Christmas Special: The One Where We Ruin the Nativity Scene

<p>The traditional understanding of the Christmas story is well-established in Christian imagination: Mary and Joseph arrive in the town of Bethlehem as strangers, only to find "no room in the inn." With nowhere to go, they find shelter in a lonely stable and Christ is born into the company of livestock.</p><p>But what if that story has been shaped more by Christian tradition than what's actually in the text? We take an in-depth look at the birth of Christ as told in Luke's gospel and unpacked by Dr. Kenneth Bailey in <em>Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes</em>. With a keen understanding of ancient Near Eastern culture and Greek language, Bailey helps us see a much more realistic version of the Christmas story, full of richness and beauty that has been overlooked for centuries.</p><p><a href="https://bit.ly/3phR4G7">Click here to download the excerpt of <em>Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes</em></a><em><br></em>Sign up for the IFBR Christmas devotional: <a href="https://instituteforbiblereading.org/christmas/">https://instituteforbiblereading.org/christmas/</a></p>