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    The First Christmas: What the Gospels Really Teach About Jesus's Birth
    The First Christmas: What the Gospels Really Teach About Jesus's Birth
    The First Christmas: What the Gospels Really Teach About Jesus's Birth
    Audiobook7 hours

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

    Written by Marcus J. Borg and John Dominic Crossan

    Narrated by John Pruden

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    About this audiobook

    In The First Christmas, two of today's top Jesus scholars, Marcus J. Borg and John Dominic Crossan, join forces to show how history has biased our reading of the nativity story as it appears in the gospels of Matthew and Luke. As they did for Easter in their previous book, The Last Week, here they explore the beginning of the life of Christ, peeling away the sentimentalism that has built up over the last 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 well-known narrative afresh by answering the question, ""What do these stories mean?"" in the context of both the first century and the twenty-first century. They successfully show that the Christmas story, read in its original context, is far richer and more challenging than people imagine.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateMay 24, 2011
    ISBN9780062100832
    Author

    Marcus J. Borg

    Marcus J. Borg (1942–2015) was a pioneering author and teacher whom the New York Times described as "a leading figure in his generation of Jesus scholars." He was the Hundere Distinguished Professor of Religion and Culture at Oregon State University and canon theologian at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Portland, and he appeared on NBC's The Today Show and Dateline, ABC's World News, and NPR's Fresh Air. His books have sold over a million copies, including the bestselling Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time, Reading the Bible Again for the First Time, Jesus, The Heart of Christianity, Evolution of the Word, Speaking Christian, and Convictions.

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    Reviews for The First Christmas

