Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan have authored a book entitled, The First Christmas: What the Gospels Really Teach About Jesus’s Birth. As in their other books, they make the best of Biblical scholarship accessible to the church–and not just accessible, but also relevant.
In this volume they look at the nativity stories in Matthew and Luke, first with an eye to the meaning the two gospel writers were conveying to their contemporary readers, and then with an eye toward how that might affect the meaning the stories may have for us. Helping us to understand the first century context in which the Gospels appeared let’s us see that these wonderful and loved stories of Jesus’ birth have even more to them than we might have guessed. It also helps us to see how they relate to our 21st century context. Borg and Crossan are people of faith writing for people of faith, so their work helps us to better understand in fresher and deeper ways what it would actually mean to “put Christ back into Christmas.” You’ll want to read the book to see just what that might entail.
Remember, you can order it and other items or presents through Amazon at the church website.
