sententia

The most common questions that are posed to you when you study religion(s) academically often are about the historical Jesus. Did he exist? Are the stories accurate?

Given that it’s the Christmas season, it makes sense to look at the historicity of the nativity story. Here’s a question as it was posed to me, from a reader:

“[D]o you know where the nativity story originated? I mean, how could anyone know what the circumstances around J’s birth — would his family or neighbors have reported stories, or should the story be considered to be mythical? I’m just wondering what the scholarly take on that story is. ”

Recapping the Story

So for those of you who aren’t familiar with the nativity story (yes, such a thing is not unheard of — nor actually all that uncommon), here’s a brief run-down…

An angel visits a young woman named Mary and tells her that she is going to have a baby. Mary says “but I’m a virgin”. Angel says “that’s okay, God has given you a child anyways. His name will be Jesus.”

Skip ahead 9 months, and Mary and her husband Joseph are in Bethlehem because of a government-mandated census. There was (famously) no room in the inn, and so Joseph and a very pregnant virgin Mary go into the stable and Jesus is born (and placed in a manger, where the cattle are lowing and the baby awakes and the little Lord Jesus no crying he … er… ahem. Sorry about that).

Some shepherds are out in the fields when a whole bunch of angels appear to them and say “hey dudes, the Saviour has been born in Bethlehem. Peace! Good will to men!” (okay, probably not quite like that). So the shepherds rush to Bethlehem and worship the Christ-child.

Some two years later, a group of wise men (magi) also have made their way to visit the Christ-child, and they bring him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

Where Do We Find This Stuff?

Now, the story I just related is the common mix of accounts that you usually hear around Christmas time, and draws upon the New Testament gospels of Matthew and Luke, and also a bunch of carols (sorry if you have any stuck in your head).

“Wait!” I hear you say. “Aren’t there four gospels?”

Well, yes. There are four canonical gospels, plus loads of other accounts which didn’t make it into the Bible. But if you open up your Bibles and look for the nativity story in the gospels of Mark and John, you’d be hard-pressed to find it. It’s completely absent.

The Earliest Gospel: Mark

The book of Mark was the earliest of the canonical gospels, written sometime between 50-70 — in other words, some 30-ish years after Jesus’ death. And it begins with Jesus’ baptism. There’s no nativity story, no virgin birth, no angelic visits, and no wise men in this one. Interestingly, the same book ends with Jesus’ death. No resurrection, either. But that’s a whole ‘nother can of worms.

Now Matthew and Luke basically rewrote and recompiled Mark, added in some things that they thought were important, took out some other things, and gave their version of events. They did include nativity stories, albeit significantly different versions. Luke gives us the angelic visitation, the census, the manger and the shepherds. It’s also the only gospel which tells us anything (however little) about Jesus’ early childhood. Matthew gives a slightly different angelic visitation, and adds in the bit about the wise men.

The Latest Gospel: John

And then there’s John. John is totally different in style from the other gospels, so maybe its not surprising that there too, there’s no nativity. The Gospel of John was written last of the four — probably around 120 — and is considerably more “esoteric.” There’s no nativity story in John’s gospel, either.

Other Writings

Other non-canonical gospels — those that didn’t make it into our modern Bibles — also are split on the issue of the nativity.

Our arguably earliest gospel is the Sayings Gospel of Thomas. However, this gospel isn’t exactly a narrative — it’s just a collection of quotes. But there is no mention of the nativity or birth of Jesus there either.

In fact, there’s also no nativity story in the earliest Christian writings, the letters of Paul. So our earliest Gospel (the Sayings Gospel), our earliest canonical Gospel (Mark), and our earliest canonical writings (Paul’s letters) all are without a virgin birth story.

That’s not to suggest that Matthew and Luke are our only sources for the nativity account. For example, the Infancy Gospel of James (also known as the Protoevangelium of James), not only tells the story of the birth of Jesus, but also of that of Mary. So both extremes are present in the earliest Christian writings.

So What Does This Tell Us?

So… our earliest sources don’t tell us anything about the birth of Jesus, but our later ones do. What happened? Were these stories just missed in the earlier versions, or were they made up, or what?

Making an argument from silence is never a good move — just because a something isn’t said doesn’t mean that it automatically doesn’t exist — but it does raise suspicion. And if there was a virgin birth, that would have been a pretty big deal at the time. Especially when, in the Greco-Roman context of early Christianity, such was an attribution reserved for the sacred births of gods and heros.

Add into the fact that the scholar’s position is one of standing outside the religion and looking at it as objectively as possible. Objectively? A virgin birth without modern science doesn’t really make much sense. Scholar’s can’t assume a divine presence in the world, and so the typical response of the scholar to this question is “it’s a myth.”

The Nativity Myth

But don’t forget, myth doesn’t mean untrue. Ask any religious studies scholar worth their salt if the nativity story is a myth, and they’ll say “yup.” Ask them if it’s true. They’ll say “yup”. Ask them if it’s historical. They’ll say “I highly, highly doubt it.”

Remember, we can say that a myth is true without meaning that it is true in a historical sense. A myth is any story that is true to someone. There are plenty of Christians who believe adamantly in the nativity story. It’s true to them. So it’s their myth, and as such, it is deserving of respect.

But that doesn’t mean that it is necessarily historical. It’s a myth, written for the edification of Christ-followers then and now. It’s Christian myth, and Christian truth.

For another look at this issue, check out Matthew’s Nativity is charming and frightening… but it’s a Jewish myth.