Back to: Dickens A Christmas Carol and the Bible
[expand title=”1. The Biblical principle is Regret,” trigclass=”specialclass1″]
The Biblical principle is Regret, and the key scripture is Ecclesiastes 3:15
“Whatever is has already been, and what will be has been before; and God will call the past to account.”
Scrooge regrets the mistakes of his past—even as he learns that they will haunt his future. First, the ghost of Jacob Marley warns Scrooge that the sins of this Life are punished in the next. Then, the Ghost of Christmas Past takes Scrooge back to the pivotal time when he first chose the love of money over a Life of love—a tragic day, in a past of regret.
Scenes of Remorse
A. Large house Scrooge reading
->The sight of this lonely boy brings forth in Scrooge his first experience of remorse. It brings to his mind another little boy, the one who just a day or so earlier had stopped before the office to sing a Christmas carol to those inside. Scrooge had ignored him; now he wishes he had given him something to thank him. His circle of awareness has now grown by one person. The carol the boy sings is the carol referred to in the work’s title, “God bless you, merry gentlemen, May nothing you dismay.”
B. In Fezziwig’s warehouse
->Scrooge thinks of his own clerk and feels remorse for the second time, and his circle of caring expands to include one more person.
C. Fan
->To mark the moment of Scrooge’s third regret, before crossing it out for the final draft, Dickens originally continued with “And as he spoke he pressed his hands against his head, and stamped upon the ground
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Stave 2: The First of the Three Spirits
When Scrooge awoke, it was so dark, that looking out of bed, he could scarcely distinguish the transparent window from the opaque walls of his chamber. He was endeavouring to pierce the darkness with his ferret eyes, when the chimes of a neighbouring church struck the four quarters. So he listened for the hour.
To his great astonishment the heavy bell went on from six to seven, and from seven to eight, and regularly up to twelve; then stopped. Twelve. It was past two when he went to bed. The clock was wrong. An icicle must have got into the works. Twelve.
He touched the spring of his repeater, to correct this most preposterous clock. Its rapid little pulse beat twelve: and stopped.
‘Why, it isn’t possible,’ said Scrooge, ‘that I can have slept through a whole day and far into another night. It isn’t possible that anything has happened to the sun, and this is twelve at noon.’
[expand title=”2. Sleep and Sun” trigclass=”specialclass1″]
1 Role of Sleep – following the ghost’s visit and being notified of the chance to change his life, he falls into a sleep so deep he thinks, upon awakening, that a whole day has passed. Scrooge has every resistance to learning anything about himself he does not already know, so it makes sense that he would want to fall into a long sleep as a form of escape. But sleep is also conducive to gaining insight; one thinks of the ancient tradition of looking to dreams for divine direction or a new perspective on an old problem. The couch in psychoanalytic treatment is used for a similar purpose. Sleep functions as a path to both denial and insight.
2 Sun
“Why, it isn’t possible,” said Scrooge, “that I can have slept through a whole day and far into another night. It isn’t possible that anything has happened to the sun, and this is twelve at noon
Luke 23:44,45
Dickens evokes another image from the Bible. Aside from a solar eclipse, which Scrooge does not guess at, for the sun to be blotted out would be an event of biblical proportions, as at the death of Christ (Luke 23:44,45)—appropriate, for at the start, Scrooge is dead to Christ
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The idea being an alarming one, he scrambled out of bed, and groped his way to the window. He was obliged to rub the frost off with the sleeve of his dressing-gown before he could see anything; and could see very little then. All he could make out was, that it was still very foggy and extremely cold, and that there was no noise of people running to and fro, and making a great stir, as there unquestionably would have been if night had beaten off bright day, and taken possession of the world. This was a great relief, because “Three days after sight of this First of Exchange pay to Mr. Ebenezer Scrooge on his order,” and so forth, would have become a mere United States security if there were no days to count by.
[expand title=”3. Concerned about people owed him money” trigclass=”specialclass1″]
Concerned about people owed him money
. This was a great relief, because “three days after sight of this First of Exchange pay to Mr. Ebenezer Scrooge or his order,” and so forth, would have become a mere United States’ security if there were no days to count by.
Scrooge is so focused on money that, were the sun blotted out, his biggest concern is that the people who owe him money will not be able to count the days to pay him in a timely manner and his accounts would not be settled appropriately. The reference to the “mere United States’ security” actually means no security. At the time, many individual states had borrowed from English funders, and then refused to pay back the debt due to the Panic of 1837.
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Scrooge went to bed again, and thought, and thought, and thought it over and over, and could make nothing of it. The more he thought, the more perplexed he was; and, the more he endeavoured not to think, the more he thought.
Marley’s Ghost bothered him exceedingly. Every time he resolved within himself, after mature inquiry that it was all a dream, his mind flew back again, like a strong spring released, to its first position, and presented the same problem to be worked all through, “Was it a dream or not?”
