A nice little hermeneutical exercise for you theologians out there:
The idea is this: using only the texts of scripture write out a timeline, and describe a basic order of events, from the moment the shepherds arrived at the stable to the moment Mary, Joseph and Jesus arrived back in Nazareth from Egypt. Describing details like for example, the timeframe for the wise men, the timeframe of the star, and Mary & Joseph’s movements during that time.
Rules: use ONLY the text of scripture particularly Matthew 2 and Luke 2 which deal most with this topic.
Put aside all topical notes, study notes and commentaries etc. for this one as well as, as far as possible previous knowledge and opinions of the subject. The point of the exercise is to EXAMINE THE TEXT, and draw the story from it.
Now granted there are likely to have several variations of the story, probably as many versions as there are people who participate. This is not an issue of any particular importance as regarding our faith. If we disagree it’s no particular problem except unless the problem is an issue of biblical inerrancy.
Have fun and message me your answers. And I’ll post them in one blog post. I’ll also post my answer tomorrow.
Finally remember, use ONLY the text of scripture. Soli Dei Gloria
Note, please comment your answers below, all relevant comments will be collated into a future post.
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