Ex-Church of Christ Support Board

Merry Christmas and/or Happy Holidays to you all.

Best Wishes for the New Year.

teresa

DON'T TELL ME WHAT KIND OF CHRISTMAS OR HOLIDAYS TO HAVE!!! Just kidding...Thank you and you have a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays as well.

LOL. You scared me for a second.

There are two documents about the birth of Jesus: Matthew and Luke. In Matthew the birth appears to take place while Herod the Great was still alive. Herod died in 6 BCE. In Luke it is while Cyrenius was governor of Syria. That is 4 CE. That is a difference of around 10 years. Also shepherd's would not have been leaving sheep out at night for predators to eat in winter. There is much that gets mixed up between to two versions. I have heard an apologist say that Cyrenius served twice. I can see no proof of that. When you check one gospel against another you will find a lack of correspondence. The gospels were written by humans. In general we do not know which humans. They were given names to identify them. I am aware of many places. The gospels are testimonies of Jesus. Are they written by eyewitnesses. No eyewitness was everywhere. Some date it to as late as 70 CE. Peter and Paul died under Nero who was dead in 68 CE. There are arguments for an earlier dating.

ena wrote:There are two documents about the birth of Jesus: Matthew and Luke. In Matthew the birth appears to take place while Herod the Great was still alive. Herod died in 6 BCE. In Luke it is while Cyrenius was governor of Syria. That is 4 CE. That is a difference of around 10 years. Also shepherd's would not have been leaving sheep out at night for predators to eat in winter. There is much that gets mixed up between to two versions. I have heard an apologist say that Cyrenius served twice. I can see no proof of that. When you check one gospel against another you will find a lack of correspondence. The gospels were written by humans. In general we do not know which humans. They were given names to identify them. I am aware of many places. The gospels are testimonies of Jesus. Are they written by eyewitnesses. No eyewitness was everywhere. Some date it to as late as 70 CE. Peter and Paul died under Nero who was dead in 68 CE. There are arguments for an earlier dating.

Stylistically speaking the gospel records do seem to contradict one another.

B.H. wrote: Stylistically speaking the gospel records do seem to contradict one another.

They were written by different people who had different perspectives on Jesus. No one can be everywhere at once. With the passage of time different stories will evolve with different details. There is a reason for tax assessment when Cyrenius took over Judea. There is no reason for it under Herod the Great. Nor is the killing of children mentioned elsewhere. The reason Bethlehem is mentioned is because it is mentioned an Old Testament prophesy about the birth of David and/or Jesus. Luke was well aware of differing stories and chose the one he agreed with. He does mention in the days of Herod but Herod has been dead for at least 10 years. You will find some inconsistences but you cannot cross examine the dead. Faulty memory perhaps.

Luke 1 KJV
1 Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us,

2 Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word;

3 It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus,

4 That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed.

ena wrote:

B.H. wrote: Stylistically speaking the gospel records do seem to contradict one another.

They were written by different people who had different perspectives on Jesus. No one can be everywhere at once. With the passage of time different stories will evolve with different details. There is a reason for tax assessment when Cyrenius took over Judea. There is no reason for it under Herod the Great. Nor is the killing of children mentioned elsewhere. The reason Bethlehem is mentioned is because it is mentioned an Old Testament prophesy about the birth of David and/or Jesus. Luke was well aware of differing stories and chose the one he agreed with. He does mention in the days of Herod but Herod has been dead for at least 10 years. You will find some inconsistences but you cannot cross examine the dead. Faulty memory perhaps.

Luke 1 KJV
1 Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us,

2 Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word;

3 It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus,

4 That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed.

Yes, but the "scriptures" are supposed to be divinely inspired, every word, so, the details should be spot on yet there are huge variances. Unless one can ignore these variances it becomes quite problematic to accept the Bible as a divinely inspired, inerrant thing.