Sunday, December 23, 2012

Was Jesus Born in a Barn? Probably Not - Le Donne

This link is to a nice synopsis of Stephen Carlson's thesis concerning Luke's account of Jesus' birth. I think I might have been present at an SBL session where Carlson presented this paper.  Or I might be making that up based on my vague memory of reading this essay a couple years ago.  Does anyone know if Carlson presented this paper at an annual or regional SBL... an affirmation it would help me improve my memory.

Anyway, really interesting thesis.

-anthony

1 comment:

  1. My problem here is not with the history, but with what happens to the Christmas carols. Yes I'm Jewish, but I sang these carols every year in our elementary school pageants, so I feel entitled to complain about songs being stripped of innkeepers and barns in the name of "detailed lexical and semantic analysis."

    Or maybe not. How does this revised carol strike you?

    Away from the main room of his village home

    Per the patrilocal marital custom

    Joseph erected a marital chamber

    A room too small for immaculate labor

    So Jesus was born in the living room where

    Joseph’s relatives were already crammed there

    Mary and Jesus find space where they’re able

    Is this a step up from birth in a stable?

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