What could be more familiar than the Christmas story--and yet what could be more extraordinary?

The cast of characters is strange and exotic: shepherds and magicians, an emperor and a despot, angels, and a baby who is Almighty God. The strangeness calls for an explanation, and this book provides it by examining the characters and the story in light of the biblical and historical context.

Bestselling author Scott Hahn who has written extensively on Scripture and the early Church, brings evidence to light, dispelling some of the mystery of the story. Yet Christmas is made familiar all over again by showing it to be a family story. Christmas, as it appears in the New Testament, is the story of a father, a mother, and a child--their relationships, their interactions, their principles, their individual lives, and their common life. To see the life of this "earthly trinity" is to gaze into heaven.

Part of me wants to ding Hahn for how he sometimes provides less-than-the-best readings of contemporary Biblical criticism in favor of traditional understandings of Gospel details. But the book is just so good as a devotional reading that it overwhelmed that weakness for me. ( )

5584. Joy to the World How Christ's Coming Changed Everything (and Still Does), by Scott Hahn (read 22 Sep 2018) This is a 2014 book enthusiastically proclaiming the significance of Christ's entrance upon the world stage. I read the author's story of his conversion to the Catholic Faith, Rome Sweet Home, on 30 Apr 1998. It is good to see his strong Catholicism and this book vigorously sets out the importance of Christ's human birth and the joy of Christmas. ( )

Very well-written book. It was well organized and covered all the major players of the Christmas story, putting them in both historical and theological context. Good read!

Really enjoyed this book. Here are my rough notes:
Herod is obviously anti-family, although I don't know why that wasn't so obvious to me before Hahn mentioned it!

Luke interviewed Mary and how she pondered the things in her heart over many years.

And Mary is the only witness to much of this!!

Matthew: genealogy is about rooting and place and family and context of history. He was talking to Jews and telling their story. They knew it. Yet, Matthew includes some controversial figures, including non-Jews, which extends the scope. Jesus speaks and represents all people (including those with questionable morality). Its about showing historical progression. No reason to get worked up about the puzzling differences between Luke and Matthew, they are not important.

Herod tried to claim the mantle of David. And he was quite insane. There is no reason to think that they magi did not see this. Nor is there reason to doubt the murder of the innocents. Could have been a small scale operation in a small town that would have had no impact on other parts of kingdom and would not have been recorded. Moreover, it is possible that Herod was fearful of being the forerunner to David. In other words, he was afraid he was playing the role that John the Baptist actually played.

Important part of the mindset of Herod and those of the time is that they felt the messiah's coming was imminent and they really felt they were living in a transformative epoch with all the anxiety and hope that comes with that.

Mary came from a pious household and could very likely have been one of the temple virgins. Of course, a virgin giving birth to a child would certainly be an unusual event that could mark the messiah. Hahn discusses sexuality and how some groups, such as the Essenes practiced celibacy and a form of extreme piousness.

Really enjoyed the chapter on St. Joseph, the silent knight, who is silent in the gospels. Hahn refers to Joseph's "singular privilege ... to be the earthly father of Jesus." (p. 71) To describe Joseph as a "just man" was at the time the supreme compliment one could attribute to the character of another. For this reason, Hahn ascribes what he refers to as the "Reverence Theory" to Joseph's attitude toward Mary when he learned of her pregnancy. According to this theory, he already knew and felt unworthy of fulfilling the divine demand. it was not a lack of trust in Mary, but his own pious inclination. Finally, Hahn touches on the subject of references to Jesus's brothers. This is always a touchy subject for Catholics. In Joy to the World, Hahn argues this was a common reference at the time to family members and could have meant cousins.

Jesus was the unity of Heaven and earth.

While there is no record of a census at the time of the birth of Jesus, Hahn offers several possible explanations. He doesn't seem to come down on a particular theory, but, with the possibility of several plausible explanations, there is no reason to discount that something happened. It could have been a census or some other registration, but if contemporaries didn't doubt it, why should we in the 21st century?

I always found the Magi very mysterious, and Hahn's chapter on them is very enlightening. First, he notes that they Romans and the Jews really didn't like the Magi. The role of the Magi during the Babylonian Captivity was remembered as infamous by those who survived it and relayed their story to future generations. And yet, there must have been some wary fascination each group had with the other. Otherwise, they would not have been watching each other, and the Magi would not have been keeping up on Jewish traditions. Second, although their appearance is brief, their importance is immense. While the official religious hierarchy in the Jewish Temple totally missed the boat on the birth of the Messiah, they stargazing Persians (assumed to be Persians, but could have been others), the outsiders not fondly remembered, traveled across deserts and imperial borders to bow to the Jewish Messiah. Another sign that Jesus was for all people. Finally, the while Hahn attempts to reconcile history with faith in most situations, he totally dismisses it with the star. Forget Werner Keller's classic The Bible as History, Hahn argues there was no astronomical explanation for the star, which is why the Magi thought to follow such an unnatural occurrence.

David was a shepherd.

Mary and Joseph were pious Jews who followed traditions and presented Jesus to the temple in that tradition.

Flight into Egypt makes sense. Egypt was both a refuge and place with a dark past. Parallels to Moses. There were many Jewish communities in Egypt, especially Alexandria. It is plausible that Joseph and/or Mary had some family there who could take them in for a time. ( )