I'm so glad that Jesus was born in a manger

. . . and NOT in the editorial offices of Time or Newsweek. Ever careful to not directly condemn belief in the accuracy of Scripture, this genre of articles (which appear each major holiday to 1. sell magazines to Christians who see the beautiful classic Christian art work, and 2. assure all those agnostics, atheists and liberal religionists that the Jesus myth is okay as long as we take it to mean simply: be nice.) is yet another display of the great cultural divide on one side or the other of which we now reside. Suffice it to say that either magazine could have found any number of theologians, scholars, "experts" or even regular church-going folk to provide the other side.

What would the other side say? First that if this Jesus story is merely a myth, then the authors of the Bible themselves urge you to ignore or reject it. See 2 Peter 1:16 "For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. " and as St. Paul says: 'Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the death, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised, and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation has been in vain and your faith is in vain.' (1 Cor. 15:12-14) Second that the authors testify that they report accurately and died rather than refute any word of it. See the preface to Luke's Gospel and the above petrine quote. Also they would answer the specific false claims one by one.

This is now done all over the internet by many. See Belief Seeking Understanding http://beliefseekingunderstanding.patriotforum.org/archives/000624.html

Mark Roberts http://www.markdroberts.com/htmfiles/resources/jesusbirth.htm#dec904 (the first of a five part series)
and

George Sim Johnson http://www.opinionjournal.com/taste/?id=110006008 I liked this money quote: " But these scholars don't even bother to look at certain ancient sources. In the early third century, for example, Origen, one of the most brilliant men of his age, could write: "In Bethlehem you are shown the cave where he was born. . . . These things which they show you are recognized in the district." This is not perhaps clinching evidence; but people back then did have long memories, so why not accept this as corroboration of what the Gospel writers calmly report to be true?"

and Amy Welborn http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/1521605


and numerous others Catholics and protestants