**Author:** [[3. Resources/Authors/Brian Simmons|Brian Simmons]] # Book Overview ![[The Story of Christmas Visual]] ## About the Author Brian Simmons is the lead translator of The Passion Translation, a Bible translation project that draws from Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic manuscripts. Simmons spent years as a missionary and church planter before taking on the translation work. His stated goal with The Passion Translation is to produce a "heart-level" rendering of Scripture that conveys the emotional and relational dimensions of the biblical text. The translation has drawn both enthusiastic support from charismatic and Pentecostal communities and criticism from scholars who question its translational methodology. *The Story of Christmas* is a curated compilation rather than an original work -- Simmons selects and arranges Passion Translation passages to tell the Christmas narrative from prophecy through fulfillment to future return. ## Central Thesis The Christmas story isn't a single event but a four-act narrative arc: God promised a Rescuer, the Anointed One was born, the Savior now lives in believers, and the King will return. Simmons frames this arc as a story of promises -- each section unwrapping a different dimension of what God committed to do through Jesus. The book's structure moves from Old Testament prophecy (Genesis, Psalms, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Zechariah) through the Gospel birth narratives (Luke, Matthew, John) into the epistles' theological interpretation of Christ's work (Romans, Ephesians, Colossians, Philippians, Hebrews) and finally into eschatological fulfillment (Revelation). The connecting thread is that Christmas isn't just about a baby in a manger -- it's the hinge point of a cosmic rescue mission that began in Genesis 3 and concludes in Revelation 21. ## Why This Book Matters Most Christmas devotionals focus narrowly on the Nativity. Simmons expands the frame to include the prophetic buildup, the theological meaning, and the eschatological conclusion. This gives readers a wider lens for understanding the Christmas story as part of a continuous narrative rather than an isolated event. The book also functions as an accessible entry point to The Passion Translation's rendering style -- the language is intentionally vivid and emotionally engaged, which will appeal to readers who find traditional translations dry. The "Ten Promises of Christmas" section in particular reframes the holiday around ten concrete themes (hope, peace, joy, love, rescue, forgiveness, freedom, acceptance, purpose, victory), making it useful as a structured devotional. --- # Section Summaries ## Section 1: The Rescuer Is Promised The book opens with the protoevangelium in Genesis 3:14-15 -- God's declaration that the woman's offspring will crush the serpent's head. From there, Simmons arranges a sequence of messianic prophecies: Psalm 96 (God as King of the world), Psalm 110 (Messiah as priest and king), Isaiah 7 (the virgin will conceive), Isaiah 9 (the child who is Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Prince of Peace), Isaiah 11 (the branch from Jesse), Isaiah 42 (the gentle servant), Isaiah 52-53 (the suffering servant), Jeremiah 23 (the righteous branch), and Zechariah 9 (Zion's humble king on a donkey). The section closes with the angel Gabriel's announcement to Miriam (Mary) in Luke 1 and her prophetic song -- the Magnificat. The through-line is accumulating specificity: each prophecy narrows the picture of who the Rescuer will be, what he'll do, and how he'll come. ## Section 2: The Anointed One Is Born This section covers the birth narratives. The angel comes to Joseph in a dream (Matthew 1), Jesus is born in Bethlehem (Luke 2:1-7), the shepherds receive the angelic announcement (Luke 2:8-20), baby Jesus is dedicated in the temple where Simeon and Anna prophesy over him (Luke 2:21-38), and the wise men visit from the East (Matthew 2:1-12). The section concludes with the prologue from John's Gospel -- the Living Expression who was with God, was God, and became flesh. The Passion Translation renders "the Word" (logos) as "the Living Expression," which is characteristic of Simmons' approach to translation: interpretive and evocative rather than literal. ## Section 3: The Savior Lives in Us Here the book shifts from narrative to theology. Simmons selects epistolary passages that explain what Christ's coming means for believers: God's righteousness made visible through faith (Romans 3), being made alive in Christ (Ephesians 2), the supremacy of the Son (Colossians 1), Jesus bringing people to glory through shared humanity (Hebrews 2), Christ's eternal sacrifice (Hebrews 10), and Christ's humility and exaltation (Philippians 2). The unifying claim is that the Christmas event wasn't just historical -- it created an ongoing, present-tense reality where the Savior lives in believers, producing righteousness, reconciliation, and transformation. ## Section 4: The King Returns for Us The final narrative section looks forward. Simmons arranges eschatological passages: signs of the