Re: Durbadath

From: Paul Andrew King <paul_at_morat.demon.co.uk>
Date: Tue, 29 Mar 2005 07:58:21 +0100

>The account explains why his family
>fled to Egypt and why he later settled in Nazareth. Indeed, without the
>Magi, the slaughter of the Innocents, the flight into Egypt, and the
>relocation to Nazareth would not have happened, and the prophecies about
>those events would not have been fulfilled. The story about the Magi is,
>from this perspective, a critical one in Jesus' life, and it's all dependent
>on who they were and what they did. Again, that's why this is a poor
>example.

It also illustrates another point - that there is no problem for believers in accepting inconsistent stories. While most of the points were not considered important enough to mention for the other Gospel writers, Luke has a different and inconsistent story of Jesus' birth. Set at a different time (about 10 years later), with Joseph and Mary as residents of Nazareth only visiting Bethlehem, and no place for the Magi or the rest of Matthew's story.

-- 
--
"The T'ang emperors were strong believers in the pills of
immortality.  More emperors died of poisoning from ingesting minerals
in the T'ang than in any other dynasty" - Eva Wong _The Shambhala
Guide to Taoism_

Paul K.


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