Several years ago Eric Huntsman (Professor; Coordinator, Ancient Near Eastern Studies at BYU) sat down and asked himself a question: How can we take the celebration of Christmas and the texts that teach us about it and connect them with families?
His conclusion was that through celebrating Advent each year through devotional activities, he and his family could better enjoy the spirit of Christmas.
Typically he would delve into biblical commentaries. After one memorable Christmas, he decided that simpler was better. For over a decade, he and his family have celebrated the four weeks of Advent leading up to Christmas.
Listen as Dr. Huntsman shares with Blake Dalton how he has been able to mesh biblical scholarship with family Christmas traditions. They also delve into what we can learn about Mary and Joseph from the birth narratives.
They discuss when Christians began to celebrate Christmas, which was first seen as soft idolatry, and the timing of the addition of the birth narratives into the Gospels.
Check out the links in the show notes for Eric’s ideas for celebrating the Advent of Jesus Christ through the traditional four aspects of Advent: Hope, Love, Peace, and Joy.
Listen to this podcast here…
or at the LDS Perspectives website.
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