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Why Did the Magi Bring Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh?

Jun 20 Blog

Why Did the Magi Bring Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh?

By: Biblical Archaeology Society Staff

Were the gifts of the magi meant to save Jesus from the pain of arthritis? It’s possible, according to researchers at Cardiff University in Wales who have been studying the medical uses of frankincense.

Mariotto Albertinelli Jesus

Jun 8 Blog

When Was Jesus Born—B.C. or A.D.?

By: Megan Sauter

In which year was Jesus born? While this is sometimes debated, the majority of New Testament scholars place Jesus’ birth in 4 B.C. or before.

Giotto adoration of the magi

May 15 Blog

Where Was Jesus Born?

By: Megan Sauter

If Jesus was born in Bethlehem, why is he called a Nazorean and a Galilean throughout the New Testament? Philip J. King addresses this question in his Biblical Views column.

Dec 24 Blog

Bible Scholar Brent Landau Asks “Who Were the Magi?”

By: Biblical Archaeology Society Staff

A lost Syriac manuscript, the Revelation of the Magi, translated into English by Bible scholar Brent Landau, may help answer that key question from the Christmas story: “Who were the magi?”

Dec 15 Blog

The Three Magi

By: Biblical Archaeology Society Staff

Bearing gifts for the infant Jesus, the three wise men from the east traversed afar to reach Bethlehem. What do we really know about the magi, who are so central to the traditional telling of the Christmas story?

Giotto adoration of the magi

Dec 15 Blog

Herod’s Death, Jesus’ Birth and a Lunar Eclipse

By: Biblical Archaeology Society Staff

Read letters published in the Q&C section of BAR debating the dates of Herod’s death, Jesus’ birth and to which lunar eclipse Josephus was referring.

carolsfeld-bibel-in-bildern

Feb 22 Blog

Jesus Was a Refugee

By: Joan E. Taylor

Scholar Joan E. Taylor says that it’s worth remembering that Jesus’ earliest years were, according to the Gospel of Matthew, spent as a refugee in a foreign land.

naples-presepio-rome

Dec 20 Blog

Christmas Stories in Christian Apocrypha

By: Tony Burke

The modern Christmas nativity scene is drawn from apocryphal texts in addition to the infancy narratives of Matthew and Luke.

Jan 26 Blog

Myra, Turkey: St. Nicholas’s Christian Capital

By: Noah Wiener

The fourth-century bishop of Myra, later canonized as St. Nicholas (and commonly remembered as Santa Claus), shaped the development of the Christian city before being buried at Myra.

Nov 17 Blog

Witnessing the Divine

By: Robin M. Jensen

The legend of the magi has fired the imagination of Christians since the earliest times. In art, the adoration of the magi appeared earlier and far more frequently than any other scene of Jesus’ birth and infancy, including images of the babe in a manger.

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