On this week’s special Christmas Day episode, we discuss the timing of the historical birth of Jesus. December 25 has more to do with the historical church calendar of feasts than actual historical day of Jesus’ birth, but there are historical clues that can be pieced together to come to a very educated estimate. Alexander Patterson walks us through several extra-biblical texts that can shed light on this question as well as a knowable astrological event that can narrow down the potential date even further. So, when was Jesus actually born? Let’s see where the evidence points!

[Psst. It's me, Alexander, speaking to you from inside the show notes. Here's a few places to dive deeper:

https://www.rcyoung.org/articles/Herod.pdf - a thorough treatise on Herod which covers stuff I didn't even know about when recording! 'Never rest on my laurels', indeed…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVR0jXxJDn0 - the "bold theory" I mentioned.

https://bethlehemstar.com/about/ - occasionally oversimplified but rarely incorrect, this provides a few extra details on the Star that I couldn't get to.

Symbolically juxtapose Elijah, John the Baptist, the Cup of Elijah (cf. https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/117141/jewish/The-Silent-Cup.htm) and the time of conception of John the Baptist for a swell surprise.

In any case, Merry Christmas, and I hope you enjoy the first annual Christmas Spectacular Starring the Planettes!]

Hosted by John McCambridge and Jackie Mitchell.

---

Story / Symbol / Spirit is a podcast about how to make sense of Scripture. The Bible is a beautiful gift from God with the power to help us know God and better understand our lives, identity, meaning, and purpose. But for many people, reading the Bible is difficult. The ancient and confusing nature of the stories within the Bible are often prohibitive to our engagement and learning. How can we make sense of the Scriptures?

We believe that Story / Symbol / Spirit is a helpful framework to begin this journey.