Christmas: The Facts About the Birth of Jesus Christ - Christmas Story of the Bible

What happened at Christmas when Jesus was born?

Historian Michael Hesemann explains how historical the Bible's Christmas story really is.

Everyone knows the Christmas story according to Luke.

But there is also a lot about the life and work of Jesus in the reports of the other evangelists Matthew, Mark and John.

But are the “good news”—the translation of the ancient Greek word gospels—that emerged half a century after Christ's death trustworthy historical documents?

Or are they a pious invention?

We spoke to the historian and author Michael Hesemann about these and other questions.

In his books Jesus of Nazareth.

Archaeologists in the footsteps of the Redeemer” (2009) and “Mary of Nazareth.

History, Archeology, Legends” (2011), both published by the St. Ulrich Verlag in Augsburg, he deals intensively with the story of the birth of Jesus.

His book "Jesus in Egypt: The Mystery of the Copts" sheds light on the history of the Coptic Christians.

The Christmas Story of the Bible: Testimonies of Faith or Historical Biographies?

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© Herbig Verlag

For a surprisingly large number of theologians, the gospels are purely testimonies of faith and not historical biographies.

At least that is the view of the school of “historical-critical exegesis” founded by the Protestant theologian Rudolf Bultmann (1884-1976), whose theses were also adopted by Catholics.

After that there must be nothing supernatural, God has never revealed himself in history.

Jesus was an itinerant apocalyptic preacher whose proclamation met with resistance in Judaism, which failed and was executed.

His disciples refused to accept the death of their master, insisting that he had risen and would live on.

Decades later, Christian communities put down in writing what they still knew and wanted to believe about Jesus – this is how the Gospels came about.

History, archeology and even papyrology have now shown that these beliefs are probably untenable.

A fragment of the Gospel of Mark may have been discovered in the caves of Qumran on the Dead Sea, which would have been written before the year 50.

Arguably the earliest gospel, then, could have been written within two decades of Christ's resurrection, while his memory was still alive.

Archaeological excavations show how precisely the authors of the Gospels described the Holy Land;

a whole range of details previously thought to be fictitious have been confirmed.

This suggests that the texts are based on eyewitness accounts, that they are trustworthy historical documents.

Of course, the “childhood stories” of Jesus, which are known to only be found in the Gospels according to Matthew and Luke, are particularly controversial.

According to the critics, they served the sole purpose of unfairly valuing Jesus.

Pagan myths would have been copied to impute supernatural procreation to him, his birth would have been transferred to Bethlehem, the city of David, to make him appear as the promised Messiah.

Rather, Jesus was born rather unspectacular and in small circumstances in Nazareth.

But can this view still be maintained today?

The story of the birth of Jesus - that is, the Christmas story as it is handed down to us in Matthew and Luke - contains a whole series of verifiable details.

Even apparent contradictions are resolved when one engages with 1st century Judaism.

century

v.

B.C.

Three monasteries at the baptismal site of Jesus accessible again

Is the Christmas Carol Tax Estimate a Historic Event?

"In those days Emperor Augustus issued the order that all inhabitants of the empire should be entered in tax lists.

(...) Then everyone went to his town to be registered.

So also Joseph went from the city of Nazareth (...) to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem;

for he was of the (...) lineage of David.

He wanted to be registered with Maria, his fiancee, who was expecting a child.

While they were there, (...) the time came for her to give birth, and she gave birth to her firstborn son.” (Lk 2:1-5)

Heseman:

Critics of the historicity of the Gospels claim that Luke only used Augustus' tax estimate to find an excuse to "lure" Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem, as it were, because according to Jewish belief the Messiah should be born there and not in Nazareth.

At first glance, their argument sounds plausible.

In fact, the Jewish historian Flavius ​​Josephus, who is our main source for the history of the Holy Land in Jesus' time, mentions a provincial appraisal that takes place in AD 6 when Judea becomes a Roman province.

This is of course much too late to be related to the birth of Jesus, who according to Luke 3:1 and 23 in the year 27/28 AD is "about 30 years old" and moreover, as Luke and Matthew affirm , "in the days of King Herod" (Mt 2:1; Lk 1:5), who was already born at the beginning of 4 B.C.

dies.

So one doesn't match the other...

However, Luke does not mention any provincial estimate either;

on the contrary, he claims that by order of Augustus "all the inhabitants of the empire should be entered in tax lists".

He also emphasized that "this happened for the first time", as if he wanted to differentiate himself from a second, later estimate.

Unfortunately, there is no ancient source that estimates taxes in Judea in the years before Herod's death, sometime between 8 and 4 BC.

BC, confirmed.

Nevertheless, we can be sure that one took place.

