Jesus Was Born In Nazareth
The Nativity is one of the most well-known Biblical stories. But did it truly take place? Some scholars believe not, and the Bible is ambiguous on the subject. Neither the gospels of John, Mark, nor Paul’s letters mention travel to Bethlehem. It is widely assumed that Mary gave birth to Jesus at her house in Nazareth. Of course, this implies that neither Joseph nor Mary realized how wonderful and unique their son was at first. It would also indicate that all of the rituals and celebrations linked with Christ’s birth did not take place.
Mary’s Roles Included Hairdresser And Prostitute
In the second century, certain anti-Christian critics denied that Mary was a virgin mother. Instead, they presented her as a smarmy hairdresser who had an affair with Panthera, the putative biological father of Jesus Christ. Some researchers thought she was a sex worker, while others claimed she was a rape victim. Helen Bond, a New Testament lecturer at the University of Edinburgh, believed that the aforementioned legends may have originated in very early Christian traditions. “… Are these stories counter-claims to Christian traditions?” she wondered in The Guardian in 2002. Or do they preserve an even older tradition in which Jesus was illegitimate, a tradition that the gospel writers took up and converted into the account of the virginal conception?”