Was the birth of jesus according to scripture 2

Steve Moyise PhD University of Birmingham is professor of New Testament at the University of Chichester in Chichester England He is the author of Paul and Scripture and Jesus and Scripture His other books include The Old Testament in the Book of Revelation The Old Testament in the New and Evoking Scripture Seeing the Old Testament in the New. Was the birth of jesus according to scripture gospel Each Christmas the birth of Jesus is celebrated through carols Bible readings and nativity plays The angelic announcements to Mary and Elizabeth Jesus birth in a manger and the gifts of gold frankincense and myrrh are some of the best known stories in the Bible But did they really happen And were they predicted by Israel s prophets as the Bible claims Steve Moyise suggests that the clue to answering these questions is to understand how Israel s Scriptures were being interpreted in Jesus day Was Isaiah thinking of a virgin birth when he uttered his famous prophecy Isa 7 14 or is that a later Christian interpretation Was there a star that led the magi to Bethlehem or should the story be taken symbolically These and other questions are fully explored and the results are sometimes surprising Was the Birth of Jesus According to Scripture The infancy narratives are among the most controversial in the Jesus story Moyise tackles the narratives from Matthew and Luke providing concise explanations of the debates and offers a brief analysis of the possible solutions to the difficulties Moyise discusses Jesus birthplace his genealogy his identity as Son of David Mary s virgin conception and The greatest strength of this work is his willingness to engage fairly with conservative and critical scholars alike and show no prejudice either way allowing the voices and evidence to speak for itself A very readable effective treatment of an important subject 117