Merry Days after Christmas!

I always love to ponder on the real Christmas story for the days leading up to AND after Christmas. I hope you do too. How lovely that in the darkest time of year many people focus on the Christmas holiday and the Nativity story to brighten the dreary days. Here are some interesting things for you relating to that.

First, we have an interview with Jeffery Chadwick, author of the book shown below.

He points out some interesting ideas. I haven’t done enough research to 100% believe them, but they sound plausible. Here they are:

-Mary and Joseph went to Bethlehem not because they were forced to, but because they wanted baby Jesus to be registered as a citizen of Bethlehem after being born there in order to fulfill prophecy

-Jesus was probably born in winter, not spring (April 6) like so many Latter-day Saint Christians have said/believed

-The manger was made out of stone, not wood

-Mary and Joseph did not find shelter in a stable. They had left Nazareth, shortly after getting married, and went to Bethlehem, in about the middle of Mary’s pregnancy. They probably lived in Bethlehem for a few months before Jesus was born. They were probably living in temporary shelter, a cave, while they were building a home that was completed after Jesus was born. Jesus was probably born in a cave, after they couldn’t find any room in a guest home in town.

Here are the videos, Part 1 and Part 2, with Jeff Chadwick, the author of the book shown above. If you want a related article about this, go here.

Here is a summary from amazon of the book below:

“If you love Christmas, you’re really going to enjoy reading Stone Manger – The Untold Story of the First Christmas. You’ll take a trip back in time, before the Christmas traditions we have today even existed – back in time to Nazareth and Jerusalem and Bethlehem at the time Joseph and Mary actually lived, to experience the story of the birth of Jesus. And you’ll learn the equally fascinating and broader story behind the birth of Jesus. You’ll get to know two of the most remarkable people in history, Joseph and Mary of Nazareth, a young couple whose determination and self reliance in the face of challenges was magnified by their faith and reliance upon God in bringing to pass the greatest miracle in our history. But this is no fictional treatment, its not a novel or a screenplay – it’s actually biographical. It’s the real story of Joseph, Mary, and the birth of Jesus, told by an archaeologist and historian who has researched, excavated, and taught in the Land of Israel for over three decades. Join author Jeffrey R. Chadwick, professor of archaeology and religious studies, as he introduces Joseph and Mary and their remarkable journey to Bethlehem in a way you’ve never experienced the story before. You’ll learn a hundred things about the first Christmas you never imagined. Did you know, for example, that the manger in which the baby Jesus was laid was actually made of stone? That archaeological artifact, the stone manger, will be the starting point for a reading adventure into the authentic story of Christmas that will surprise and delight at every turn. You’ll never feel the same about Christmas after reading Stone Manger!”

I just love all this! I love that at the end of the Part 1 video, they say that the Nativity story is the story of a young married couple doing whatever they could to follow God’s will, which is a model for all of us everywhere. I love that a married couple is at the center of this story about God’s love incarnate.

If you want more of all of this, get the book shown above, and read these articles, which I presume are excerpts from the book, here and here.

Then we have this interview with lots more about Mary, from Andrew Woodmansee, shown above. She is the woman I’ve blogged about before, with interesting insights into the symbolism of the plan of salvation in the ancient Hebrew wedding ceremony. That video is here. I also have a video with her showing insights about the temple and veils over here. I look forward to reading the book she has forthcoming!

Enjoy these 12 Days of Christmas we are in! Go here for ideas on how to celebrate the 12 days of Christmas as a family.