Saturday, December 24, 2005

The Historicity Of The First Christmas

Earlier this morning, I posted the last of my Apologetics Log segments on Christmas, on the subject of Jesus' birthplace. Here are descriptions of each of the twelve segments, with links to each one:

In the introduction to the series, I discuss why the issues surrounding the historicity of the infancy narratives are important. I address the historical context in which the New Testament claims about Jesus' childhood were made, such as the availability of information from relatives of Jesus and the interest in Jesus' background that the early enemies of Christianity would have had. I also address the unity of the infancy narratives with the remainder of their respective gospels, in response to those who argue that the original gospels didn't have the infancy accounts.

The second segment addresses the genre of the infancy narratives.

In the third segment, I discuss the historical reliability of Matthew and Luke.

The fourth segment addresses internal evidence for the historicity of the infancy narratives.

Segment five discusses some reasons why the infancy narratives in Matthew and Luke differ from each other without contradicting each other.

Segment six addresses alleged inconsistencies between the infancy narratives and the accounts of Jesus' later life. If Mary, the people of Nazareth, and others knew about the miracles surrounding Jesus' birth, why would they be surprised by His miracles later in life or oppose Him during His public ministry?

The seventh segment addresses the census and the genealogies.

In the eighth segment, I discuss the slaughter of the Bethlehem children and the flight into Egypt.

The ninth segment is about the virgin birth.

Segment ten discusses whether Jesus was descended from David.

The eleventh segment is about the Bethlehem prophecy in Micah 5. Is it Messianic? Is the Bethlehem referred to in that passage a city? Or is it some other entity, such as a clan?

The twelfth segment addresses the issue of where Jesus was born. Did He fulfill the Bethlehem prophecy of Micah?