Before we leave all thoughts about Christmas behind for another year…

“Think about the familiar words from Luke 2. If you study other religions and read about the birth of Hercules or the birth of the gods in Hinduism or the birth of the gods in Shintoism the stories are nothing like Luke 2.

In those days [a certain time in history] a decree [something that the Romans issued from time to time…] went out from Caesar Augustus [a known world figure] that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria [an extra bit of history which shows that Luke is trying to be meticulous, even if scholars today aren’t sure where to place Quirinius chronologically]. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph [a historical person] also went up from Galilee [a specific region], from the town of Nazareth [a specific town], to Judea [another specific region], to the city of David [more historical background], which is called Bethlehem [another specific town we have record of], because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child [more background information]. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

There is nothing in here that sounds like fairy tale and everything to prove that Luke means this to be verifiable, accurate, precise, historical fact.”

– Kevin DeYoung