Dec
22
Written by:
host
12/22/2009 7:00 AM
A few years ago, I accidentally started a nationwide debate. Well, a minor one, anyway. You see, I collect old coins—really old ones, mostly from the years 100 BCE to 100 CE. After winning on eBay what I believed to be a coin of Herod the Great (the King Herod who sends the “wise men” out to find the one born “King of the Jews”), I started to doubt I had correctly identified it. So, I posted a message to a biblical coins discussion forum online asking for help.
First, the world’s expert in the coins of Pontius Pilate weighed in, saying I had found an extremely rare—perhaps even unknown—variety of the Herod coin. I was elated! But a short time later, another expert in Jewish coins identified it as a Seleucid coin (the Seleucids ruled in that part of the world for a short time prior to Herod), one that Herod had later imitated in style. His analysis was convincing, except that he couldn’t point to a published Seleucid example of my coin. Others weighed in with their opinions, and in the process I learned a good deal about a coin that wouldn’t even be in my hands for weeks.
Ultimately, the world's expert on biblical coins set me straight: it was a forgery, one that had been commonly seen a few years back. Was I disappointed to know that my amazing find wasn't associated with such a famous individual? For a brief time I was, but I’m not disappointed at all now—I still have a good story to go with it, and I learned a lot in the process that gives me even greater insight today when I consider coins for purchase. (By the way, my coin is shown above; similar—but authentic—examples can be seen here.)
Among biblical scholars, another debate continues to rage over how much of the story of Jesus’ birth is factual and how much is, shall we say, embellished. When I first learned about contemporary biblical scholarship in college and its critical methods of studying the ancient texts, I had many feelings of disappointment and discouragement. If the stories weren’t really “true”, then I wasn’t sure I could really benefit much from reading them. For a time, I felt like I’d been sold an average Seleucid rather than a rare Herod.
But soon I discovered that there were great depths to be mined in those old familiar stories. Details that I had overlooked began to take on new significance. Themes I thought I understood took on greater meaning and purpose in my own life. Today, though I don't see the details of the Christmas story as factually true, I certainly understand the accounts to be true in many other senses of the word.
I hope you will take some time during the remaining days of Advent or after Christmas to re-read the narratives of Jesus’ birth at the beginning of the gospels of Matthew and Luke. But go beyond the surface story. Grab a study Bibles or good commentary series to help you dig into the text. Dust off that copy of The First Christmas (my favorite work on this topic) and crack it open. Get together with a group of friends and ponder the deeper meanings in the story for today's world. And above all, remember that these well-told tales don't need to be literally true to be liberally rich with truths we all need to hear anew.
~ by Tim Gossett
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