Nativity of Jesus - Historical Analysis

Historical Analysis

See also: Genealogy of Jesus, Massacre of the Innocents, and Historicity of Jesus

Scholars have debated whether these two accounts can be reconciled or not, and some view the narratives as non-historical. Some scholars view the discussion of historicity as secondary, given that gospels were primarily written as theological documents rather than chronological timelines.

For instance, Matthew pays far more attention to the name of the child and its theological implications than the actual birth event itself and according to Karl Rahner the evangelists show little interest in synchronizing the episodes of the birth or subsequent life of Jesus with the secular history of the age.

As a result, modern scholars generally do not use much of the birth narratives for historical information. Nevertheless, the birth narratives do contain some useful biographical information, e.g. Jesus being born near the end of Herod's reign and his father being named Joseph are considered historically plausible.