The Two Tests: The Supernatural Claims of Christianity Tried by Two of Its Own RulesLisle, Lionel
Religion
The Two Tests: The Supernatural Claims of Christianity Tried by Two of Its Own Rules
Lisle, Lionel
Apologetics
Matthew further mentions two subsequent appearances of the angel of the
Lord to Joseph in dreams, the first directing him to take the child to
Egypt to be out of the way of Herod's massacre, and then, when Herod
was dead, directing him to return to Judea. Luke, on the other hand,
practically ignores Joseph in the whole transaction of the birth of
Jesus. He makes no mention of the way in which Mary informed her lover;
of the condition she was in, and merely brings him in when the birth
is about to take place, as proceeding from Nazareth to Bethlehem, along
with Mary, to be taxed. While Matthew avers that he was desirous of
saving Mary's good name, there is nothing in Luke to show that Joseph
ever knew of Mary being with child before he married her; and for all
that is there stated, he may have believed that Jesus was his own son;
Luke's only later reference to Joseph in connection with Jesus, is in
his account of the visit to the temple, when the boy was twelve years
old. Discovering that he was not among the homeward-bound company,
Joseph and Mary returned to Jerusalem, and found him in the temple
posing the doctors, when his mother said, "Son, why hast thou thus dealt
with us? Behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing." The
reply was, "How is it ye sought me? Wist ye not that I must be about
my Father's business?" and Luke adds, "They understood not the saying
which he spake unto them." How, then, can the angel-visit to Mary be
true, or the three angel-visits to the slumbering Joseph? For if these
be not false, Joseph and Mary were the two human beings at the time who
did understand fully who this wondrous child was.
(c and d.) The two further supernatural incidents in connection with
the birth of Jesus (the wise men of the East and the appearance to the
Bethlehem shepherds) remain to be considered. The details of the one are
quite irreconcilable with those of the other.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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