Since it's Christmas Day, this might be an occasion to think about some of the stories that surround Christmas and that are usually viewed as facts about Jesus' birth but which either are probably untrue or are almost certainly untrue.
First, Jesus was not born in the year 1 A.D. There was an error in the calendar at one point. Most scholars now think it probably was in 4 B.C.
Second, there is absolutely no reason to believe Jesus was born on December 25. There is no record of the date Jesus was born; and it is believed that the celebration of the birth of Jesus at some point was attracted to the time of the Roman celebration of Saturnalia or perhaps to one or more pagan feasts that centered around the winter solstice.
Third, scholars now think Jesus was probably not born in Bethlehem, as the gospel stories say, but in Nazareth.
Fourth, the story of the Magi or "wise men." I believe only one of the gospels mentions this (sorry, I haven't got a N.T. at my elbow with which to confirm this), where it simply says "three kings of the East." There is no mention of their names being Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar—that is a so-called medieval accretion—nor that one of them was black.
Copyright © 2012 by Richard Stein
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