The
First Christmas: What the Gospels Really Teach About Jesus' Birth
by Marcus Borg & John
Dominic Crossan
The response to the two studies of this book have been GREAT! Thirty-one (31) people have been participating! Because of this positive response, I felt it would be worthwhile to recommend this book to those who have not been able to participate in the discussion.
Often, when we look at the birth narratives in Matthew and Luke, we just look at them as a story about Jesus’ birth – nothing more. The point of this book, which is VERY enlightening, is that there is meaning in these stories that is “more-than-literal, more-than-factual.”
Similarly, often we think that the things happening in the 1st century at the time these stories were written down is only background. Using the analogy of backdrops (background) that one might find at a photography study, Borg and Crossan note, “You will not be warm in front of a sunny beach as background, but you could get third-degree burns from one as context. You will not be cold in front of an icy glacier [backdrop], but you could die of hypothermia from one as context.” Thus, just as one would not write a biography of Martin Luther King, Jr. without discussing American racism and the civil rights movement, we must realize that we should pay close attention to the context of Jesus’ birth and the time in which these stories were written. Therefore, this book goes into great detail on the historical context of the 1st century.
If you read this and would like to discuss parts with me, let me know!
Look for this book in our church library or to purchase one of these books for $15, contact Rev. Troy Sims or order it here: