My Christmas Pet Peeve
On the occasion of my hundredth post to Log and Line (yay!), I'm going to indulge myself and dispel a little misconception that gets to me. Jesus, as far as we know, was born in a cave and not a barn, whatever little scenes we Christians may set up each year.
It's probably no accident that most representations of the Nativity (at least in Europe and the New World) show the infant Jesus lying in a manger (to be clear, this word refers to the feeding trough used as a crib and is not synonymous with "barn") take place in little models of familiar-looking wooden stables. But the most ancient traditions of the Church tell us a different story. Justin Martyr's (d. 165) is the oldest written reference to the tradition:
For several years, my own Nativity scene took place inside a little cave I made from pieces of shale, but I reluctantly abandoned these when it became clear that my small children would break their fingers playing with them. I await the leisure to build another, though perhaps painted styrofoam would be a better choice.
Tags: Christmas, Justin Martyr, Cave, Nativity, Pet Peeve, 100th Post
It's probably no accident that most representations of the Nativity (at least in Europe and the New World) show the infant Jesus lying in a manger (to be clear, this word refers to the feeding trough used as a crib and is not synonymous with "barn") take place in little models of familiar-looking wooden stables. But the most ancient traditions of the Church tell us a different story. Justin Martyr's (d. 165) is the oldest written reference to the tradition:
"But when the Child was born in Bethlehem, since Joseph could not find a lodging in that village, he took up his quarters in a certain cave near the village; and while they were there Mary brought forth the Christ and placed Him in a manger, and here the Magi who came from Arabia found Him." --Dialog with Trypho the Jew, c. 161 ADSome might object that the gospels were composed well before this date. To this I reply 1) the gospels do not say "barn" either and 2) the Apostolic Fathers placed a great value on orally transmitted tradition (Papias springs to mind here).
For several years, my own Nativity scene took place inside a little cave I made from pieces of shale, but I reluctantly abandoned these when it became clear that my small children would break their fingers playing with them. I await the leisure to build another, though perhaps painted styrofoam would be a better choice.
Tags: Christmas, Justin Martyr, Cave, Nativity, Pet Peeve, 100th Post
posted by Jeff at 1:30 PM
2 Comments:
Christ also wasn't born in the winter. The actual nativity was some time in the spring (that's when the shephards are in the field with their flocks). The Christ Mass to celebrate the birth of Christ was set to occur at the same time as a Roman festival that came on December 25, just after the winter solstice. Most of our Christmas decorations are adapted from various pagan traditions assosciated with the solstice.
My Christmas pet Peeve is Christmas in general
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