Another Christmas Tradition

CHRISTMAS SPECIAL
2016

Most of us are fairly familiar with the birth accounts found in Matthew and Luke, even if we jumble the two stories together in our heads, or mix up which one has the wise men and which one has the shepherds. Many details that are displayed in the Nativity, whether in a set of statues, in songs, or in movies, are not found in the Bible. We almost always see exactly 3 wise men (which is based on Matthew's account), but never does the author of Matthew indicate the exact number of wise men present.  We also always see the birth of Jesus set in a stable filled with animals (which is based on Luke's account), but never does the author of Luke specify that Jesus was born in a stable, nor that animals were present at all, only that he was placed in a manger after he was born because there was no room in the inn. And of course, there is no mention in either Matthew or Luke of the Little Drummer Boy.

Many of these extra details outside of Matthew and Luke that have become so familiar to us are not unreasonable. After all, the wise men present 3 gifts to baby Jesus, so maybe each was from one corresponding wise man. If baby Jesus was placed in a manger, maybe he was born in the shelter of a stable, and there were animals in it at the time. Who knows?

Part of the reason it is so easy to fill in additional details around the birth of Christ is because we are not given a lengthy account in either Matthew or Luke. Indeed, of the 28 chapters of Matthew, only 2 are dedicated to the birth of Jesus, and only 1 in the 24 chapters of Luke. In fact, because both stories found in Matthew and Luke are so lacking in detail, it is easy for Christians to combine them as if they really told one coherent story, despite the fact that the key details described in each are dramatically different.^[1]

Despite the authors' brevity on the subject, we are still obsessed with the story, and can't help but want and supply more details to it. This is not new, either. In fact, a once-very-popular third account of the birth of Jesus still survives today, which not only weaves both Matthew and Luke's stories into one narrative, but also adds its own substantial details that didn't make it into our modern versions of the Nativity. This account is know as the Gospel of James.

Killing Goliath

MAKING GOD'S WORD
Part 3

The story of David and Goliath is a favorite among many Christians, and it's easy to see why. In it we see David, a young shepherd boy, fearlessly take on a warrior renowned for his giant stature, and emerge victorious, bringing glory to his people and his god. As a kid, this story was important to me; it reminded me that if God was with me, I didn't have to be afraid of even the biggest of bullies.

As I began to study the Bible academically, I realized that some of the details I found most inspiring in the story of David and Goliath weren't necessarily well grounded in history. Was David really a mere shepherd boy? Was Goliath really 9.5 feet tall? Was David really the one who killed him? It is this story that I now turn to as my second example of biblical editing, addressing these questions and their corresponding layers of editing along the way.

The Creations of the Cosmos

MAKING GOD'S WORD
Part 2

We don't need to look far for our first instance of biblical editing, which can be found in the very first chapters of the first book of the Bible: Genesis. In Genesis 1 and 2, we see two different accounts of the creation of the world and of humankind. As has been shown previously on this blog (see "Adam and Steve"), these two accounts contradict one another, and are generally thought to have been originally two separate stories that were eventually compiled into a single book (Genesis). This means that Genesis was not written by a single author, but rather is the product of multiple unknown authors, which was put together by an unidentified editor or series of editors.

This article will look at the two contradictory stories of creation found in Genesis 1 and 2. Since Genesis is part of the Torah (the first 5 books of the Bible, sometimes referred to as the Pentateuch), I will start by briefly presenting some of the prominent views in academia on how the Torah came to be composed as we have it today, and will then analyze the two creation myths within Genesis, noting instances of contradictions between the texts as well as significant differences in content.^[1]

MAKING GOD'S WORD

Part 1

Growing up in a Christian home, I believed that the Bible was made up of God's very words, and as such was perfect and sacred in every way. Yet at the same time, I knew the Bible was actually written by humans, not God. Being the inquisitive kid that I was, I often tried to imagine how this transfer of information between God and humanity worked. Did God speak from Heaven with a booming voice, telling the authors what to write down? Or did God speak in the authors' hearts to instruct them on exactly what to say, and the authors, being especially righteous, just had a good ear for hearing God's voice within them (which unfortunately I never had)? Or did the authors merely write these works themselves through their own will, and the Holy Spirit was just working in them to produce inspired scripture without them even knowing it?

In my adult life my religious views changed, but my inquisitive nature never did, and I am still interested in understanding how the Bible came to be written as we have it today. But even setting aside unanswerable questions regarding the inspiration of the Bible, I have realized the simple question "how was the Bible written?" is even more complicated than I could have thought. Not only do we not know who originally wrote most of the Bible, there is also substantial evidence that much of it has been anonymously edited for centuries after its original texts had been written.

What Is Religion?

The term "religion" gets thrown around a lot in books, TV shows, everyday conversations, and blogs (including this one!). But what does the term "religion" actually mean?

This is a surprisingly difficult question to answer. If we ask our friend Merriam-Webster, we find three definitions of religion:

1. the belief in a god or in a group of gods

2. an organized system of beliefs, ceremonies, and rules used to worship a god or a group of gods

3. an interest, a belief, or an activity that is very important to a person or group

While these three definitions may look similar, they are quite different. Definition 1 defines religion as a mere belief; Definition 2 defines religion as a system of beliefs, practices, AND rules; and Definition 3 defines religion as either an interest, belief, OR activity. So which is it?

The answer, of course, is it can be all three, depending on how a person uses the word. The subjective nature of religion can be seen by the fact that certain traditions are considered a religion by some, and not by others. For this article, we will be looking at one such contested tradition, Theravada Buddhism, to see how it lines up with our three example definitions above.