2:1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, in the time of King Herod, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem 2:2 saying, “Where is the one who is born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
As to the identity of this star:
1. Some regard the entire story as fictional. Ehrman (Jesus, Interrupted) makes no attempt to make sense of the account. …
How does ‘main-stream’ critical scholarship deal with the biblical narratives of the birth of Jesus?
What follows is based on this article by Helen K. Bond, senior lecturer in New Testament at the University of Aberdeen. I also draw on her book The Historical Jesus: A Guide For the Perplexed (HJ). A similar line is taken by Rodolfo Galvan Estrada III in this article.
First, Bond notes that only Matthew and Luke record Jesus’ birth, and their stories are quite different. …
The lively remembrance of the Savior’s birth should not be confined to any certain days in the year but should call forth our gratitude and praise every day. We read nothing in the New Testament of setting apart one particular day for the celebration of this great event. The minds of the apostles and primitive disciples were so imbued with the spirit of the gospel that they appear to have disregarded those external circumstances and associations which have, since, so greatly occupied the thoughts of men. …
Peter Mead suggests some starting points from which the creatively-challenged preacher might approach the message of Christmas:-
Prophecies from the Old Testament such as Isaiah 7:14, Isaiah 9:6, Micah 5:2, or Jeremiah 31:15.
People from Matthew’s genealogy – the women, for example (each of whom has an interesting story to tell!), or the Gentiles (suggesting the greater scope of the Christmas hope).
Themes – the ‘Immanuel’ (God with us) theme, for example, beginning with Isaiah 7:14-9:7), continuing with Matthew 1, and then moving on to Matthew 28:20.…
V13 – ‘When they had gone’ – that same night?
Whatever happened to the gold, frankincense and myrrh?
Three places – three prophecies. Not always 1:1 prediction/fulfilment (cf. Mt 2:5/Mic 5:2); they are more like ‘patterns’.
Border about 75 miles away. Many Jews living there.
V15 – ‘And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”’ (Hos 11:1)
Hos 11:1 not a prediction, but a glance back to the Exodus.…
It was J. Gresham Machen, in Christianity and Liberalism, who commented that thorough-going theological liberalism is actually a different religion from orthodox Christianity. It is, in fact, a different kind of religion.
This observation was borne out in a recent discussion on Premier Christian Radio’s Unbelievable? show between Ben Witherington III and Stephen Thornton. Ben is an evangelical biblical scholar, Stephen a retired URC minister of liberal persuasion.
The topic under consideration was the narratives of Jesus’ birth as recorded in Matthew and Luke. …
As everyone knows, Christmas is a curious mixture of pagan, folk, and Christian traditions. The ways in which these different strands have led to the Christmas that we now experience (endure?) in the West have been helpfully outlined in this BBC article.…
February 2012 is the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Dickens.
Writing in Evangelicals Now, Ann Benton offers several points of interest in Dickens’ writings. Here’s a summary:-
1. His characterisation. Dickens’ characters are superbly described. We can see their mannerisms, their clothes, their gait. We can hear them talking. He saw the world vividly, and enjoyed observing peoples’ diversity and peculiarities. He had a deep psychological understanding of the reasons why people think and behave as they do. …
It all came together in last night’s final episode of the BBC’s ‘The Nativity’.
Jupiter, Saturn, and Regulus came together in an improbably brilliant and sudden conjunction.
Mary and Joseph came together in a somewhat contrived joining of hands as she gave birth to her first-born.
The shepherds came together to greet the new baby, as did the three Magi a few moments later.
As with the previous three episodes, there was something rather thoughtful and human about the reactions of the various participants. …
The Daily Express has melodramatically announced that there is ‘fury over BBC’s nativity insult’:-
The BBC has angered Christians with a TV drama in which the Virgin Mary is branded a prostitute and sex cheat.
Already, there is a danger of too little light being obscured by too much smoke. The Express only cites one angry Christian – Stephen Green, of Christian Voice. And I think his criticism is misplaced.
I’ve seen the first three episodes of this drama (the fourth and last is to be broadcast tomorrow). …
