Infancy Narratives

[Rogerteder]

Hey does anyone want to give me a defense against those who say there are contradicitions in the infancy narratives? Please list the verses that some claim are contradictions. Then give your explanation of how they can be reconciled. Be short and to the point. Thanks!!!

 

[NotWorthy]

There are no contradictions in the infancy narratives.

Is that short enough and to the point?

 

[quasimodo]

Hey does anyone want to give me a defense against those who say there are contradicitions in the infancy narratives? Please list the verses that some claim are contradictions. Then give your explanation of how they can be reconciled. Be short and to the point. Thanks!!!

Those who make these claims read scriptures like literal fundamentalists. They think that if every jot and tittle is not accurate according to their understanding, then obviously, the bible is without merit. the point is that the authors of scripture were not interested in that kind of accuracy. They were telling a deeper truth, not doing a genealogical study. They read and wrote history differently than we do today. They wrote and read for TRUTH not scientific accuracy.

 

[juliamajor]

For a discussion on the subject try philenid.tripod.com/pastor/matthew/infancy_narrative

 

[Epistemes]

Hello,

Let me answer your question in full, basing my answer upon a book which I have at my disposal which I find to be accurate concerning this topic.

First off, as NotWorthy said above, there are no contradictions in the infancy narratives. If there had been actual contraditions, then the early Fathers who were guided by the Spirit to assemble the New Testament in all its part would not have included two Gospels which were contrary in message or intent.

Having said that, there are *differences *between the two birth stories, but these are not unreconcilable. For instance, in Matthew’s story, Joseph and Mary live in Bethlehem and have a house there (2:11). They stay in Bethlehem until the child is nearly two years old (2:16) and the only reason they cannot go back after the flight into Egypt is their fear of Herod’s son. Consequently they go to a city called Nazareth with the clear implication that they have not been there before (2:22-23). In Luke, Mary and Joseph live in Nazareth and go to Bethlehem only because of the census (1:6, 2:4). After the birth of the child, having stopped in Jerusalem on the way, they go quickly back to Nazareth and there they remain (2:39). There is no reference in Luke to the family being in Bethlehem for almost two years after the birth, to the coming of the magi to Jerusalem and to Bethlehem with all the showy brilliance that must have produced, no reference to the killing of the children in Bethlehem or to the flight into Egypt. Indeed, in his narrative of peaceful return from Bethlehem through Jerusalem to Nazareth, Luke would have no room for such horrendous events and such a detour into Egypt. In Matthew’s account there is no reference to a census and the whole atmosphere of the story is different from Luke’s.

These differences do not make the Gospels more true or less true because each story relates factors in its own way that are functionally equivalent. For instance, Matthew tells of an annunciation to Joseph, while Luke tells of an annunciation to Mary; and each annunciation has the function of identifying the child to be born as the Messiah and as “God-With-Us” or the Son of God. Matthew tells of magi who come after the birth of Jesus to adore him, while Luke tells of sheperds who come after the birth to adore the child; each scene has the function of showing that God’s revelation in Jesus will be responded to by belief and praise, on the part of Gentiles in Matthew and on the part of Jews in Luke.

(Most of this answer was copied verbatim and/or derived from “101 Questions and Answers About The Bible.”)