History

Was Jesus raised in a ‘poor’ family?

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It is fascinating to see the way that traditions have grown up around the celebration of Christmas, and how many of those traditions are not merely absent from the Bible, but in fact contradict not only the content of the Bible, but the heart of its message. Somehow, where the birth narratives in Scripture are all about something amazing that God has done, these Christmas traditions become moralistic tales about what we need to do.

As a result, the central message of the incarnation (and therefore of the Christmas season), that God has come to us, and this demands a response on our part to him (of repentance and faith) ends up becoming a morality tale. Instead of responding urgently to the coming of his kingdom into our lives, we just need to try harder and make some new New Year’s resolutions. It is, in effect, a secularising of the message.

And these traditions are very hard to dislodge! Traditional understanding has a deep grip on us—and this means we are deeply resistant to hearing the real challenge of God ‘tabernacling amongst us’ in the person of Jesus.

I therefore continue to seek to debunk these mythical traditions. One of the most deeply engrained is that Jesus was, unlike us, born as a poor boy into a poor family, so that we should feel sorry both for him and for the poor people around us. (Note that this message is addressed only to the comparatively wealthy!). This is a long read, but I hope you find it worthwhile, since it seeks to debunk not just this tradition about Christmas, but also a series of unrealistic and inattentive readings of the life of Jesus in the gospels.

Enjoy! (And if you enjoy, share it…!)

Was Jesus born in December?

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One of the problems about the development of traditions around Christmas is that people writing hymns or plays set Jesus’ birth in their own world rather than in what we know of the first century. In particular, many assume that Jesus was born in winter, since Christmas is celebrated in winter in the northern hemisphere. … Continue Reading

The elephant in the nativity room?

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John Hudghton writes: Around this time of year my nerdy mind turns to constructing an authentic biblical nativity scene. This amuses my family, to say the least. I try to take on board the lessons of biblical scholarship that Ian Paul has usefully and consistently emphasised for years now. Sadly, this is something which is … Continue Reading

Is Luke a gospel of symbolism?

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Twelve years ago I presented a paper at the international Society of Biblical Literature comparing the symbolism of Luke with that of John. There has been a widespread view that John is a ‘spiritual’ or symbolic gospel, and that is true at one level, though John often includes more historical and eye-witness detail than the … Continue Reading

Is ‘Christian nationalism’ a contradiction in terms?

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Martyn Whittock writes: Where should we stand on the subject of ‘Christian nationalism’? As a Christian historian (with a very eclectic set of interests, and having written about early-medieval national origins, attempts at theocracy in the 17th century, and modern European dictatorships) I am very conflicted about the combination of faith and nation. And I … Continue Reading