Christians Nativity story which one is right?

Question

in the Announcement-
Matthew states :In a dream, an angel told Joseph who the father was after Mary found herself pregnant.
Luke States: In a dream, an angel told Joseph who the father was after Mary found herself pregnant.
Time of Birth
Matthew states: 6-4 BC Based on Herods death and his search for a child up to 2 years old
Luke states: 6 AD based on a census in Syria when Quirinius became its governor
(10 year difference there)
Place of Birth
Matthew: states they lived in a HOUSE in bethlehem
Luke: they lived in Nazareth and traveled to bethlem and jesus was born in a manger since there was no room in the Inn
First Visitors
Matthew: Wise men followed a star
Luke: Shepherds after being told by an angel
so which story is the correct story of Jesus' birth?

and why dont the 2 and only accounts of his birth disagree with each other instead of agreeing?

Answer 1

Do you not read the prophesy of his birth in the Old Testament?



"Reformers" decided to ignore the canon determined by the Christian Councils .


Luther removed those books from the canon.

Prayers for the dead (Tobit 12:12; 2 Maccabees 12:39-45)

Intercession of dead saints (2 Maccabees 15:14)

Intercession of angels as intermediaries (Tobit 12:12-15)


James 5:16 tells us that "the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much" -- and who is more righteous than Mary, the woman chosen by God to bring forth His very Son?

They object and say, 'Our Lord is enough for me. I have no need of her.'
But He needed her, whether we do or not. God, Who made the sun, also made the moon. The moon does not take away from the brilliance of the sun. All its light is reflected from the sun. The Blessed Mother reflects her Divine Son; without Him, she is nothing. With Him, she is the Mother of Men."


She is more that some really cool, spiritual woman who acted as a surrogate mother for the Holy Spirit; she gave to Jesus His humanity in the same way that all mothers give to their children their humanity. He took from her His very Flesh and Blood! It was through her that our Lord "was made of the seed of David according to the flesh" (Romans 1:3)

God allowed Mary to act as the New Eve, playing a role in man's redemption as the First Eve played a role in Man's fall. He "needed" Mary in order for there to be a New Eve and in order to fulfill the words of the Prophets.

It was through Mary's obedience to God and by the blood of her Son that she was redeemed.

There is no one in all of History whose relationship with God is as complex, fulfilled, and achingly beautiful as Mary's. She is not only the greatest of Saints, she is our Mother, as Jesus is our Brother and Savior. In honoring her, we honor Him -- and imitate Him, as we are admonished to both honor our parents and imitate Christ, Who loved His Mother. Our relationship with Mary is that of a child to a blessed Mother who was given to us as Jesus gave her to John at the Cross.

Catholics take great care in pointing out that "worship" in the sense of latria 3 is GOD'S alone -- even to the point of having separate terms for the honor and adoration due to God as opposed to the honor and veneration of the Saints -- including His greatest Saint, Mary.


Love, is infinite! We can love and adore Jesus, love and venerate Mary, love the other Saints, and love each other without depriving anyone (or Anyone) of anything. How many children can you have without running out of love? How many friends? What we "spend" in love is replaced many times over; love for Christ can only bring the fruits of more love to give.

To love Mary takes nothing at all from Christ, but honors our Blessed Lord by Whose grace she is who she is: His greatest creation, the greatest of Saints, the Queen of Heaven, the Immaculate Conception, the spotless Virgin, the Ark of the Covenant, the New Eve, the mother of God, and the mother of Israel .


Her soul magnifies the Lord (Luke 1:46-55)!



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Answer 2

The story of Jesus birth in Matthew and Luke do not contradict each other. They dovetail. You have to put the two accounts together to actually get the fuller picture. Each tells some aspect of Jesus' birth.

Prior to Jesus' birth, Joseph lived in Nazareth. (Luke 2:4) When Caesar Augustus decreed that all the world should be taxed (Luke 2:1) people returned to the cities of their ancestors where records were kept. Joseph was of the house and lineage of David. So he had to go to Bethlehem to pay the taxes.

