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On December 7th, I hung my U.S. flag out front to commemorate the day the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. That afternoon a cannonball flew through the northern California city of Dublin, bounced on a driveway before bursting through the wall of an upstairs bedroom, barely missing a mother and her two-year-old child as they napped, then exited through the opposite wall and flew across a six-lane road, bouncing off the roof of another home before landing on the floorboard of an unoccupied minivan.
I feel for the people who were traumatized by the close calls. The thought of how close they came to death must be difficult to shake. However, I also feel for the three young Mythbusters staff who have to live with the knowledge that they almost caused injury or death. It is obvious from watching the show that safety is of utmost importance to them and their insurance company. This horrible mistake has to be very disturbing to them.
I have always enjoyed watching the show. The crew has been in our town several times. I happened to meet Adam and some of the crew on a couple of occasions, and except for one rude comment from one of the peons, they were enjoyable encounters. I am drawn to the program because I also enjoy uncovering the truth about beliefs others take for granted. The general population seems all too willing to accept traditions, “old wives tales,” and intriguing stories as truth without verification. I happen to believe truth is always better than fiction, and that, though it may hurt for awhile, people will survive the busting of the myths they have held so dear for so long and actually be better off in the long run.
I also believe my faith is only made stronger when its veracity is tested. I see no need to attempt to make it more acceptable to a skeptical world by holding on to or inventing myths about it. For instance, I don’t need to cling to emotional, but inaccurate, accounts of the birth of Jesus. In fact, I believe the myths created to give this event a more emotional impact are a disservice to the Christian faith. Christmas myths, like every other variation of scripture, must be tested against the standard of truth.
So, to that end, I now present ten of the most common Christmas myths and the truth about them:
1. Jesus was born on December 25th. The Bible gives no definitive indication of the day of the birth of Jesus. Church history is not much help, either. December 25th wasn’t officially recognized by church leaders until 336 A.D. Trying to determine the actual nativity of Jesus through references to secular events has likewise proven inadequate. What should we make of all this? Apparently, it is not important that we know the exact date, or God would have made it plain from the beginning. Perhaps he didn’t want us to know, so we wouldn’t turn it into a commercial enterprise that celebrates everything except the birth of Jesus.
2. The Magi arrived on Christmas morning. This does not seem at all likely. Matthew 2:1 indicates it was only “after Jesus was born” that the Magi arrived in Jerusalem. They had seen “his star in the east” and, for reasons not explained in scripture, came to Jerusalem to worship the “king of the Jews.” In verse 11, the Magi, “on coming to the house…saw the child.” It was a house, not a barn or manger. He was a “child,” not an infant (different Greek words). In verse 7, Herod asked them when they had first seen the star. They tell him, but there response is not recorded by Matthew. However, after they leave the area, Herod has all the male children “two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi,” to be slaughtered. If the star first appeared on the night of Jesus’ birth, the Magi would need at least months to travel from Persia, or that general area in the east, to Israel. It is simply convenient to include them in the nativity scenes on our mantles.
3. Related to #2: The star shone over the manger scene. Luke writes about the inn, the manger, the shepherds, and the angels, but makes no mention of a star. Since we don’t know exactly what this “star” was, it may not have been noticed by those in the Bethlehem region, while being an object of great concern to the Magi in the east. If it was an unusually bright star located right over the manger, it seems like Luke would have acknowledged its presence.
4. The angels sang to the shepherds. First, it was a solitary angel that first appeared. Only after he told them about the birth of Jesus, did the great number of other angels appear. And then, they said, or proclaimed, “Glory to God in the highest…” Nowhere is it recorded that they sang.
5. The weather was cold and snowy. Really? Then why were the shepherds still in the fields watching their sheep? When the weather is bad, they came down out of the hills and kept the sheep near their homes. Scripture says nothing about the weather. But a little snow fits nicely with the type of weather expected in the areas of Europe and the northeastern United States where the authors of most of the traditional Christmas carols and stories lived.
6. There were angels at the manger scene. If there were, scripture doesn’t record their presence.
7. Mary rode into Bethlehem on a donkey. Maybe she did, but maybe she didn’t. Scripture is silent on this one.
8. A little drummer boy serenaded the baby Jesus. Can anyone think of even one mother of a newborn who would allow anyone to bang on a drum next to her newborn?
9. The Christmas tree is symbolic of the cross, also sometimes referred to as a tree, upon which Jesus would hang at his death. I think it is amazing that Christians can invent explanations for cultural deviations from the truth in order to maintain the traditions they have grown to love. I have no problem with anyone viewing the tree as a symbol of the cross, or the yule log as a symbol of the true light, or the mistletoe as a symbol of our love for God. But, please, let’s not pretend that Christians invented these symbols. They were all symbols used in various pagan forms of worship, then adopted (reinvented, stolen, modified) to fit the Christian celebration. I believe it’s wonderful that the early pagan origins of these symbols are almost completely forgotten, and that many have attached Christian meaning to them. They are symbols only; reminders for people. There is nothing inherently wrong with them. But neither is there any scriptural significance attached to them.
10. Santa is a big, fat guy who couldn’t possibly fit down any chimney ever invented. Get real, people. He is an elf. Elves are little tiny beings. As such, he can easily fit down just about any chimney in the world.
Photo above taken from http://www.wired.com/underwire/2011/12/mythbusters-cannonball/