Why?

We learn from ancient sources, such as Tacitus and Dio Cassius, but also from Augustus' own report (res gestae) that he regularly "in the (vassal) kingdoms and provinces" of his entire sphere of influence, i.e. also in the vassal kingdom of Herod, " direct and indirect taxes” (Tacitus).

When Herod 4 B.C.

dies, the emperor exempts the Samaritans from their taxes, proving that figures are available at the time.

We also know that between 8 and 4 B.C.

Tax estimates are being made throughout the Middle East - about 7 B.C.

in the city-state of Apamea in northern Syria or 6 B.C.

in the neighboring Nabataean kingdom, today's Jordan.

At that time a Sentius Saturninus was governor of Syria,

but the later governor Quirinius was also active in this region: he lived from about 12 to 1 BC.

BC imperial supreme commander of the troops in the east of the empire and thus demonstrably also responsible for the tax estimates in the vassal kingdoms.

Now the Romans knew two types of taxes, head tax and land tax.

If you own land somewhere, you actually have to register in the tax lists there and not at your place of residence.

This is proven by ancient tax returns, such as those discovered in Israel and Egypt.

That would mean that a member of the Holy Family owned land in or near Bethlehem.

That can probably be ruled out in the case of Joseph, who works as a builder in Nazareth.

Imperial commander-in-chief of the troops in the east of the empire and thus demonstrably responsible for tax estimates in the vassal kingdoms.

Now the Romans knew two types of taxes, head tax and land tax.

If you own land somewhere, you actually have to register in the tax lists there and not at your place of residence.

This is proven by ancient tax returns, such as those discovered in Israel and Egypt.

That would mean that a member of the Holy Family owned land in or near Bethlehem.

That can probably be ruled out in the case of Joseph, who works as a builder in Nazareth.

Imperial commander-in-chief of the troops in the east of the empire and thus demonstrably responsible for tax estimates in the vassal kingdoms.

Now the Romans knew two types of taxes, head tax and land tax.

If you own land somewhere, you actually have to register in the tax lists there and not at your place of residence.

This is proven by ancient tax returns, such as those discovered in Israel and Egypt.

That would mean that a member of the Holy Family owned land in or near Bethlehem.

That can probably be ruled out in the case of Joseph, who works as a builder in Nazareth.

actually has to register in the tax lists there and not at his place of residence.

This is proven by ancient tax returns, such as those discovered in Israel and Egypt.

That would mean that a member of the Holy Family owned land in or near Bethlehem.

That can probably be ruled out in the case of Joseph, who works as a builder in Nazareth.

actually has to register in the tax lists there and not at his place of residence.

This is proven by ancient tax returns, such as those discovered in Israel and Egypt.

That would mean that a member of the Holy Family owned land in or near Bethlehem.

That can probably be ruled out in the case of Joseph, who works as a builder in Nazareth.

Joseph adopted by Mary's father

But with Maria?

Since St.

Paul emphasizes that Jesus is also descended "according to the flesh" from King David, she must also have been a Davididin, because St.

As is well known, Josef is only his adoptive father.

In fact, the "Protevangelium" claims that Mary's father was one Joachim, a wealthy cattle breeder of the house of David who sold sacrificial animals in Jerusalem.

So he may have owned grazing land in his clan's home village, which he inherited from his daughter.

In Judaism, of course, this is only possible if a daughter is the only child – as the “Protevangelium” claims – if her husband comes from the same clan and is pro forma adopted by her father.

Anyone who now compares the two genealogies of Jesus in Matthew and Luke recognizes that both are fundamentally different - for critics the proof that

that they are fictitious and are solely intended to prove that Jesus is actually descended from King David.

But if you read them more closely, you will notice an important difference.

The family tree in Matthew is a biological family tree: the Greek original speaks of “beget”, finally: “Jacob begot Joseph, the husband of Mary;

of her Jesus was born” (Mt 1:16).

This is Joseph's biological family tree, but only the legal family tree of his adopted son Jesus.

Completely different in Luke, where “the ancestors of Jesus” are named, but then only a list of names follows, without any reference to biological procreation: “He was thought to be the son of Joseph.

Joseph's ancestors were Eli...” (Luke 3:23).

Yes, what was the name of Joseph's father, Jakob or Eli?

In fact, Eli is short for Eliachim in Hebrew, which became "Joachim" in Latin, which is what Mary's father was called according to the "Protevangelium."

An accident?

No, if one assumes that the family tree in Luke is the biological family tree of Jesus and Mary, but the legal family tree of Joseph, who is adopted by Mary's father Eliachim = Joachim because she is an "heiress"!

