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The First Christmas

What the Gospels really teach us about Jesus' birth [Paperback]

by Marcus J. Borg

Marcus J. Borg and John Dominic Crossan’s "The First Christmas" uncovers the historical and original context of the nativity story.

  • For readers wanting a scholarly, fresh perspective on the nativity story.

  • Debunks sentimental interpretations and clarifies the original meaning of the nativity narratives.

  • Provides a deeper and historically accurate understanding of the Christmas story.

  • Author

    Marcus J. Borg

  • Book Format

    paperback

  • Publisher

    SPCK Publishing

  • Published

    August 2008

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The First Christmas

Today's Price £8.19


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Product Description

In The First Christmas, two of today's top Jesus scholars, Marcus J. Borg and John Dominic Crossan, show how history has biased our reading of the nativity story as it appears in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. The First Christmas explores the beginning of the life of Christ, peeling away the sentimentalism that has build up over two thousand years around this most well known of all stories to reveal the truth of what the Gospels actually say.

Borg and Crossan help us to see this familiar narrative afresh by answering the question 'What do these stories mean?' from the perspective of both the first and the twenty-first centuries. They successfully show that the Christmas story, read in its original context, is far richer and more challenging than people imagine.

This book is in the same vein and by the same authors as the successful The Last Week - What the Gospels Teach About Jesus's Final Days in Jerusalem.

Specification

  • Author

    Marcus J. Borg

  • Book Format

    paperback

  • Publisher

    SPCK Publishing

  • Published

    August 2008

  • Weight

    366g

  • Page Count

    240

  • Dimensions

    138 x 216 x 20 mm

  • ISBN

    9780281060047

  • ISBN-10

    0281060045

  • Eden Code

    1222331

More Information

  • Author/Creator: Marcus J. Borg

  • ISBN: 9780281060047

  • Publisher: SPCK Publishing

  • Release Date: August 2008

  • Weight: 366g

  • Dimensions: 138 x 216 x 20 mm

  • Eden Code: 1222331


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15 years ago

The First Christmas: What the Gospels Really Teach Us About Jesus's Birth

The birth narratives in Matthew and Luke are so familiar, heard every Christmas in church and on the radio, that I wasn't sure there was much more I could learn about them. How wrong I was! Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan's book started brilliantly; within the first chapter I was hooked on what they unfolded. They approach the birth narratives as parables/metaphors, not particularly addressing modern-day ideas of historicity but instead looking at the narratives and their structure in terms of what the gospel writers might have wanted to say. It becomes clear that Matthew and Luke are very different, with Matthew presenting Jesus as the New Moses, reflecting many images and ideas from Jewish writings, and Luke's emphasis on the stories as an overture to his larger themes of women, the marginalised and the Holy Spirit.
The book goes step-by-step through some parts of the nativity stories, explaining the historical context for many of the events, showing the parallels and the differences between the gospels, relating parts to historical or metaphorical events. I found the book began slightly to drag by the end but I was really taken by much of what they said, particularly the links Matthew makes between Jesus, Moses and Caesar. Some more conservative Christians will probably find the liberal tone of the book too much to stomach which is a shame as there are some real gems in here, but for those with an open mind and an interest in understanding more about the world of the time of Jesus this is an unmissable book.

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