Myths of the Nativity

Advent and Christmas are two crucial elements of the yearly church calendar, stained glass nativitytrailing only Easter and Pentecost in ultimate significance. The birth of Christ, and the period of hope and expectation leading up to it, is a season of celebration for the church, perhaps the most beloved time of year, with the most well-known and loved hymns and traditions. At the center of it all is the Biblical story of the Nativity, the birth of Jesus Christ, in a manger, in Bethlehem.

Yet, for Christians who read the Bible critically, with historical and cultural context scrutiny, it can also be a difficult season. Studying the text alongside commentaries and analysis reveals the shaky factual foundation of such things as the Roman census, the location of Bethlehem, the appearance of the magi, the identities and attributes of Mary and Joseph, the Virgin Birth, and the date of December 25th. The question emerges, what is left of Advent and Christmas when this foundation is shaken? How can we find meaning and power in a story that largely appears to be myth and embellishment?

These are the questions I want to answer with this series, Myths of the Nativity. These are questions I have struggled with and pondered, and I want to share that struggle and opportunity for new understandings here, with others who may feel the same way.

Over the next few days, we are going to discuss and think about several different topics pulled from the Nativity:

  • Mary, Joseph and the Virgin Birth
  • Bethlehem vs. Nazareth
  • The Adoration: Magi and Shepherds
  • the Flight to Egypt and Herod’s Decree
  • The Meaning of December 25th, Christmas Trees, Advent
  • Jolly Old St. Nick

All in all, over the course of a week, I want to look at how we, as critical readers of the Biblical text, can learn to think about and talk about the story of Jesus’ birth, and what Christmas means in light of all this.

I encourage you to participate: please comment, question, challenge, and doubt what I say, and join in learning about a new way of looking at Christmas.

 

 

UCC/DOC Statement on Violence and Hate Towards the Muslim Community

UCC-DOC_LogosYesterday, the United Church of Christ and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) issued a statement condemning the recent hateful and intolerant rhetoric aimed at the Muslim community in America. As a candidate in the DOC/UCC ordination process¹,  I am so proud of the leadership of my church, and I wholly support their words. The original text can be found here.

A joint statement of the leadership of the United Church of Christ and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

As people of faith, we are called to “love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind, and with all our strength.”  Jesus charges us to “love our neighbor as yourself,” telling us that “there is no other commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:29-31).  We are called to be peacemakers (Matthew 5:9), and to “pursue peace with everyone” (Hebrews 12:14).

Recognizing that all people are created in the image of God, and heeding the words of our sacred scripture, we are disturbed and concerned as we witness the divisive discourse in our country concerning our Muslim neighbors.  The rhetoric of exclusion and vilification runs absolutely counter to our understanding of God’s oikos, which is an inclusive fellowship of God’s children and creation.

As leaders of the United Church of Christ and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), we offer our ongoing solidarity with and support for all those who are increasingly fearful for their safety and well-being as a result of the heightened vitriol. And we commit to continuing to pursue peace, to promote better understanding among our communities, and to pursue justice in all that we do.

We are witnessing the convergence of a massive global refugee crisis, not limited to the displacement of over half the Syrian population due to the tragic war there; a sentiment of fear resulting from heinous attacks in many places in the US and globally; and the relentless nature of a US presidential campaign in which candidates exploit circumstances and fears to put forward ever more restrictive and exclusivist programs to address perceived threats.  In this combination of circumstances, Islam and Muslims as a whole community experience an escalation in violent rhetoric and action that is misplaced and unjustified—and that does not represent the ethos of nurturing stronger and deeper intercommunal ties in our society that we seek to promote.

Our two churches are vocal and consistent in our condemnation of all forms of violence, including terrorism; in our hope for a peaceful and swift end to the war in Syria; in our unwavering advocacy for humane and welcoming attitudes and policies towards refugees; and in our clear denunciation of language and actions that insult and harm people of any identity, including religious, and specifically Muslims.

