we are dead, and there be happy always together."

I loved the way he wrote of the miracles of Christ: "I wish that you would remember that word, because I shall use it again, and I should like you to know that it means something which is very wonderful and which could not be done without God's leave and assistance."

At the end he gives a beautiful reminder of what it means to be a Christian, and how remembering the life and lessons of Christ will help us to act in His name, provide hope, forgiveness and peace.

I was very disappointed with this book for many reasons. First, it does not feel like a Dickens book. I know, he wrote it for a young audience, but his voice was missing. The only place I could really find it was when he told his children he would take them to a zoo to see a camel if they wished. I loved the complexity of the plot and characters in his novels, all of that was missing, and this book is nothing more than a glossed, overly simplified chronology of Christ's life. Perhaps most disturbing was he removed Christ's divinity and mission from the book, and in that regard he completely missed the heart of the Christian faith and the message of the four gospels.

The Life of Our Lord by Charles Dickens is a nice small book about Jesus, meant for his children. It is interesting to see how Dickens teach his children about Jesus. The backstory about this book is more fascinating than the book itself. Dickens wrote a short story about Jesus, exclusively only for his children and not meant for anybody else. He asked that nobody in the family publish this work and that it stays in the family. It passed down the Dickens family for generations. Once the youngest of Dickens's children passed away, he said it was ok to publish the book after his death. His wife asked the rest of the extended family and they all agreed to publish.
The story is a simple life of Jesus from birth to resurrection. It shows lot of parables in the gospels and shows that we must be like Jesus, to forgive and help others. As somebody new to the Jesus story, it was good to hear the Jesus story again and to induce the lessons again. I'm always very interested to hear the Jesus story in a new way. I had to read this book, knowing that Dickens wrote the Jesus story. I had to see how one of the world's greatest story tellers writes about Jesus. He wrote a great, little story that can be read in one sitting. It is definitely meant for children and not meant to be a super-edited masterpiece. Would definitely recommend, just to hear the Jesus story again.
My big takeaway was listening to the Jesus Parables and seeing how Jesus uses mini-stories to teach his lessons (similar to Socrates).

This is a simple retelling of the life and miracles of Jesus Christ. I liked this book and it left me pondering on how I want to teach my own children about the Savior. This is a hard critique for me since I know Dickens never intended to publish this work, but I did want to share a few thoughts. His opening line, "My Dear Children, I am very anxious that you should know something about the History of Jesus Christ." stayed with me throughout my read. Such a tender statement and as Dickens recounts the Savior's life on earth in this book you read sweet notes, like this opening line, to his children throughout. At the end, Dickens sums up his desires to have his children live like the Jesus Christ and be kind to others. I love how he comes full circle through his summary which resonates again the opening line of the text.

The reason why I gave this book only 3 stars: This is Dickens interpretation of the New Testament accounts of Jesus Christ's life and ministry. I'm not sure what version of the bible he read from and that might be where this went a little wrong for me. There were many inconsistencies with my own studying of the bible and I felt some of the add lib Dickens chose, lessened the intensity of the gospel principles taught by Jesus Christ. For example, he does not mention the Savior suffering and paying the price for our sins as he prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane. He also did not mention the miracle of Jesus healing the mans ear after Peter slashed the soldiers ear who came to arrest Him even though Dickens writes about the ear being cut off. There are other parts similar to these where I wished it was written differently.

These are small things that I think most people could get past, but for me it left me lacking.

I had some theological differences with the way Dickens interpreted the scriptures. However, overall I thought what he did was sweet for his children. I thought it was really interesting that he never let this be published in his lifetime. It is always good to focus on the Savior during Christmas.

Shaun and I read this out loud together to help us celebrate Christmas. It was beautifully simple and wonderfully focused. I think it will become an annual Christmastime tradition for us.

Reread 2012
Reread 2013
Reread 2014
Reread 2015
Reread 2016 - Luke really loved this book as we read it this year. He asked for it at bedtime and even brought it to me during the day. It is a great way to feel the Christmas spirit.

What a lovely little book where Dickens re-wrote the Gospels for his children. You can tell by his emphasis that he is trying to impart kindness and understanding and forgiveness as exemplified by Jesus.

"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." ~ Charles Dickens

I've heard that critics hated this book, and I'm not at all surprised. This book should not be stacked up against Dickens' other works of art. It was clearly never meant to be a great literary masterpiece, and you can't expect many critics to get that. This is simply a father explaining the life of Christ to his children, in his own words, using his own interpretations.

That is precisely why I loved it so much. The scriptures can be daunting to wade through, but this book puts the New Testament in much simpler terms. I felt like a child he'd gathered in his arms and placed on his knee to talk to. I wish this would have been around when I was a kid to bridge that gap between Sally, Dick, & Jane and the gospel cannon. I absolutely intend to give this to my kids (when they're about 8 or so) to help them begin to foster a love for scripture stories.

A re-read for me for Christmas reading with my daughter.