Scrooge lay in this state until the chime had gone three-quarters more, when he remembered, on a sudden, that the Ghost had warned him of a visitation when the bell tolled one. He resolved to lie awake until the hour was passed; and, considering that he could no more go to sleep than go to heaven, this was, perhaps, the wisest resolution in his power.
[expand title=”4. Scrooge lay in this state until the chimes had gone three quarters more” trigclass=”specialclass1″]
Scrooge lay in this state until the chimes had gone three quarters more, when he remembered, on a sudden, that the Ghost had warned him of a visitation when the bell tolled one. He resolved to lie awake until the hour was past; and, considering that he could no more go to sleep than go to Heaven, this was perhaps the wisest resolution in his power.
This line carries a dual meaning: 1) Scrooge cannot physically go to heaven now, just as he cannot physically go to sleep; and 2) Scrooge cannot spiritually go to heaven now, because of the current state of his heart.
He spoke before the hour bell sounded, which it now did with a deep, dull, hollow, melancholy One. Light Is! flashed up in the room upon the instant, and the curtains of his bed were drawn
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The quarter was so long, that he was more than once convinced he must have sunk into a doze unconsciously, and missed the clock. At length it broke upon his listening ear.
“Ding, dong!”
“A quarter past,” said Scrooge, counting.
“Ding, dong!”
“Half past,” said Scrooge.
“Ding, dong!”
“A quarter to it,” said Scrooge. “Ding, dong!”
“The hour itself,” said Scrooge triumphantly, “and nothing else!”
He spoke before the hour bell sounded, which it now did with a deep, dull, hollow, melancholy ONE. Light flashed up in the room upon the instant, and the curtains of his bed were drawn.
The curtains of his bed were drawn aside, I tell you, by a hand. Not the curtains at his feet, nor the curtains at his back, but those to which his face was addressed. The curtains of his bed were drawn aside; and Scrooge, starting up into a half-recumbent attitude, found himself face to face with the unearthly visitor who drew them: as close to it as I am now to you, and I am standing in the spirit at your elbow.
It was a strange figure — like a child: yet not so like a child as like an old man, viewed through some supernatural medium, which gave him the appearance of having receded from the view, and being diminished to a child’s proportions.
[expand title=”5. First spirit arrives” trigclass=”specialclass1″]
p class=”Bodytext20″ style=”line-height:normal; font-size:12pt; background-color:#fff2cc”> The first spirit arrives as promised at the striking of the bell. Again, as with the ghost of Marley, this spirit can be understood as a personification of some aspect of Scrooge, some earlier identity shaken off and forgotten, perhaps a tormented part of his personality. Its physical appearance— youthful and aged, adorned with both winter holly and summer flowers—suggests both the linear arc of life and the rhythm of seasons. Certainly the spirit appears to be a figure capable of wisdom and insight. Most astonishing about the spirit is the “bright clear jet of light” that springs from the crown of its head like a fountain of illumination, countering Scrooge’s efforts at denial. Scrooge has a long and successful history of repressing thoughts about the supernatural, any kind of superstition, even the mystery of Christmas.
The childlike appearance of this Spirit suggests the German character of the Christ Child, the Christkind. Some legends say this was a heavenly messenger said to have announced the birth of Christ, some say it is Christ as a child himself, some say the character comes from a story about a child who brought the baby Jesus gifts. But in parts of Germany and some other countries, it is the Christkind, often depicted in a white gown with a wreath of candles on its head, who brings children their gifts— not Santa Claus. This Spirit, being at once old, young, and a spirit, reflects elements of the Holy Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
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Its hair, which hung about its neck and down its back, was white as if with age; and yet the face had not a wrinkle in it, and the tenderest bloom was on the skin. The arms were very long and muscular; the hands the same, as if its hold were of uncommon strength. Its legs and feet, most delicately formed, were, like those upper members, bare. It wore a tunic of the purest white, and round its waist was bound a lustrous belt, the sheen of which was beautiful. It held a branch of fresh green holly in its hand; and, in singular contradiction of that wintry emblem, had its dress trimmed with summer flowers. But the strangest thing about it was, that from the crown of its head there sprung a bright clear jet of light, by which all this was visible; and which was doubtless the occasion of its using, in its duller moments, a great extinguisher for a cap, which it now held under its arm.
[expand title=”6. Role of light” trigclass=”specialclass1″]
Matthew 5:14, John 8:12
Light accompanies both this Spirit and the second Spirit (but the third Spirit will be shrouded in darkness).
In biblical symbolism, light represents righteousness and by extension salvation, as when Jesus uses “light of the world” to refer to both his followers (Matthew 5:14) and himself (John 8:12).
The second Spirit that visits Scrooge is the Seekers or star candle and wouldn’t you know that a bright star shoots out from the top of its head. The ghost opens the curtains by his bed directly in front of Scrooge’s face. Scrooge cannot hide from the light, it shines directly in his view and he must pay attention to it. Yet instead of having a willingness to following the star as the Magi did, Scrooge is more like Herod who seeks to put the light out because the light threatens his royal right of self rule.