Daily we see the destruction of human life caused by people who employ ideologies, policies, systems, and sometimes, religion.  There are forces in the world that would choose death and destruction to life with abundance; and we stand in clear opposition to those forces.  Many victims of injustice go unreported, hidden, or denied.  God knows their pain; they do not go unnoticed.  We are called to work for God’s kindom in this world.

In this moment, we own our Christian responsibility to lift up our voice once again to express our love and concern for our Muslim sisters and brothers.  We stand in solidarity with communities of faith in our abhorrence of the xenophobic and racist attitudes that motivate such hate speech and actions.  We live with the hope that peace and justice will prevail for all of God’s children. 

The Rev. John Dorhauer
General Minister and President

The Rev. J. Bennett Guess
Executive Minister, Local Church Ministries

The Rev. James Moos
Executive Minister, Wider Church Ministries

The Rev. Bentley DeBardelaben
Manager, Justice and Witness Ministries

The Rev. Sharon Watkins
General Minister and President

The Rev. Ron Degges
President, Disciples Home Missions

The Rev. Julia Brown Karimu
President, Division of Overseas Ministries

  1. UCC and DOC share a ministry track, with graduates able to serve churches in either denomination

Scapegoating our Muslim Brothers and Sisters: An Example from Girardian Theology

Since his death a few weeks ago, I have found myself drawn to the theology and writings of Rene Girard. If you are unfamiliar with his ideas, I highly, highly recommend Richard Beck’s recent 7-part series at his excellent Experimental Theology blog that explains very well Girard’s mimetic theory and scapegoating. This is a series I wish I had written.rene-girard-scapegoat

I just want to use this as a prompt for a quick social commentary piece. The plight of Syrian refugees and Muslims in general has dominated much of the recent news, and much of my thought. I find it very interesting, in light of reading Girard, that 2015 America is reverting to a scapegoat mentality towards the minority among us.

In short, Girard’s theory says that for many thousands of years, human civilization used collective violence aimed at a minority or marginalized group, in the form of a sacrifice, to act almost as a “pressure-release valve” for human society. Beck summarizes Girard in this way:

1. Sacrifice was a real solution to communal violence.

2. But for that “solution” to work the truth about the sacrifical mechanics have to be systematically obscured.

3. Religion, via its mythical structure, provided this obfuscation.

4. The obfuscation was this: The voice of the scapegoat, the very personal cries of the one being murdered, had to be silenced. Thus, scapegoats were chosen (and are still chosen) from marginalized groups, powerless people. Further, the murder of the scapegoat must not be seen for what it is (i.e., a murder). It must be a divinely sanctioned “sacrifice.”

5. This scapegoating mechanism–rationalized, sanctioned, “religious” violence–still defines the human condition. Our collective Sin is this machinery of violence.

6. Thus, in order to save us, the scapegoating mechanism must be exposed.

The progression of Judaistic monotheism slowly unveiled this hidden mechanism by initiating a move towards identification with the scapegoat. The death of Jesus was the final act in the revealing, showing the ultimate futility of the sacrificial mechanism by disclosing the inherent innocence of our scapegoats.

We seem to have lost this conclusion. In a rush to assuage the primal fear we feel in the world, a fear of the different and of death, we have seized upon a voiceless and minor victim, that of the small Muslim community in America, and the innocent refugees fleeing violence elsewhere, and made them our scapegoat. And as the rage and anger and hate builds to a breaking point, we get closer and closer to that moment of collective violence that relieves the great societal tension that has been building for years and years.

The death of Jesus, of the innocent scapegoat, reveals the futility of such violence. It shows that safety and security, the future of society, our own personal well being, is not achieved by violence. Violence only begets more violence, until we have all operated as the scapegoat. Instead, by identifying with those we oppress, we can begin to feel compassion, and we begin to heal our world by striving for the betterment of all peoples.

We are at a crucial juncture in history. The revelation of violent futility in Jesus’ death did not end the scapegoating mechanism by any means. Many times in the subsequent 2000 years has collective violence been used to pacify the anxiety of society for a short time. We are dangerously close to living through another one of those moments, if we have not already crossed that event horizon.

May we find the clarity and sanity to recognize our trajectory towards death. May we find it soon.