CHRISTMAS Nativity resonates with people

Each year, people of all walks find comfort and joy in the Nativity.
By D.A. WILKINSON
VINDICATOR RELIGION EDITOR
The decorating, shopping and gift wrapping come to an end as Christmas approaches.
In the final hours of Christmas Eve, many faithful and some who rarely attend will go to church. There, they will undoubtedly hear the story of the Nativity and are likely see it represented with figures, art, or even actors.
Obviously, the birth of Jesus is the reason for the Christian holiday. But why do so many people with different degrees of faith find something -- comfort, peace, or power -- in that scene?
Or as one pastor asked, "Why does it resonate with people?"
The Rev. Dr. Kang-Yup Na, a Presbyterian minister and professor of religion at Westminster College in New Wilmington, Pa., said the Nativity represents God's, "great love and joy and peace and repentance and forgiveness."
Belief in incarnation
But that flows from the belief that Jesus was the incarnate God, and not everyone entirely believes that.
Dr. Bryan Rennie, an associate professor of religion at Westminster, said, "There are dozens of birth-of-the-god narratives that can be compared to the birth of Jesus, although few of the more well-known ones bear any significant resemblance."
And it doesn't help that the Gospel of Matthew and Luke are very different when recounting Jesus' birth, said Rennie.
The Rev. Mr. Na added, "The two accounts are more different than similar."
Some of the differences, said Mr. Na, include the angel talking with Joseph in Matthew but Mary in Luke, Herod appearing in Matthew but not in Luke, the magi are in Matthew but not in Luke, the shepherds are in Luke but not in Matthew, the escape to Egypt is in Matthew but not Luke, and Luke has the manger, but Matthew does not.
"Most Christians remember the Nativity story as a combination of elements from both Gospels, which adds to the confusion out there among Christians and non-Christians," Mr. Na said.
Doctrinally, Christians believe in the Apostles' and Nicene creeds that affirm conception by the Holy Spirit and virgin birth, but they aren't required to believe in the differing details of the Nativity, Mr. Na said.
Another reason for doubt
Still another reason some doubt is the setting of Dec. 25 as the birth of Jesus, which isn't mentioned in the Bible.
Rennie said: "The date happens to coincide with the previously thought to be the date of the winter solstice [the shortest day of the year], and it moved from what is now Jan. 6 to Dec. 25 when the calendar was changed from the Julian calendar introduced by Julius Caesar in 45 B.C. to the Gregorian calendar introduced in 1582 under Pope Gregory XIII."
That difference in dates, by the way, is why some Eastern Orthodox Churches still celebrate Christmas in early January.
But Rennie said that the proximity of Christmas to the modern solstice gives meaning to the Nativity story.
"This connection with the winter solstice is characteristic of the nature of the narrative -- the birth of the light in the darkness -- and seems to be part of the symbolic power of the narrative," said Rennie. "It harmonizes with the lives of Northern European humanity who experience a world of seasons with repeated privation and plenty. That the birth of the savior of the world coincides with the first sign of the return of the spring and the 'salvation' of the world from the winter is evidently appropriate."
Mr. Na said: "The Nativity's power is derived not so much from its historicity or factuality as from its truth and symbolic power. No one I know of does a historical research of the Nativity before finding it meaningful."
Outwardly, our culture shows the meaningfulness of the Nativity by putting scenes in or outside of churches, homes and other buildings, the minister said.
Truth about existence
"We already experience the Nativity as speaking some truth about human existence and the human condition," said Mr. Na.
Part of that is reflected in the family unit: Mary, Joseph and Jesus that "presents an aesthetically pleasing completeness and peace: the perfect family of mother, father and child, " said Mr. Na. "That relational perfection ... brings comfort to a world that knows much suffering, incompleteness, imperfection, and hatred. The Nativity invokes and evokes peace because of this perfection."
Having an infant in the scene increases that sense of loving, "since infants solicit in most human beings a state of purity, innocence, perfection, honesty, and sincerity," said Na. "Because the Nativity focuses obviously on birth, death seems to be overwhelmed or overcome, at least for the season."
Ultimately, said Mr. Na, "There is a je ne sais quoi quality of the Nativity that transcends cultural and linguistic barriers to propose a hopeful, peaceful reality. The truths of the goodness of God and his will towards human beings and the world are presented in simple images and emotions."
Still, some of those images come with a twist: One is that the vulnerable baby is the son of God.
"It's supposed to be a mind-blowing concept," said Mr. Na.
Some Nativity portrayals have hinted at worldly scandal: Joseph in the background after his young fiancee gave birth.
Mr. Na said in those portrayals, "The infant, the baby, overshadows all of them."
wilkinson@vindy.com