Our God’s light searches our innermost thoughts and motives and this can cause a painful honesty.
The ghost opens the curtains by his bed directly in front of Scrooge’s face. Scrooge cannot hide from the light, it shines directly in his view and he must pay attention to it. Yet instead of having a willingness to following the star as the Magi did, Scrooge is more like Herod who seeks to put the light out because the light threatens his royal right of self rule. Our God’s light searches our innermost thoughts and motives and this can cause a painful honesty.
1 Chronicles 28:9
“And you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve him with single mind and willing heart; for the Lord searches every mind, and understands every plan and thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will abandon you forever.
“For the LORD searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever That painful honesty can either lead to confession and repentance of sin, or can lead us to defending our sin and shunning the light of God
How you respond to Christ’s light will determined whether Christ message will make you rise or fall. Christ will either cause you to rise to a richer life with God and others or Christ can be the cause of your fall as you seek to defend your sins and shun his searching light. It all depends on how you respond to Christ’s glowing light when it smacks you right in the face.
Scrooge is clearly annoyed by the light on the ghost’s cap and he tries to extinguish it. Scrooge had a great deal to fear from that piercing light, because this is the ghostly messenger that leads Scrooge into his painful shadowy past. God’s light can be piercing and we might be tempted to hide and run from it, yet God calls us to follow it.
Scrooge wants to darken the light, to repress, as was his habit in life, anything personal or emotional, anything gotten through nonrational means. Scrooge, however, is in a new reality; the spirit is in charge and the light stays on.
Scrooge just wants a good night’s sleep, but the ghost is interested in a more lasting rest, a rest that can only happen in God’s redemption. Redemption literally means “to buy back”.
So the Spirit takes him back to a time in his life that has been stolen away from him, his childhood.
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Even this, though, when Scrooge looked at it with increasing steadiness, was not its strangest quality. For as its belt sparkled and glittered now in one part and now in another, and what was light one instant, at another time was dark, so the figure itself fluctuated in its distinctness: being now a thing with one arm, now with one leg, now with twenty legs, now a pair of legs without a head, now a head without a body: of which dissolving parts, no outline would be visible in the dense gloom wherein they melted away. And in the very wonder of this, it would be itself again; distinct and clear as ever.
‘Are you the Spirit, sir, whose coming was foretold to me.’ asked Scrooge.
‘I am.’
The voice was soft and gentle. Singularly low, as if instead of being so close beside him, it were at a distance.
‘Who, and what are you.’ Scrooge demanded.
‘I am the Ghost of Christmas Past.’
‘Long Past.’ inquired Scrooge: observant of its dwarfish stature.
‘No. Your past.’
Perhaps, Scrooge could not have told anybody why, if anybody could have asked him; but he had a special desire to see the Spirit in his cap; and begged him to be covered.
‘What.’ exclaimed the Ghost, ‘would you so soon put out, with worldly hands, the light I give. Is it not enough that you are one of those whose passions made this cap, and force me through whole trains of years to wear it low upon my brow.’
Scrooge reverently disclaimed all intention to offend or any knowledge of having wilfully bonneted the Spirit at any period of his life. He then made bold to inquire what business brought him there.
‘Your welfare.’ said the Ghost.
[expand title=”7. Dickens welfare” trigclass=”specialclass1″]
When the Spirit says he is there for Scrooge’s “welfare,” the worldly-minded miser thinks of his physical well-being, causing the Spirit to clarify with “reclamation,” or spiritual rehabilitation
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Scrooge expressed himself much obliged, but could not help thinking that a night of unbroken rest would have been more conducive to that end. The Spirit must have heard him thinking, for it said immediately:
‘Your reclamation, then. Take heed.’
It put out its strong hand as it spoke, and clasped him gently by the arm.
‘Rise. and walk with me.’
It would have been in vain for Scrooge to plead that the weather and the hour were not adapted to pedestrian purposes; that bed was warm, and the thermometer a long way below freezing; that he was clad but lightly in his slippers, dressing-gown, and nightcap; and that he had a cold upon him at that time. The grasp, though gentle as a woman’s hand, was not to be resisted. He rose: but finding that the Spirit made towards the window, clasped his robe in supplication.
‘I am mortal,’ Scrooge remonstrated, ‘and liable to fall.’
[expand title=”8. Fallen in life” trigclass=”specialclass1″]
He has already fallen in life! Another exchange of fleshly thinking versus spiritual understanding: while Scrooge says he is “liable to fall” in the physical sense, the Spirit takes it in the moral sense and entreats Scrooge to open his heart to him—“and you shall be upheld in more than this.
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‘Bear but a touch of my hand there,’ said the Spirit, laying it upon his heart,’ and you shall be upheld in more than this.’
Scrooge encounters the Ghost of Christmas Past