When Mary was to deliver, they were in Bethlehem. There was no room in the inn, so the baby was born, then laid in a manger. There the shepherds found the baby. The wise men didn't come that night. They came later. The star wasn't in the sky just one night. Note in Luke 2:7 that Herod asked the wise men what time the star appeared. The wise men had to travel to follow the star. They didn't have Humvees. It took them a while. And I doubt that Mary and Joseph wanted to stay in the stable or cave where that manger was indefinitely. I certainly would look for a house to stay in, too while the mother and baby grew stronger.

According to "The Wycliffe Bible Commentary" page 1032: P. Sulpicius Quirinius was made governor of Syria in A.D. 6, and took a census of Judea at that time. There is good evidence that he was twice governor of Syria, and that his first governorship was from 4 B.C. to A.D.1. The preceding census may have been closing when he first took office."

I don't understand your first two points about Joseph's dream.

Answer 3

1. Actually, the account in Luke doesn't even include Joseph finding out who the father of Jesus was. I just read Luke, starting with chapter one, through to chapter three, and there was nothing in there about it.
2. It could be that Luke was mistaken. Remember, he was writing an account based off of other peoples' testimony, so minor differences would be common.
3. Both accounts are accurate. Joseph and Mary lived in Nazareth, but went to Bethlehem for the census. They moved BACK to Nazareth after living in Egypt for several years.
4. Again, both accounts are accurate. Matthew states that the "wise men" found a young Jesus with His parents living in a house in Bethlehem. This means that Jesus may have been anywhere from a few months old, to two years. The shepherds were there immediately afterwards because they were nearby.

This actually means that the nativity scene is inaccurate. The wise men weren't there at the same time the shepherds were.

Make sense? They're both accurate, as far as they go.

Edit: As for them seeming to disagree, what if both said EXACTLY the same thing? It would be said that one copied from the other. Because instead they seem to deviate from each other in some details means that they were written by two completely different people, with two completely different sources. Make sense?

Answer 4

"Matthew states :In a dream, an angel told Joseph who the father was after Mary found herself pregnant.
Luke States: In a dream, an angel told Joseph who the father was after Mary found herself pregnant."
There is no angelic announcement to Joseph in the Lucan account. There is one to Mary however.

"Matthew states: 6-4 BC Based on Herods death and his search for a child up to 2 years old
Luke states: 6 AD based on a census in Syria when Quirinius became its governor
(10 year difference there)"
The word for "governor" here, however, is "hegemon", which is a much broader term than the term "legatus", the normal title for a Roman governor. While there is no definitive confirmation of Luke's account, neither is there any direct contradiction.

"Matthew: states they lived in a HOUSE in bethlehem"
Matthew only states that they were in a house at the time the wise men visited, not that they lived there or that Jesus was born there.

"First Visitors"
Nowhere does Matthew state that the wise men are the first visitors (he doesn't even mention how much time passed between Jesus' birth and their visit). Partial accounts are not necessarily contradictory accounts.

"so which story is the correct story of Jesus' birth?"
Both. You have yet to show any true contradiction between the two.

Answer 5

Both are correct. Let me explain; Matthew uses Herod to comment on when Jesus was born, while Luke uses Herod and the census. Bear in mind that they didn't have cars back then. The trip to Bethlahem was a long one, one that Joseph took on foot with Mary riding a donkey (at Joseph's pace). It took some time to make. The decree would have been made quite some time prior to its execution to give the citizens time to travel (and would not have taken place in winter).

Luke states that John was born during the time of Herod and Jesus less than a year later. Also, while Luke's account can be translated "This was the first census, which took place while Quirinius was in charge of Syria," it can also be translated as "This census happened before Quirinius was in charge of Syria." The word used (protos) can be translated as "first" or as "before." Although, this would have broken grammatical rules. However, Heichleheim (as cited by Wikipedia) states that the passage is correctly translated: "This census was the first before (=πρώτη) that under the prefectureship of Quirinius in Syria" Some scholars concur, other disagree. Of course, the problem is that we have no record of a census taking place prior to Quirinius, save a Roman census in 3 BCE. It is also possible that Quirinius could have been legate of Syria 10 years prior to when we know he was legate, based on the partial translation of the Lapis Tiburnitus that refers to someone being made legate of Syria a second time. Yet another explanation that is plausible is that Luke simply was in error regarding when the census of Quirinius took place. The point is, we do not know which is correct: The translation, the error, or the second legate. Luke initially places Jesus' birth under Herod, via John, so it may be that Luke wrote that his birth was prior to the census, ignoring grammar altogether, just as we tend to end sentences with a preposition ("Where are you at?" For example).

