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The Nativity of Jesus, also called simply The Nativity, refers to the accounts of the birth of Jesus in the gospels of Luke and Matthew, and secondarily on some apocryphal texts. The canonical gospels of Luke and Matthew both describe Jesus as born in Bethlehem in Judea, to a virgin mother. In the Gospel of Luke account, Joseph and Mary travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem for the census, and Jesus is born there and laid in a manger.〔"biblical literature." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica, 2011. Web. 22 January 2011. ().〕 Angels proclaim him a savior for all people, and shepherds come to adore him. In the Matthew account, astronomers follow a star to Bethlehem to bring gifts to Jesus, born the ''King of the Jews''. King Herod orders the massacre of all the boys less than two years old in Bethlehem, but the family flees to Egypt and later settles in Nazareth. Modern scholars such as E. P. Sanders, Geza Vermes and Marcus Borg consider both narratives non-historical, arguing that there are contradictions between them.〔〔〔Marcus Borg, 'The Meaning of the Birth Stories' in Marcus Borg, N T Wright, ''The Meaning of Jesus: Two Visions'' (Harper One, 1999) page 179: "I (and most mainline scholars) do not see these stories as historically factual."〕 On the other hand, biblical scholar Mark D. Roberts aims to establish a harmonised account of the birth of Jesus, maintaining that any contradictions can be reconciled.〔Mark D. Roberts ''Can We Trust the Gospels?: Investigating the Reliability of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John '' Good News Publishers, 2007 p. 102〕 Many biblical scholars view the discussion of historicity as secondary, given that gospels were primarily written as theological documents rather than historical accounts.〔''Interpreting Gospel Narratives: Scenes, People, and Theology'' by Timothy Wiarda 2010 ISBN 0-8054-4843-8 pp. 75–78〕〔''Jesus, the Christ: Contemporary Perspectives'' by Brennan R. Hill 2004 ISBN 1-58595-303-2 p. 89〕〔''The Gospel of Luke'' by Timothy Johnson 1992 ISBN 0-8146-5805-9 p. 72〕〔''Recovering Jesus: the witness of the New Testament'' Thomas R. Yoder Neufeld 2007 ISBN 1-58743-202-1 p. 111〕 The main religious celebration among members of the Catholic Church and other Christian groups is the Church service on Christmas Eve or on the morning of Christmas Day. During the forty days leading up to Christmas, the Eastern Orthodox Church practices the Nativity Fast, while the majority of Christian congregations (including the Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion, many Mainline churches, and Baptists) begin observing the liturgical season of Advent four Sundays before Christmas. Both are seen as times of spiritual cleansing, recollection and renewal to prepare for the celebration of the birth of Jesus. In Christian theology, the Nativity of Jesus concerns the Incarnation of Jesus as the second Adam, in fulfillment of the divine will of God, undoing the damage caused by the fall of the first man, Adam. The artistic depiction of the Nativity has been a major subject for Christian artists since the 4th century. Since the 13th century, the Nativity scene has emphasized the humility of Jesus and promoted a more tender image of him, as a major turning point from the early "Lord and Master" image, affecting the basic approaches of Christian pastoral ministry.〔〔〔 ==New Testament narratives== Accounts of the Nativity of Jesus in the New Testament appear in two of the four Canonical Gospels: the Gospel of Luke and the Gospel of Matthew. Luke's account takes place mostly before the birth of Jesus and centers on Mary, while Matthew's story takes place mostly after the birth of Jesus and centers on Joseph.〔''Mercer dictionary of the Bible'' by Watson E. Mills, Roger Aubrey Bullard 1998 ISBN 0-86554-373-9 p. 556〕〔''Jesus and the Gospels'' by Clive Marsh, Steve Moyise 2006 ISBN 0-567-04073-9 p. 37〕〔''The Gospel according to Matthew'' by Leon Morris ISBN 0-85111-338-9 p. 26〕 The two other canonical gospels, the Gospel of Mark and the Gospel of John, begin their narratives of Jesus' life in his adulthood; both mention that he came from Galilee,〔Mark 1:9; John 7:41–42,52〕 and John mentions the name of Jesus' father,〔John 6:42〕 but neither John nor Mark gives any other details of his life prior to adulthood. The betrothal of Joseph and Mary, and the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem appear in both Matthew and Luke.〔''A Dictionary of Biblical Tradition in English Literature'' by David L. Jeffrey 1993 ISBN 0-8028-3634-8 pp. 538–540〕 Many events in the Luke account are not in the Gospel of Matthew, - for example, the trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem - and others appear only in Matthew, such as the Flight to Egypt.〔Steven L. Cox, Kendell H Easley, 2007 ''Harmony of the Gospels'' ISBN 0-8054-9444-8 pp. 30–37〕〔''Who's Who in the New Testament'' by Ronald Brownrigg, Canon Brownrigg 2001 ISBN 0-415-26036-1 pp. 96–100〕〔''The Birth of Jesus According to the Gospels'' by Joseph F. Kelly 2008 ISBN pp. 41–49〕 The Nativity accounts in the New Testament are generally viewed as ending with finding Jesus in the temple several years later, after the family has returned to Galilee.〔〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Nativity of Jesus」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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