Gary L. Colledge - God and Charles Dickens: Recovering the Christian Voice of a Classic Author

I would certainly be remiss if I failed to express my deepest appreciation and sincere thanks to the handful of family and friends who contributed to the writing of this book in ways that most of them are probably unaware.

Let me begin by thanking everyone at Brazos for their warm reception of the manuscript, their interest in the project, and their careful work on it at every stage of the process. It has been my privilege and a joy to work with such capable and friendly folks.

I would also like to express my gratitude to Dr. Bruce Longenecker (Baylor University), who was instrumental in providing opportunity for the work and research that would eventually produce this book. From the inception of the original project to its publication here, Bruces unobtrusive support and sincere interest has helped give it shape. Thanks, too, to my friend Craig Clapper, pastor of Trinity Evangelical Free Church (South Bend, Indiana), who queried with his characteristic frankness, What does Dickens have to say to the church? and who then invited me to share my answer with his congregation. The conversations I enjoyed with Craig on Dickens and the church provided the impetus for the rough outline of this work.

Don Alexander, my good friend and mentor, read and discussed chapters five and six with me and provided a careful critique in a very short time. Over the years, Don and I have had countless discussions concerning the church and I have benefitted greatly from his wisdom and insight. I thank him for his contribution to this volume.

My work colleagues and friends at Summa Western Reserve Hospital (Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio) have consistently expressed a genuine excitement for the project and regularly offered generous words of encouragement, for which I am grateful. I extend special thanks to Joe Spiros, my supervisor at work, for his accommodation of my writing schedule and his enthusiastic support for the project.

I could never have completed this project without the unwavering support of my family. While that may seem a tired and clichd expression to some, anyone who has ever undertaken the sort of solitary and time-intensive project writing sometimes can be knows how true such an expression is. My childrenand my best friendsEmily, Kristen, Jonathan, and Rachel, always exhibited an extraordinary excitement for anything and everything related to the writing processwhether that was the turning of a phrase, the working out of an argument, the completion of a chapter, the finishing of the manuscript, or the final submission to the publisher. And they always made me feel like this would be the most important book the world would ever see. Saying a simple thank you to them seems quite inadequate.

My deepest gratitude goes to Marla, my wife. She endured endless conversations (and even more ramblings) about Dickens, about religion, about Dickens and religion, about all things Dickensian, and even about the writing process. She read, she thought, she formulated, she outlined with me. And she did it all with patience, grace, interest, and selfless love. Her influence is inscribed on every page of this book. A mere thank you is surely not enough. Nevertheless, I express that thanks, and while doing so I am reminded of how Dickens brings his David Copperfield to a close. As David reflects on the many faces in his memory, he is soon brought to reflect on the face of his wife, Agnes. But one face, David writes, shining on me like a Heavenly light by which I see all other objects, is above them and beyond them all. And that remains. I turn my head, and see it, in its beautiful serenity, beside me. My lamp burns low, and I have written far into the night; but the dear presence, without which I were nothing, bears me company. I know exactly what David is talking about.