birth narratives

Rebutting Dan Mcclellan’s Attempt at Debunking the Virgin Birth

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You know it’s Christmas when you get your annual lump of coal with the whole ‘Matthew invented the virgin birth’ schtick. This time, it’s from TikTok’s favorite cynical biblical scholar, Dan McClellan: The virgin birth is a tradition that seems to have developed decades after Jesus’s death, primarily because of a poor translation of a passage from the Hebrew Bible…. The earliest writings we have about Jesus, the writings of Paul and the gospel of Mark, say absolutely nothing at all about any virgin birth. Paul’s really only concerned with the resurrected Jesus, and Mark’s story starts with the beginning of his ministry and his baptism. It’s not until after that that people are starting … Read more

Unraveling the Genealogical Mystery: Resolving the Alleged Contradiction in the Gospels

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The Gospels provide us with valuable teachings, history, and inspiration. However, they also contain parts that can be confusing, with apparent contradictions. One such challenge involves the family history of Jesus in Matthew and Luke. It seems like these genealogies don’t match up much at all, which can be puzzling. As noted biblical critic Bart Ehrman points out: “The real problem they pose, however, is that the two genealogies are actually quite different” (Jesus Interrupted, p. 37). But if we dig deeper and consider the historical context, we can find the real story behind this supposed contradiction. Matthew 1:16—“…and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is … Read more

Holy Koolaid Ruins Christmas

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In his video 12 Contradictions in the Bible, Holy Kool-Aid includes the standard list of complaints against the Christmas narratives. Leave it to the skeptics to try and stuff a lump of coal in the stockings of Christians every year. Let’s see what Thomas has for us: Two of the four canonical gospels even tell the story of Jesus’ birth. And these two accounts are irreconcilably different. In both stories, Jesus is born in Bethlehem. But in Matthew, after Jesus’ birth, King Herod hears about baby Jesus described as the future king of the Jews. He feels threatened and has every baby under the age of two slaughtered while Jesus’ parents Mary and Joseph escape … Read more

Is Jesus Alive?