This would also explain why both Mary and Joseph are of the house of David.

And also why they travel to Bethlehem for the tax assessment,

Christmas Story: Was Jesus Born in a Manger?

“While they were [in Bethlehem], the time came for Mary to have child, and she bore her son, the firstborn.

She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and put him in a manger because there was no room for her in the inn” (Lk 2:6-7).

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A nativity scene in Luceram (France) depicts the birth of Jesus Christ.

© JEAN CHRISTOPHE MAGNENET / AFP

Almost every family today has a manger in which the baby Jesus lies between straw in a stable.

Was God's Son really born in such an uncomfortable but idyllic wooden crate?

Hesemann:

Well, this romantic notion has nothing to do with reality!

Here in wood-rich Central Europe, stables and mangers were of course built of wood, but in Palestine, which was poor in wood, it was different.

They used natural or artificial caves as stables, which were nice and cool in summer and warm in winter.

Troughs carved into the stone walls served as mangers.

If you visit the cave under the Basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem today, you will still find such feeding troughs there.

So the baby Jesus was placed in a stone manger!

The stable cave was probably even on the pasture land that Maria had inherited.

Of course, Josef would never have thought of having his pregnant wife give birth in a bug-infested caravanserai in the presence of all the travelers.

Where we read "hostel", the corresponding word "pandocheion" does not appear in the original Greek text, but "katályma", literally translated: "upper floor".

This could be the sleeping quarters of an inn, but it could also be the parlor of a finer farmhouse;

on the ground floor were the stables for the animals.

According to Jewish belief, however, no woman was allowed to give birth in such a “belle tage” because she was considered “unclean” for forty days after the birth of a son, and even eighty days for a daughter, during which time entire families could not be evacuated.

The women giving birth retreated to less “clean” parts of the house, such as stables or cellars.

Christmas Story: Was Jesus Really Born on December 25th?

Hesemann:

A common thesis is that the early church placed birth on the pagan festival of the winter solstice.

This was a marketing ploy, so to speak, to facilitate the spread of Christianity in the pagan world.

What do you think of it?

Well, it's not a trick.

Despite this, we do know that early Christians celebrated Christ's birth in the month of Nisan on the Jewish calendar.

It was even believed that the Lord was born on the same day that he died on the cross.

Some Christians now date the Passion to the year 32, when Nisan 14, Good Friday, falls on March 25 (according to our calendar), others in the year 30, on April 7.

the day of conception or the birthday.

For example, Emperor Augustus, who was born in September, has Capricorn embossed on his coins as his constellation - because he was conceived in December.

So you want soon the 25.3./7.4.

prefer to see it as the day of Christ's generation - and even today we celebrate the Annunciation of Mary on this day. 

From this you calculate your birth, add nine months and arrive at December 25th or January 7th.

Even today, some Christian churches, such as the Armenians, celebrate Christmas on January 7 (or January 19, since they have also retained the Julian calendar).

The fact that December 25th is also the "Day of the Unconquered Sun God" among the pagans is at least considered a beautiful symbol.

With the birth of Christ, light triumphs over darkness!

Nevertheless, the date cannot be historical.

Because in Luke we read that at that time "the shepherds (camped) in the open field and (kept) the night watch" (Luke 2:8).

But the Talmud tells the Jews to lead the herds into the stalls in November and only let them out onto the pastures again in March.

So there cannot have been shepherds out in the fields in December...

Bethlehem: Christmas guests from all over the world

Christmas Story: Was Jesus Really Born in Bethlehem According to Matthew and Luke?

Hesemann:

I am convinced of that.

Some theologians claim that this is a legend.

After all, the Old Testament prophet Micah foretold that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem.

And in order to underline Jesus' messianic claim, the evangelists would have bent the facts a bit...

There is evidence of an early tradition in Bethlehem relating to a special cave on the outskirts of the village.

It is mentioned not only in the 2nd century "Protegospel" but also around 135 AD by Justin the Martyr, an early Christian who came from Palestine.

Shortly thereafter, the Roman Emperor Hadrian issues a decree that all Jewish and Christian sanctuaries are to be turned into paganism.

He had a shrine to Jupiter built on the Temple Mount and a temple to Venus built over the Holy Sepulchre.

This is relevant because up until 135 AD all Christian bishops in Jerusalem were so-called "lord relatives", i.e. cousins ​​of Jesus.

These "lord relatives" have to answer twice before the Roman authorities, under the emperors Domitian and Trajan, who consider them dangerous because of their descent from the royal family.

Even the occupying power does not doubt that Jesus and his relatives come from the house of David.

The origin of the clan is Bethlehem.

