Christmas Myths

"Even knowledgeable Christians may expect to find the familiar story of Christmas in each of the four Gospels: the journey of Mary on a donkey accompanied by Saint Joseph, the child's birth in a manger surrounded by animals, shepherds and angels, with the Wise Men appearing shortly afterward.

But two of the Gospels say nothing about Jesus' birth. The Gospel of Mark - the earliest of the Gospels, written roughly 30 years after Jesus's crucifixion - does not have a word about the Nativity. Instead it begins with the story of John the Baptist, who announces the impending arrival of the adult Jesus of Nazareth.

The Gospel of John is similarly silent about Jesus' birth.

The two Gospels that do mention what theologians call the "infancy narratives" differ on some significant details. Matthew seems to describe Mary and Joseph as living in Bethlehem, fleeing to Egypt and then moving to Nazareth.

Was Jesus an illegal immegrant?

The Gospel of Luke, on the other hand, has the two originally living in Nazareth, traveling to Bethlehem in time for the birth and then returning home.

...Catholics, myself included, believe that Mary's pregnancy came about miraculously - what we call the "virgin birth."

...Catholics also believe that Mary remained a virgin her entire life, though many Protestants do not.

So when Catholics stumble upon Gospel passages that speak of Jesus' brothers and sisters, they are often confused.

In the Gospel of Luke, someone tells Jesus: "Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you."

In Mark's Gospel, people from Nazareth exclaim: "Is not this the carpenter's son? ... Are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?

And are not all his sisters with us?"

Even Saint Paul called James "the Lord's brother."

...Many Catholic scholars maintain that Jesus indeed had brothers and sisters - perhaps through an earlier marriage of Joseph.

Gift-giving, for example, was seen as problematic as early as the Middle Ages, when the church frowned on the practice for its supposed pagan origins.

...The first few Christmas stamps issued by the U.S. Postal Service in the early 1960s featured not the familiar Madonna and Child, but a bland wreath, an anodyne Christmas tree and sprigs of greenery.

...How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer - have little to do with the birth of Christ and are more about vague holiday celebrations and, mostly, gifts.

James