Unbelievable? 26 Dec 2009 - Are the two Christmas accounts contradictory?

Unbelievable?

Premier Unbelievable?

Christianity, Religion & Spirituality

4.7 • 2.4K Ratings

🗓️ 5 June 2014

⏱️ 81 minutes

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Summary

Matthew and Luke are the two Gospel writers that include narratives of the birth of Christ. The traditional Nativity Story is an amalgamation of the two accounts. Critics claim the two stories do not match up. Barrister Charles Foster wrote "The Christmas Mystery" to show that Matthew and Luke are different, but reliable accounts of Jesus' birth. Atheist Robert Stovold believes that the stories are a blend of Pagan myth and later invention. Evangelical scholar Anthony McRoy also joins in the conversation. They debate issues such as Matthew's use of Old Testament prophecy, the Virgin birth, Bethlehem as the birth place and whether Luke dates the Census correctly. For Charles Foster see www.charlesfoster.co.uk To buy "The Christmas Mystery" click here For Robert Stovold and his booklet "Did Christians Steal Christmas?" click here Hear more Christian/non Christian discussion at www.premier.org.uk/unbelievable or get the podcast or via Itunes If you enjoyed this programme you may also enjoy Unbelievable? 22 Dec 2007 - Did Christians steal Christmas? Unbelievable? 20 Dec 2008 Virgin Birth: Fact or Fiction? Revd Michael Sayward debates Unitarian Sarah Tinker Join in the discussion at the "Unbelievable" group on The Premier Community

Transcript

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0:00.0	We turned to God and prayed. My dad committed his life to Jesus.
0:04.4	She danced in worship with members of the... My mom came to faith as my dad's...
0:08.0	God had answered our prayers. Glory to God. God answers prayer.
0:12.0	Be a visible witness.
0:15.0	Share your answered prayer.
0:17.0	Every brick in the eternal wall of answered prayer
0:20.0	represents a story of hope. answered prayer
0:27.0	dot org.
0:30.0	well welcome along to unbelievable this Saturday and it is of course the day after Christmas, Boxing Day.
0:36.5	So welcome along, however you're listening via the internet, perhaps on DAB service across the country, perhaps you're listening via
0:43.8	podcast and it's not Christmas at all and you're listening in the middle of
0:47.0	summer. Well however you're listening it's great to have you with us and I do hope
0:50.5	you can stay with us for the next hour and a half a special Christmas themed edition of Unbelievable the show that gets Christians and non-Christians talking
0:58.8	You're Unbelievable
1:01.8	And today we're looking at a book called The Christmas Mystery, written by Charles Foster.
1:06.8	It explores some of the objections that critics have leveled at the trustworthiness of the Christmas story in Luke and Matthew.
1:14.3	We're going to be looking at some of those objections such as the issue of the census.
1:19.2	Did Luke get it wrong? We're going to be looking at Bethlehem, the birthplace or just a theological
1:25.6	device as well as the virgin birth that's an old chestnut which comes up again
1:29.7	and again and we're going to be looking into all these issues with the help of my guests
1:33.4	Charles Foster the author of that book Robert Stovold who's an atheist and published a book
1:38.2	about whether Christians stole Christmas and Antonin McRoy from the Wales Evangelical School of Theology my guests
	...

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