So often we are told that Jesus was born into a poverty-stricken family.
There’s only one snag.
They weren’t.
By the standards of their day Joseph and Mary were moderately well off but no more. But by our standards they were poor and Jesus should have had a 50-50 chance of living until he was five.
Here Ian Paul challenges the romanticising of the Holy family as poor
They possibly lived in a house like this
It’s a good read.
The way the nativity as presented is so often cloying and almost reduced to a fairy story.
Here this blog by Dr Ian Paul does his usual stuff, by wrenching us away from Christian slush and making us consider what actually happened and why it is important today.
The three things are;
The shepherds who were unpoor
The swaddling clothes – a first century babygro
The women – Mary was not alone as there were several women (probably relatives), so Joseph could get some sleep!!
Yes Jesus was real, born in areal time in a real place and is important for us today
That’s true, Jesus was not born in a stable, there no three kings on scooters.
This 2020 cartoon is as accurate as most popular renditions
In previous years I’ve given my own version, partially cribbed from Ian’s previous articles.
However as Ian Paul knows and understands the New Testament far better than I , I simply re-blog his 2020 version of “Jesus was not born in a stable”.
https://michaelroberts4004.wordpress.com/2014/12/16/away-with-the-manger/
This is not scepticism nor deconstruction, but simply trying to sort out where Jesus was born and in what type of building from the best historical evidence. This has been known for years but ignored.
It may even disturb the sensitive!!
Anyway, read Ian and see there was no stable!!
Source: Jesus wasn’t born in a stable—and that makes all the difference | Psephizo
Source: Jesus wasn’t born in a stable—and that makes all the difference | Psephizo
An interesting and useful discussion of Joseph the non-dad who became a dad.
Yup, i’m a bit trad on this. I hope no one minds!
Source: What does Joseph add to the story of Jesus’ origins in Matthew 1? | Psephizo
I reblog this interesting article on Mary.
It is strong in places but gets rid of the very meek teenage girl
Too much of the Christmas story is presented as sentimental tosh
