This might seem a bit random, but this video popped up in my feeds and I happen to be taking a course on the New Testament from the Biblical Studies Academy, an online school for those interested in an academic approach to the Bible, set up by New Testament scholar Dr. Bart Ehrman. I’ve been re-examining my own experiences as a Biblical Studies student at Loyola Marymount and Biola Universities and the short time that I was a M.A. student of Theology at Fuller Seminary and find that I have a need to understand this part of my life, trying to appreciate what I’ve learned over the decades and what I still need to learn. I appreciate the role that my faith had as I was growing up and experiencing this life, and being the inquisitive, observant one who quietly didn’t take anything at face value, but the need to have a “changeable” attitude about said faith. As much as I wanted to understand and imagined that this would or could be understood in some simple fashion, the truth is that there’s nothing simple about what I called faith. And one can choose to ignore it, as I have over the past 17-years or try to re-integrate the parts that work and still have something to say. 

In the somewhat distance past I would have been with those who would not see any contradiction in the Nativity stories of Jesus and would have been with those who harmonize the narratives into one supposed historical story. But, I’ve since learned that there was a reason why Luke’s version is different from Matthew’s and also something being communicated by Mark and John in not having any birth narrative of Jesus at all in their renditions of the Life of Jesus of Nazareth. The four writers are sending their own messages in their versions of the story and the message is more important than what modern readers would call “historical facts.” They’re telling a story, a story with a message. And the message was important enough that they felt at ease rearranging elements of the story to fit their message. This is neither modern journalism, academic history or pure fiction. If there is a “sacred” element to all of this, it’s in the message the authors are trying to convey. At the same time, I fully appreciate that these are the works of men or schools of thought who are speaking to their ancient audiences and we get to listen in to their conversation… often not understanding the context or setting… but still believing that there is something important being shared by these long silenced voices from a long gone age. Enjoy. 

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Tags: ancient voices, biblical studies, Jesus nativity stories, not history, video Mondays

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