end of the age (Luke 21, Matthew 24), the appearing of the Son of Man (Mark 13), the call to readiness (Matthew 24:36-44), the judgment of the nations (Matthew 25:31-46), the unopened scroll and the worthy Lamb (Revelation 5), and the new heaven and new earth (Revelation 21). The framing is that the Christmas story isn't complete yet -- the same Jesus who came as a baby will return as King, and the promise of Christmas finds its fulfillment when God makes everything new. ## Section 5: Ten Promises of Christmas This section organizes Scripture thematically around ten promises: Hope, Peace, Joy, Love, Rescue, Forgiveness, Freedom, Acceptance, Purpose, and Victory. Each promise gets a brief introduction followed by supporting passages from across the New Testament. The section functions as a devotional index -- a reader looking for what Christmas means for their specific situation can find relevant passages organized by theme. The book closes with a salvation prayer, inviting readers to receive the promises of Christmas personally. --- # Key Themes and Highlights ## Promise as Narrative Structure The book's organizing principle is promise-and-fulfillment. Every section is framed around what God promised, how he delivered, and what remains to come. This isn't accidental -- Simmons explicitly states in the introduction that "every good story offers a great promise" and structures the entire book to make that case. The effect is to present Christmas not as a single moment but as the fulfillment of a long-running commitment. ## The Passion Translation's Interpretive Style Simmons' translation choices are visible throughout. "The Word" becomes "the Living Expression." Mary is rendered as "Miriam." The angel tells the shepherds about "the most joyous news the world has ever heard." Isaiah 9:6 renders the child's names as "The Wonderful One! The Marvelous Counselor! The Mighty God! The Father of Eternity! And The Prince of Peace!" The translation consistently pushes toward emotional engagement and contemporary accessibility at the expense of formal equivalence. Readers' response to the book will depend largely on their tolerance for this approach. ## Cosmic Scope The book refuses to let Christmas stay small. By beginning in Genesis and ending in Revelation, Simmons frames the birth of Jesus as the midpoint of a cosmic story. The Rescuer was promised before Israel existed. The King's return will remake all of creation. The ten promises aren't just for individuals -- they address universal human conditions (hopelessness, guilt, purposelessness). This scope gives the book more theological weight than a typical Christmas devotional. ## Present-Tense Application Section 3 (The Savior Lives in Us) and Section 5 (Ten Promises) shift the book from past-tense narrative to present-tense application. The message isn't just "this happened" but "this is happening in you now." The epistolary passages are selected specifically to emphasize the believer's current experience: made alive, seated with Christ, reconciled, forgiven, free. The ten promises are each framed as something the reader can possess today. --- # Analytical Reading ## Main Arguments 1. The Christmas story is a promise-fulfillment narrative that spans the entire Bible, not just the Gospels. 2. Old Testament prophecy provides the essential context for understanding why Jesus came and who he is. 3. The birth of Jesus is the hinge point of a four-act story: promise, birth, indwelling, return. 4. The theological meaning of Christmas (as explained in the epistles) is as important as the historical events. 5. Christmas carries ten specific promises that address universal human needs: hope, peace, joy, love, rescue, forgiveness, freedom, acceptance, purpose, and victory. 6. The story isn't finished -- the King's return completes what the birth began. ## Methodology This is a curated anthology, not an original theological argument. Simmons selects and arranges existing Scripture passages (all from The Passion Translation) with brief connecting introductions. The interpretive work happens in the selection and arrangement -- which passages are included, what order they appear in, and how the section introductions frame them. There's no exegetical analysis, no engagement with scholarship, and no footnotes. The book assumes readers will accept The Passion Translation's rendering and be moved by the emotional register of the language. ## Strengths The four-part structure (promised, born, lives in us, returns) is a clear and effective framework for presenting the Christmas story's full scope. Most readers encounter the birth narratives in isolation from their prophetic and theological context. Simmons' arrangement makes the connections visible. The ten promises section is practical and well-organized -- it gives readers a way to engage with specific themes rather than trying to absorb the whole narrative at once. The book is short and accessible, making it useful as a gift or group study resource during the Christmas season. ## Limitations The book is entirely dependent on The Passion Translation, which is a polarizing