    4/5

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    • 5/5
      Wondetful
    • 2/5
      I was expecting more on the exact historical description of thr birth, and setting.
    • 4/5
      If you want an informative, illuminating (especially appropriate for this book), and entertaining walk through the two stories of Jesus' birth (in Matthew and Luke), then you couldn't have better guides than John Dominic Crossan and Marcus Borg. Find out what's in the text that has been ignored, and what is most decidedly not in the text that gets added. And reacquaint yourself with the rebel, Jesus...
    • 5/5
      Such an amazing book, brought me more understanding and more faith. Also helped me prepare for the time of advent.
    • 1/5
      Because Crossan is a jesuit, I assumed this would be a Catholic approach. Couldn't listen past 10 mins. Would be nice if books would state which bible they are using.
    • 4/5
      In this fascinating little book, Borg and Crossan explore the historical meaning behind the birth-of-Jesus story. They first point out the factual differences between Matthew's and Luke's versions of the birth story. Then they explain how, after the Enlightenment, many people want everything to be either literally true or false. Many Christians are in denial of the "factual inconsistencies" in the Bible, and the ones who are aware of the inconsistencies often feel a little uncomfortable and don't know quite what to think about them. Borg and Crossan point out that the stories are meant to be parables. They were not meant to be taken as literal truth. They explore a deeper truth within the limits of historical culture. Borg and Crossan study (practically line-by-line at times) each birth story separately, explaining the cultural, literary, or mythological meaning of the Biblical text. For instance, in his story of the Magi and Herod, Matthew was bringing to mind parallels to the Moses story in his Gospel. Like Pharaoh, Herod wanted to kill all the baby boys because he'd heard that one was born who would overthrow him. As with the parents of Moses, Jesus' parents had divine inspiration to have a child despite great obstacles - in the case of Moses' parents, they had to have faith that their son wouldn't die; in the case of Joseph, he had to have faith that Mary was yet a virgin. Against all odds, both boys survived and became great leaders. Such parallels to the Moses story would help justify to first century Christians the divinely-inspired leadership of Jesus. I really enjoyed learning about the cultural reasons for the choices Matthew and Luke made while writing their gospels. At times, I felt the book didn't translate well to audio, though, because the authors went into great detail in their lists of gospel references (for instance, every reference of to Jesus as "light," and what the word "light" meant in that sense). The lists didn't translate well to audio since they were something I would normally either skim over or use as a Bible study guide. Neither could be done in an audiobook. Regardless, I'm glad I had the chance to listen to this book, and I hope to read their first book The Last Week. I'll save that one for Easter, though.
    • 2/5
      I suppose to someone interested in theology or Bible study, this would be an interesting book. As someone raised as a Christian in the Catholic church who wanted some clarification of the Christmas story, I found it tedious and confusing. I was surprised to find that the birth of Jesus is only found in the gospels of Matthew and Luke. The fact that the two accounts differ in so many ways and can't possibly be historically acurate only compounds my confusion. Also I got tired of nitpicking every detail. So if you are into theology or Bible study, read it. If not, pass.
    • 4/5
      I very much enjoyed reading this book in the week leading up to Christmas this year. Although it seems to be written for a general audience, the scholarship and analysis are rigorous enough for the more theologically sophisticated reader. The authors did an excellent job in describing the nature of the nativity stories; not that they are or are not historically factual, but that they hold the truth of the Messiah's identity. The idea that much of the text may be a conscious effort to challenge the authority of the Roman Empire is central, possibly over-stated, but it does lead the reader to reflect on the relationship of current-day authority to our Christian lives as individuals and as Church. It is a quick read, and well worth the time.
    • 4/5
      Borg and Crossan collaborate again, this time to discuss the beginning of the Gospel story. I think this is a great partnership, as Borg softens and adds richness to Crossan's scholarship. The two play off each others' strengths. Nevertheless, I don't think this is their best effort; I enjoyed both The Last Week and The First Paul a bit more.The Christmas Story, formed by splicing together two of the Bible's birth narratives, is a story of joy. (We all rightfully eschew the Bible's third birth story, the one in Revelation of a dragon waiting to devour the child of a heavenly woman.) Borg and Crossan want the joy within these parables to ring as you read. The Messiah is born! Behold God's glory!Yes, they call them parables, or midrash, or anything but history, and point out the many contributing Hebrew themes and eschatological expectations behind the stories. The authors admit up front that "We are not concerned with the factuality of the birth stories. ... Our concern is neither to defend them as factual nor to trash them as nonfactual. Rather, we focus on their meanings."While I thoroughly enjoyed reading its uplifting message, if the book had presented more new material, I would have been more pleased; as it was, I found it to be a bit of a rehash. There was one discussion, however, that I particularly enjoyed: how the issue of the factuality of the birth stories is recent, the product of just the last few hundred years. In earlier centuries, their factuality was not a concern for Christians. Rather, the truth of these stories, and the truth of the Bible as a whole (including factual truth) was taken for granted. It was simply "what everybody knew," and didn't require "belief." The authors help us step out of our enlightened age to understand Biblical thinking in a manner more helpful than I've encountered in this topic before.This is a scholar's beach read. It was probably a quick write, and it's a quick read for those of you used to Crossan's detailed tomes, but I think you'll enjoy it.
    • 4/5
      The Biblical story is a parable, a metaphor, is beautiful. Borg and Crossan take us on a journey to see how to really see what Matthew and Luke were trying to tell us. Not a literal rendition of what took place - they would be much closer if they had the actual facts, but a journey of what Jesus means to us and how the Christmas story plays a role in that wonderful meaning.
    • 5/5
      This was a fascinating, enlightening read about the story of Jesus's birth - the authors examine in detail the story from the gospels according to Matthew and Luke. They focus on the political climate of the times and put the story and all of its details into its cultural context. For me, the most thought provoking discussion was of "peace" - through the eyes of a Roman emperor - which was "peace through victory" and then through the eyes of Jesus, the "new savior" - which was labeled as "peace through justice." It looks like we STILL haven't gotten that message....... Does the book affect the "mystery" of the story? Probably. But, if you are a believer, the romantic aspect of the Christmas story should not be dispelled by this treatise -- instead, you might find an entirely new level of meaning and understanding in Jesus's message to Man.
    • 4/5
      Another excellent book in Crossan and Borg's ongoing project of providing a carefully grounded historical basis for a revival of social justice theology and politics at the heart of Christianity. Here they make dangerous again the familiar (and almost completely fictional) stories of Christ’s birth that have been largely drained of social and political significance by organized Christianity. They clearly and concisely analyze the historical construction of the Nativity stories found in Mathew and Luke in the now forgotten context of anti-imperial Judeo-Christian politics of first century B.C.E.. While they are careful as always to point out where the paucity of evidence forces them to speculate and interpret, Crossan and Borg do not shy away from the theological and political implications of their work for contemporary Christians struggling with new, more powerful and more dominant forms of empire.