Column on target, misses target
The Weekly Vista issue just before Christmas had an article by Chaplain Robert Box. In it, he tried to give perspective on a number of items related to Christmas. I did not reply immediately, as I have learned that many Christians rise up in anger when one juxtaposes fact and faith, and never more so than at Christmas.
Chaplain Box suggests that Jesus’ parents “very likely… called Jesus by his Hebrew name instead of his Greek name.” Since the time of Alexander, Greek had become the language of the learned throughout the Mediterranean world. To even intimate that it might have been known to a Jewish village carpenter and his teenage bride is ludicrous.
Then, correctly noting that “Joshua” is the Hebrew equivalent of the Greek “Jesus,” Box states that “Jesus’ last name was not Christ.” That’s a rather needless disclaimer, as I’ve never known anyone to suggest that it was. What he fails to elucidate is the fact that in the Semitic world of the time, last names did not exist at all. Jesus would have been known in his village as “Yehushua, ben Yusef,” Joshua, son of Joseph. We can feel certain it was not “Jesus, the Messiah,” nor any Hebraic version of that. Such is obviously a later “faith” affirmation that should not be mingled with history.
As to “history,” Box deals nicely with such things as lack of vegetation in December, meaning no shepherds grazed their sheep at this time. This was equally true for Jan. 6, which was the date of Christmas until the 4th century, and is still used as such by the Orthodox churches. In some circles, this later date is observed as “Second Christmas.” And for all of us, the time between Dec. 25 and Jan. 6 is the basis of “The Twelve Days Of Christmas.”
Box also correctly removes the Magi from any crèche scenes. Indeed, the Matthew and Luke accounts of Jesus’ birth simply cannot be reconciled. The former indicates that Joseph and Mary, rather than being travelers from Nazareth to Bethlehem, actually live in Bethlehem. He tells of the wise men “going into the house” to find Mary and the child. Of course, if this was actually two years after the birth, Joseph and Mary might have decided not to return to their home town and instead became residents of Bethlehem. But this conflicts with the Luke account that they are residents of Nazareth after the birth.
It was refreshing that Box correctly dismissed the numbering of the wise men as three, noting also that it is merely tradition to assign names to them. But he lapses into guessing when he says they saw “a significant conjunction of two of earth’s planets and perhaps another star.” No one knows what they saw, nor how a star far out in space could signify the exact location on earth of a tiny baby. That it could at all is where faith has to step in. J. R. “Doc” Irwin, Ph.D. Bella Vista
It’s always time to help
Elderly? Read this. Not elderly? Read this, anyway. Chances are you have an elderly relative.
Enough! Service and repair persons should not take advantage of the elderly. Why do they do it? Is it because they think they have them over a barrel?
Most elderly are on a fixed, limited income. Why would anyone want to make them pay two or three times the going rate for their services? Enough!
Please help your elderly relatives by making yourself available to at least give them advice. They may not know prices on current services and repairs. Aid them in getting the best price for the work they need done.
The technology of today makes it much more convenient and even fun to shop for the best service at a fair price. So, please, please, please, help your parents, grandparents or other relations by volunteering to help them in this area.
It is too late once you hear some service or repair person has taken your family member’s money. Avoid the guilt. Help them voice “enough!” Ross Sanchez Bella Vista