If its the Star of Nazareth, well, unlike Bethlehem which is south of
Jerusalem, Nazareth is North of Jerusalem.
On Tue, Nov 24, 2009 at 10:15 PM, Murray Hogg <muzhogg@netspace.net.au>wrote:
> Sorry all for exceeding my post count yet again but you should find this
> one good fun! :-[
>
> Dave Wallace wrote:
>
>> I doubt it even contains discussion of whether or not Jesus and his
>> parents went to Nazareth and then Egypt or in the other order. Scripture is
>> not an exhaustive history by any means and the authors had different
>> audiences they were writing for. Frankly I don't think the order matters at
>> all. Maybe Pete or Murray have a different opinion.
>>
>
> Hi Dave,
>
> First, I have to say that questions of this sort are not really of that
> much interest to me. Frankly, I know the NT scholarship pretty well and I
> have to say that the discussion so far hasn't even scratched the surface of
> the difficulties. There's lots more "problems" than the question of
> chronology and I've already factored most of those into my understanding of
> the nature and role of scripture.
>
> But that said, there is one commonly overlooked solution to this supposed
> "problem";
>
> Very early in Christian history (c. 160-70 AD) a guy by the name of Tatian
> put together a harmony of the Four Gospels known as "The Diatessaron of
> Tatian."
>
> In his harmony, Tatian places the return to Nazareth BEFORE the visit of
> the Magi. Which seems kinda strange until we realize that - contrary to the
> assumption that most people read into the text - Matthew never actually
> states that the Magi visit Bethlehem!
>
> What it DOES say is (1) Jesus was born in Bethlehem, (2) Herod's religious
> advisers told him Bethlehem would be Christ's birth place; (3) Herod directs
> the Magi to Bethlehem; and (4) the Magi follow the star to where Jesus was.
>
> But it DOESN'T say that Jesus was in Bethlehem OR that the Magi visited
> there.
>
> So if we follow Tatian's ordering;
>
> Joseph and Mary go to Bethlehem where Christ is born
> The Holy Family visits Jerusalem for the rites of purification
> They return to Nazareth
> The Magi visit the Holy Family *in Nazareth*
> The Holy Family flees to Egypt
> Herod's henchmen massacre the children of Bethlehem
>
> It turns out that there isn't even a problem to be addressed - unless you
> want to read into the Gospel narrative something that isn't actually there!
>
> Blessings,
> Murray.
>
>
>
>
>
>
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Received on Tue Nov 24 23:44:11 2009
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