Thread by @RabbiHarvey

Merry Christmas to all my Christian followers. I've picked out a very special gift for all of you, a #thread about the inconsistencies between the Jesus infancy narratives and how the idea of Christmas was created cohesively! You didn't even have to ask! #threadstorytime

While modern American Christians are more than happy to celebrate Christmas on the surface, and argue about the pagan winter solstice imagery vs. the "put Christ back in Christmas", which is just dandy for everyone outside that bubble to watch, few think about the origins.../2

...of the Christmas narrative itself, how and why it was conceived and the challenges wherein. There are two infancy narratives in the Synoptic Gospels, one in Matthew and one in Luke and there is a discrepancy as to when Jesus' divinity, the manifestation of the virginal.../3

...conception, that needs to be reconciled. When tracing the idea of Jesus' manifestation of divinity, the concept regresses from Paul to Mark, to Matthew and Luke, and then John. Paul (50s) focuses on the death and resurrection of Jesus as that moment. Mark (72 CE) shifts /4

the moment to earlier, namely Jesus' adult baptism, when the heavens open up and declare him "my beloved Son." Matthew and Luke (80s-90s CE) shift the moment decades earlier with Jesus' conception. As for John, he shifts the moment even earlier, in the pre-existent world.../5

...in that to him Jesus' divinity manifestation was pre-existent. For our Christmas thread, we focus on the two infancy narratives, Matthew and Luke, as those formed the Christmas narrative most Christians know today. Matthew and Luke's stories are written a decade away.../6

...from one another, the former in the 80s CE and 90s CE, so cohesiveness is not expected, but there are still some glaring issues to consider. Let us consider the differences between the two one by one. In Matthew, the ambience of the scene is perilous, with King Herod.../7

...posing a danger to Jesus, while in Luke's narrative the ambience is more tranquil. The angel makes the announcement to Joseph in Matthew, but to Mary in Luke. This occurs in Bethlehem in Matthew but in Nazareth in Luke. Mary delivers in Bethlehem in Matthew because.../8

...she resides there, but she travels there in Luke. An inn is sought only in Luke, as there is no need for one in Matthew. Luke's narrative features angels and shepherds, but Matthew's does not. Matthew's narrative discusses the Magi and the star, but Luke's does not. /9

In Matthew, the Holy family flees to Egypt, but not in Luke. Jesus' circumcision is noted only in the Luke narrative, while Herod's massacres of Bethlehem's infants is only noted in the Matthew narrative. Jesus' first-born redemption ceremony, as well as John the Baptist's.../10

...birth story, as well as the engagement of the sages at age 12 are only noted in the Luke narrative. And finally, genealogy is only tied to the Matthew narrative. Whew! Let's take a breath.
So, it is clear that there are glaring non-cohesive moments in each narrative. /11

Therefore, by the 2nd century these problems were noticed and needed reconciliation and a blended Christmas story was needed so as to make the disparities less evident. In truth, it works, as most Christians don't even notice them! Most Christians now teach and follow this.../12

..."Christmas Composite" which we will lay out now.
The story begins in Luke 1:
Gabriel promises Zechariah John the Baptist's birth. Elizabeth conceives. In Nazareth (take note!), Gabriel reveals to Mary what her special role will be. After visiting Elizabeth in Judea.../13

...Mary returns to Nazareth in Galilee. John the Baptist is then born.
The story then breaks and moves to Matthew 1:
During betrothal, Mary finds herself with child. Joseph is disposed to divorce her but an angel reassures him (in a dream) that Mary has conceived through../14

...the Holy Spirit, not another man.
The story then jumps to Luke 2:
Despite Mary's advanced pregnancy, Joseph takes her to Bethlehem (take note!) to register in a census. With no room in the inn, Jesus is born in a manger. Angels and shepherds appear. After circumcision.../15

...Jesus is brought to Jerusalem's Temple for a first born's redemption ceremony.
Between the previous narrative and the following narrative which will jump to Matthew 2, an invented segue for the family's return to Bethlehem from Jerusalem is needed! /16

In other words, the 2nd century Christians needed a segue to get from Luke 2 to Matthew 2 and thus began to teach this invented segue. Matthew 2 then takes over:
Magi, having seen the star in the east, arrive in Jerusalem. Upon learning there where Jesus has been born.../17

...they travel to Bethlehem, with the star guiding them. After adoring the infant, they return eastward to their home. Joseph dreams that he, Mary, and Jesus must flee to Egypt from Herod, who soon after massacres all of Bethlehem's male infants. Once Herod dies.../18

...the holy family return to Egypt and settle in Nazareth.
And that, ladies and gentleman, is the Christmas story you all know and love. A composite of Matthew and Luke with a few invented transitions therein. So what gave rise to this composite and these stories themselves?/19

Did gossip abound that Jesus was of illicit origin? Does Matthew mean to show how God intervened to preserve the messianic line even through violation of moral norms I.e. the questionable sexual conduct of Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheva)? Was a story that Mary virginally /20

...conceived intented to counter gossip, that is an alternative explanation for rape or adultery (as by a foreign soldier) or impregnation by Joseph before marriage? We should also note that by the end of the 1st century, Jesus' connection to Davidic lineage was lacking.../21

...so were these stories conceived to counter that polemic with an infancy narrative? And finally, while Davidic ancestry was needed for Christianity to succeed with the Jews,some kind of miraculous birth account (such as virginal conception) was indispensable if Christianity/22

...was at least to match its competitors, which already possessed similar stories for their deities.
In any case, a Christmas composite was created and solidified, now told by Billions around the world with very few even questioning the above issues!
Merry Christmas!
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