work. Scholars have raised concerns about Simmons' translation methodology -- some renderings reflect interpretive decisions that go beyond what the source languages support. Readers who prefer formal equivalence translations may find the language overly free. The connecting introductions are thin -- they frame the passages but don't provide historical context, linguistic notes, or engagement with alternative readings. The book also assumes a particular theological framework (evangelical, charismatic-leaning) without acknowledging it. There's no engagement with the historical-critical questions around the birth narratives, the dating of the prophecies, or the diversity of interpretive traditions. --- # Personal Reflection ## Key Takeaways The strongest move in this book is structural, not linguistic. By placing the Christmas story within a Genesis-to-Revelation arc, Simmons makes an argument about scope that sticks: Christmas isn't a standalone event, it's the fulfillment of a promise that began at the Fall and won't be complete until the new creation. That framing changes how you read the Nativity -- it becomes a midpoint, not a beginning. The ten promises section is the most practically useful part. Organizing the theological implications of Christmas around concrete themes (hope, peace, freedom, acceptance) makes the content accessible for devotional use, small group discussion, or personal meditation during Advent. ## Questions Raised - How much does the emotional register of The Passion Translation shape the theology readers take away? Does rendering "logos" as "the Living Expression" change what people understand about the nature of Christ? - The book presents the Christmas story as a unified narrative, but the source texts were written by different authors across centuries. How much does the arrangement smooth over genuine tensions or differences in the biblical texts? - The ten promises are presented without qualification. What happens when a reader's lived experience doesn't match the promise? How should "freedom" or "victory" be understood by someone still suffering? - The eschatological section presents a particular reading of end-times passages. How would a different eschatological framework change the "story of Christmas"? ## Connections to Other Works - [[The Jesus Storybook Bible]] by Sally Lloyd-Jones -- Lloyd-Jones similarly structures the Bible as a single story where every chapter points to Jesus. Different audience, same narrative instinct. - [[Advent devotionals]] -- This book functions as an extended Advent devotional, connecting the waiting of Advent to the full biblical narrative of promise and fulfillment. - [[Simply Christian]] by N.T. Wright -- Wright covers similar theological territory (justice, spirituality, beauty, relationship) but with historical-critical grounding that Simmons doesn't attempt. - [[The Message]] by Eugene Peterson -- Peterson's translation shares the Passion Translation's priority of emotional accessibility over formal equivalence, though Peterson works from a different theological tradition. --- # Reading Notes - The four-section structure (Promised, Born, Lives in Us, Returns) is the book's strongest contribution. It takes what most people think of as a single-scene story and reveals it as a four-act narrative. - The Passion Translation's rendering of John 1 -- "the Living Expression" for "the Word" -- is the most striking translation choice in the book. It's interpretive rather than translational, but it does capture the dynamism of the prologue. - Isaiah 52:13-53:12 (the Suffering Servant) is the longest individual passage in the book and arguably the most powerful. Placing it in a Christmas context rather than an Easter context is an interesting choice -- it connects the birth to the cross before the birth even happens. - The wise men's visit in Matthew 2 is rendered with characteristic Passion Translation energy: "they were so ecstatic that they shouted and celebrated with unrestrained joy." - Section 5's ten promises are: Hope, Peace, Joy, Love, Rescue, Forgiveness, Freedom, Acceptance, Purpose, Victory. The ordering feels deliberate -- it moves from emotional states (hope, peace, joy) through relational realities (love, rescue, forgiveness) to identity claims (freedom, acceptance, purpose, victory). - The salvation prayer at the end is a direct evangelistic appeal, which positions the book not just as devotional but as outreach material. This is consistent with the overall framing: the story of Christmas is an invitation, and the reader is asked to respond. - Simmons uses "Miriam" instead of "Mary" throughout, drawing from the Hebrew/Aramaic original. This is a small choice that signals his translation philosophy -- going behind the traditional English renderings to something closer to the original languages. - The Philippians 2 passage on Christ's humility and exaltation is placed in Section 3 (The Savior Lives in Us) rather than Section 2 (Born). This is a theological choice: the kenosis passage isn't just about what happened, it's about the pattern believers are called to follow.