Who could argue with the message the authors draw from the Bibles Christmas stories? Light in the darkest time of the year, hope in a period of creeping despairthese are powerful and universal themes that can give everyone a stake in Christmas.USA TodayIn The First Christmas Marcus J. Borg and John Dominic Crossantop Jesus scholars and authors of The Last Weekhelp us see the real Christmas story buried in the familiar Bible accounts. Basing their interpretations on the two nativity narratives in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, Borg and Crossan focus on the literal storythe inner truth rather than the historical factsto offer a clear and uplifting message of hope and peace. With The First Christmas readers get a fresh, deep, and new understanding of the nativity story, enabling us to better appreciate the powerful message of the Gospels.
In The First Christmas, top Jesus scholars Marcus J. Borg and John Dominic Crossan join forces to show how history has biased our reading of the Nativity story as it appears in the Bible. Basing their interpretations on the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, Borg and Crossan focus on the inner truth rather than historical facts, and offer a clear and uplifting message of hope and peace. The First Christmas gives readers a fresh, deep, and new understanding of the Nativity story, enabling us to better appreciate the powerful message of the Gospels.
Marcus J. Borg is Hundere Distinguished Professor of Religion and Culture at Oregon State University and author of the bestselling Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time, The Heart of Christianity, Reading the Bible Again for the First Time, The God We Never Knew, and Jesus.
John Dominic Crossan is the author of several bestselling books including God & Empire, The Historical Jesus, Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography, The Birth of Christianity, Who Killed Jesus? and The Last Week, co-authored with Marcus Borg. He lives in Minneola, Florida.
"Borg and Crossan have given us new lenses through which to view the light of the Gospel accounts of Jesus's birth."
- Reverend John Bryson Chane D.D., Episcopal Bishop of Washington, D.C.