As for the Magi and shepherds, both Matthew and Luke are correct, and both give unique details. The Magi did follow the star, but they did not arrive until Jesus was around 1-2 years old when Mary and Joseph had purchased a house (which is why Herod ordered all males 2 and under be executed). The shepherds arrived the night of the birth, however, as they were much closer.

This is the problem with translating from one language to another: details get lost in the process and make it appear that there are contradictions.

Answer 6

Both.

First you make the assumption that sources other than the Bible are more credible regarding the time of Herod's death (clearly you are unsure if you give a range) and the time of the census.

Second, the manger was in a house not a stable as tradition states. The house they most likely stayed in was a building in most Jewish towns for raising sacrificial lambs and used as a barn as well; this makes sense since Jesus was the Lamb of God.

Third, there is nothing to say that the magi arrived before the shepherds in Matthew, on the contrary they may have arrives much later because Herod was unsure if the star had appeared since the birth or for the arrival of the magi thus the 2 and younger killings; as a note, this is another explanation for the "house" as they may have lived in a house/inn until the arrival of the magi after which they had to flee.

Answer 7

Neither, it does not make a difference. The story ofJesus' birth smells of urban legend, his death reeks of conspiracy. The sure facts of his life are he was born, he lived, he died, he made a difference. The most important is that he lived and made a difference.

The eternal/unpardonable sin given by Jesus states:
"He who blasphemes the Father is forgiven.
He who blashemes the Son is forgiven.
He who blashemes the Holy Spirit is never forgiven"


If anyone can distrust God and Jesus, why can't the Holy Spirit ever be distrusted? How is that possible? What is the Holy Spirit? How do you seperate the Holy Spirit from the Father and the son. Where is the Holy Spirit of God? What does it do?

The eternal/ unpardonable sin is the proof that Jesus lived. It is the basis for all His teaching. This is God's Knowledge. Decode it and win the prize. This is what He needs you to know. You will never doubt God again once you Know where God is.

You can always trust the truth within you.

Answer 8

Announcement - Both have the same for who told Joseph.

Time of Birth - This is disputed, but it is believed that it is possible Quirinius had two different periods where he ruled and he conducted a census in the time where Herod ruled.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Census_of_Quirinius

Place of Birth - Matthew doesn't state that they live in Bethlehem, just that they were in Bethlehem when Jesus was born.

First Visitors - Neither says explicitly that these were the first visitors. They just say that they visited. Just because they're listed first in the book doesn't mean they were the first visitors.

Answer 9

A couple things need to be taken in consideration i order to answer your question: 1) the dates you state are really only fairly decent approximations due to the difficulties with translating these historical events recorded from Josephus the historian and Eusebius, to the Aramaic/Hebraic calendar, to the Julian, and finally to the Gregorian, 2) the gospels are not meant to be history books, although they certainly contain history. Rather, they are accounts of the most cardinal events in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. The Apostle John confirms this by saying at the end of his gospel, "Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have enough room for the books that would be written." (John 21:25) 3) This leads me to my next point, the gospels were written for different audiences; i.e., Matthew for the Jews, and Luke for the Gentiles. So, given these reasons and more, there will be different accounts (not histories) that will be chosen to be written about in these synoptic gospels. 4) Then there's the problem of translating word for word from Koine Greek (i.e., the word "house" can be translated to mean many different things, ie. a general edifice, thatch, etc.)

Answer 10

And those are the only accounts in the Bible that contradict each other? Unfortunately, people use the Bible as events written in stone. Gospel truth?? This poor book has been mishandled and rewritten by the best. I am not telling anyone to turn away from it, just ask more questions like you are now and develop your own opinion. The end result, hopefully, will be the same....you will get closer to God.<--that's all he asks of anyone.
Can't help you with the answer, just wanted to put my two cents in. Good luck!

Answer 11

There are four writers, all have different personalities, all heard the same story. There will be a little different telling of the events, but the important thing is that, Jesus was Born. Jesus was spared an early death. Jesus was sinless, started His ministry at 30 and died at 33 on the cross for us.