Nasher
Nov 27, 2003
Does anyone know any Christmas myths, e.g. that Mary rode on a donkey etc. and the history behind them?
Does anyone know any Christmas myths, e.g. that Mary rode on a donkey etc. and the history behind them?
Many Christmas myths, including that of Mary riding on a donkey, come from the Infancy Gospel of James, a Gnostic gospel from the late second century.It, as might be expected is full of heresy and the sensational -- and is the source of many Christmas myths (another is that Jesus was born in a cave -- although he is not really "born," but kind of materializes outside Mary).
Jason, where do you get the idea that He was not 'born'?
There is the three wise men, I suppose that comes from the three gifts they brought.Then there is the familiar scene of them arriving at the stable, but the bible says that they came to the house, apparently they came up to two years after Jesus was actualy born. He is refered to as a child at that time rather than a baby.
There is the three wise men, I suppose that comes from the three gifts they brought.Matthew 2:1 (kjv) - After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi[1] from the east came to Jerusalem.Matthew 2:11 (kjv) - On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.That's a great one brother, yes it says 'magi' (wisemen) plural, and in verse 11 it says 'they' presented him with gifts of the three comodities: gold, incense and myrrh. But that does not mean there were three wisemen. there could have been fifty :-D
I was saying that in the Infancy Gospel of James, Jesus is not actually born but "materializes" outside of Mary. It's a heretical Gnostic text, and this demonstrates that it is truly antichrist.It is where most of our Christmas myths come from, however.Greg is correct in that the "three" Magi come from the fact that they had three gifts.
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