12 | First Noel

Tis the season to be wary. There are lots of things we take for granted about Christmas, but how many of them have a foothold in history?

Show Notes

Jesus was born in a manger, right? But what does that mean exactly? And how about that inn? Or the star hovering over the stable? How does history address our most cherished images of the birth of the King of Kings? And what did The Life Of Brian get right? Join John as he undeceives us about everything that can and can't be said about the birth of Jesus.

Thanks to our season sponsor – Selah – for all your travel needs, whether you’re a doubter or a believer. Find out more at myselah.com.au.

Links related to this episode:

• Read John's Nativity Naivete for an account of how the 'Quirinius problem' is resolved by historians, as well as many other common misconceptions about supposed historical problems in the Christmas story.
• For a more general summary of the historical truths of the Christmas story, there's Truth In The Story Of Christmas
• For those wanting to dig deeper into the historical evidence for Jesus' existence, John also wrote this reply to an assertion that the baby in a manger wasn't a real person for ABC Religion & Ethics.
• And since it's that time of year, you might also want to have a look at John's article, Halloween Vs. Christmas, discussing the historical basis for both.

Send us a question

Oh boy, does John love questions. So don’t be afraid to send them in. In season one, we’ll be dedicating an episode or two for John to answer all your burning questions about Christianity. Want to know something more about a previous episode? Or perhaps you’ve got a question about faith that you’ve been struggling to find an answer for? Let us know here, or leave your question as a voicemail at 02 9870 5678.

What is Undeceptions with John Dickson?

Every week on Undeceptions we’ll explore some aspect of life, faith, history, culture, or ethics that is either much misunderstood or mostly forgotten. With the help of people who know what they’re talking about, we’ll be trying to ‘undeceive ourselves’ and let the truth ‘out’.