Apparently there is a family tradition that also records the place of Christ's birth, so that around 220 another author, Origen, writes: "What is shown there is known in the area.

Even the pagans tell whoever will listen that in said cave a certain Jesus was born...

Who were the three kings in the Christmas story?

Did she really exist?

“When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the time of King Herod, astrologers... came to Jerusalem and asked, Where is the newborn king of the Jews?

We saw his star rise and came to worship him.” (Mt 2:1-2)

Hesemann:

The term has been clearly defined in antiquity since Herodotus: Magoi are members of the priestly caste of the Persian people of the Medes, who were actually considered astrological oracle priests.

Their capital, Ekbatana, was even surrounded by seven walls, which stand for the seven planets known at the time.

So it is no wonder that the “astrologers” are depicted in Persian costume even in the earliest catacomb paintings.

But what were pagan astrologers looking for in Jesus' manger? 

According to Persian sources, he predicted that one day a savior would be born with the name "Saoshyant", which literally means "savior".

So he instructed the Magoi to look out for this star.

Now the ancient Persians were very close to the Jews in their religion.

Zarathustra also teaches that there is only one God.

Jewish sources consider him a disciple of the prophet Daniel who was active at the Persian royal court at the same time as Zarathustra, while the Persians believe Daniel was a disciple of Zarathustra.

Later, Queen Esther founds a Jewish colony in Ecbatana.

Twice, after Herod's seizure of power and in the 7th century AD, Jews allied themselves with the Persians.

You knew exactly where to look!

Christmas Story: Was the Star of Bethlehem Real?

“Herod had the astrologers tell him exactly when the star appeared.

Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying: Go and find out carefully where the child is;

and when you have found it, tell me, that I also may go and worship him.

Having said this... they set out.

And the star which they saw rising went before them to the place where the child was;

there he stopped.” (Mt 2, 9-10)

Hesemann:

Certainly the most surprising confirmation of the Christmas story according to Matthew is the Star of Bethlehem: It really did exist.

First there is the Saturn-Jupiter conjunction, which some researchers believe to be the Star of Bethlehem: three times in 7 B.C.

the planets very close.

In fact, astrologers saw it as a sign of the birth of a king (Jupiter) in the "Westland" (Levant), or among the Jews, who are believed to be worshipers of Saturn because they sanctify Saturn's day (Saturday).

Then, 6 B.C.

A triple conjunction of Jupiter, Saturn and Mars is observed in the constellation Pisces, indicating a "new era".

February 20, 5 B.C.

Finally, there is a conjunction of the Moon and Jupiter on one side and Saturn and Mars on the other side of the night sky: "A great king is born and rises to rule over Israel and fight evil," say ancient ones Astrologers the constellation.

A few weeks later, the real sensation occurs in the night sky: a supernova flares up in the constellation Eagle, as the British astronomer Prof. Mark Kidger infers from Chinese and Korean records.

A supernova is a stellar explosion, but to the observer it appears like the birth of a star.

A precise description of a supernova can be found in the “Protevangelium”: “We saw a mighty star which shone among the other stars and made their light pale.”

For the Magoi, whose god Ahura Mazda is depicted with eagle wings, the apparent birth of a star in the eagle is a clear sign - the savior must have been born.

The preceding heavenly signs have repeatedly referred to Israel.

So they set off, covering the 1,700 kilometers to Jerusalem in around 50 days.

Of course, the supernova doesn't really pull them ahead.

However, according to the laws of celestial mechanics, a star appearing in the east would appear in the night sky half an hour earlier each week until, two months later, it was due south.

So when the Magoi settled in mid-May 5 B.C.

heading south from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, they must have had the star right in front of them!

In fact, according to the Chinese and Korean records,

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Did the Bethlehem Infanticide Really Happen?

"When Herod saw that the Wise Men had deceived him, he became very angry and he had all the boys in Bethlehem and all the surrounding area killed up to the age of two, exactly according to the time which he had learned from the Wise Men." ( Matthew 2:16-18)

Hesemann:

Fearing a conspiracy, he has three of his sons and 300 officers killed, as well as 6,000 Pharisees who hope for the coming of the Messiah - perhaps after the appearance of the Star of Bethlehem.

But how much the residents of Bethlehem must have hated Herod is shown in 2007 when his tomb was discovered.

Although Jews respect the peace of the dead, his sarcophagus shattered into a thousand pieces!

But what makes the scene in Matthew's Gospel seem authentic is something else.

Why does Herod not have all newborns murdered, but "all boys up to the age of two"?

The logical answer: Because the Magoi told him about the series of celestial signs they had been reading since May 7 BC.

BC – exactly two years before their arrival in Jerusalem!

Franz Rohleder spoke to the author