List of Christmas myths
( The Bible's story of the birth of Jesus by
Steve Rudd)
https://ramamohanraocheruku.blogspot.com/2021/12/list-of-christmas-myths-bibles-story-of.html
MYTH #1: Christmas on December 25th is found in the Bible.
TRUTH: There is no celebration of the birth of Christ in the Bible on
any day, but began through human tradition to be celebrated about 250 AD in the
spring and on December about 325 AD.
MYTH #2: December 25 is the birthday of Jesus.
TRUTH: December 25 was the birthday of Mithra, the pagan God of light.
In 325 AD, Roman emperor Constantine re-assigned the meaning to the birthday of
Jesus, the true God of light. The Christian meaning over
MYTH #3: Mary wanted to spend the night at an inn, but there were no "motel
rooms" available because the inn was full.
TRUTH: There was no space (room) in the "upper room" of a
private house because other family members had got there first, not a public
inn, motel, hotel etc.
MYTH #4: Mary remained a virgin until the day of her death.
TRUTH: Although Joseph did not have sex with Mary until after she gave
birth to Jesus, Mary and Joseph had many other children: “Is not this the
carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary, and His brothers, James and
Joseph and Simon and Judas? “And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where
then did this man get all these things?” (Matthew 13:55-56)
MYTH #5: They spent the night in a separate building like a barn where
the animals were kept.
TRUTH: There was no room on the upper floor of the house so they spent
the night on the main floor of the house where the animals were kept inside the
house. Most ancient Jewish houses had a common area on the main floor,
including a manger where animals ate and slept at night, and an upper room where
everyone slept. It is possible that there was a separate barn, but this would
often be attached to the house directly.
MYTH #6: There were three wise men.
TRUTH: There were three gifts, gold frankincense and myrrh. There may
have been 10 wise men, we don’t know, but each of them likely brought some gold
frankincense and myrrh. Since these were common currency items of value, each
wise man, regardless of the actual number, brought a little of all three.
MYTH #7: The star of Bethlehem shone over the manger the night Jesus
was born.
TRUTH: The wise men did not come to Jerusalem until after Mary had
purified on day 33 after the birth of Jesus. It was at that point the star
began to move slowly ahead of the wise men till it hovered over the place Jesus
was located. This means that the star was not hovering over Jesus the night he
was born. The star shone over a house, not a barn or an inn. "And they
came into the house and saw the Child with Mary His mother" (Matthew
2:11). It is never called "the star of Bethlehem", simply, "His
star". The shepherds were directed by an angel (not a star) to the manger
of Jesus the night he was born. The star led the "wise men from the
east", who traveled at least 700 km from the Persian or Babylonian area,
to the house of Joseph and Mary. This trip would take at least 30 days after
the birth of Jesus when you average 25 km per day travel time. After Jesus had
been circumcised on the 8th day in the temple, and Mary performed her
purification on the 33rd day, Jesus may have been taken to Joseph's home in
Nazareth and this is where the star led the wise men: “When they had performed
everything according to the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their
own city of Nazareth.” (Luke 2:39). The star, therefore, might have shone over
Nazareth, not Bethlehem. The flight to Egypt did not happen until after Mary's
purification on the 33rd day. Only after this did the Magi arrive in Jerusalem.
They were directed to Bethlehem, not by the star, but because Jewish
authorities quoted Micah 5:2. However, the redirection of the Magi to an
alternate return route coupled with the same hour of the night urgent
departure, both lend weight to the star leading the Magi to the same house
Jesus was born.
MYTH #8: The wise men arrived the night Jesus was born in a manger.
TRUTH: The shepherds came to the manger (Luke 2:8-10), but not the
wise men came to Joseph's house. In fact, Herod orders the slaughter of the
babies two years of age and younger. This means that the child would be well
under two years old, in order that no error could be made in killing Jesus, but
it also indicates that Jesus was older than a newborn.
MYTH #9: God wants Christians to remember and celebrate the birthday
of Christ!
TRUTH: The scriptures do not tell us to celebrate the birth of Christ
but to celebrate His death... and not once a year at "Easter" but
every Sunday through the Lord's Supper. (Acts 20:7)
