Comments on: The Mystery Of Christmas

48 Hours Goes To The Holy Land To Explore The Nativity

[rowdytexan2]

Believe or don''t...it''s your choice, this is America. Any modern thinking individual knows to sort the fantasy from reality. History is history, there''s no changing it. No matter what is written.

The principles taught by Jesus in the New Testament are still the best way I''ve found to live my life while on this earth. Debug it all you want to.

There is every purpose in this world for scholars, scientists, and sages. A little myth never hurt anybody.

God bless you one and ALL!

[bar4h9]

and something I failed to add...CBS just further showed that it has no respect or class in regards to its audience.

[bar4h9]

You know, I have no problem with you questioning Christian beliefs...its everyone''s right...but I find it funny that journalists do this only to Christian beliefs...they do it because they are cowards and debunking Christianity (which you have still failed to do...offering the opinions of what? 3 or 4 so called scholars without even the chance for a rebuttle from the other side of the Biblical scholarly spectrum? Real objective on your part (note the sarcasm) . I dare you, as a journalist, to do this same sort of reporting on a Muslim holiday of great importance...you won''t...you know why? Because journalists are cowards...you know Christians won''t send you death threats or even raise a finger, so you go after a story thats safe...Try a story like that on a Muslim holiday and see what happens. The media is purposly trying to kill others beliefs so that the rest of the country will bow down to godless liberalism and weak minded, impotent multiculturalism.

Once again, journalism of this caliber doesn''t surprise me at all...its just one more example of the attack on culture and beliefs from the so-called "intellectual" elite. I don''t know if I''d even call this article intellectual since its been done so many times before by Time and Newsweek.

[allunknowing]

lol, CBS playing the role of Judas this year?

[calypsoblade]

A disappointing show of two "who are they" debunkers and one "christian" who seemed to have no clue himself (he looked foolish and like some angry child) and a reporter who is stated above as being "respectful" seemed anything but. And to air it on Christmas Day is a JOKE! At least in rebuttal of two opinioned scholars, indicative of todays education system, someone of knowledge could have been consulted (McDowell, etc). The media has always been agenda driven as it is today. Because it wasn''t a media issue it is untrue? Let''s look at that...if Jesus was an embarrassment to the Romans and a thorn in the side of the scribes and Pharisees of that day, why would it have come to light, they''d want to bury it in the deepest sea, NOT point out the "dark spot" on their glorious existance. I don''t see you pointing out the vile history of islam on their holy days, yes, these same people who hate all jews and americans and slammed airplanes into our buildings. No, instead we have "sensitivity training" for us dealing with them - lovely to see our tax dollars at work schmoozing murderers. Instead of spreading words of love and compassion on Christams for fellow human beings, we get an unsubstanced, supposedly fact-based (according to 2 disgruntled "Christian" scholars) attack on Christian beliefs. It took very little class to air this muddled show and no respect whatsoever.

[mscharlie-2009]

Thank you CBS for airing this very important examination of the Christmas stories found in Luke and Matthew. Dr. Crossan has done his research deeply and broadly and has made a very significant contribution to our understanding of the relevance of Jesus for our day -- to confront those who choose the path of war to an unstable peace with the message of Jesus that long term peace can only be won through justice, the fair and respectful treatment of all people.

[randycar1]

"The Mystery of Christmas" was largely failure. I think it was unfortunate that CBS enlisted the views of primarily skeptical scholars who used polite language to describe the Bible''s writers as liars. They make Christianity seem to be an uncertain faith which is based on subjective belief and not on historical accuracy. There is a rich resource of Christian scholars who are able to share reasons for being able to trust in the integrity and reliability of the gospel accounts. The executive producer and Maureen Maher made a major mistake by not including interviews of evangelical scholars from seminaries such as Dallas Theological Seminary, Talbot Theological Seminary, etc.

[foghorn000]

This was one of the worst documentaries that I have seen! Rogue "scholars" such as Crossan and White are free to debunk what is said in the gospels while providing ZERO proof of their own speculations. Most theologians laugh off their "theories", theories created mainly to sell their books.
Why dig up the gospel of Phillip, written in the 3rd century??? The Gospel of Luke was written by a brilliant physician, and for a medical doctor to emphasize a virgin birth is substantial. The Gospel according to Matthew was based on Apostolic witnesses. Apostles of Jesus Christ or John Dominic Crossan...a no brainer who to believe.
I appreciate the attempt to bring Ben Witherington to prove the historical veracity of the gospels, but too little to late.
The kids seem to make the most sense...simple faith based on 2,000 years of tradition. Why does CBS have to make it so complicated!

[jeff-fla]

We are supposed to believe the bible, when we know for sure that Moses never was, and they have proven the great Exodus never happened. Leave it all as it really is. A story told be people who needed medication. Move on and join the real world.

[jennling]

How insulting to broadcast such a program on Christmas Day! Do you also plan to slander the Prophet Muhammad next Ramadan, or refute Exodus on Passover? And why are all of your experts non-orthodox theologians?

[gwhoward1]

It seems to me, as noted above by some others, that there is limited understanding about the Gospel or too little time to address what is the root of what is critical here. Jesus, as noted by John the baptist in the book of John, is the "Lamb of God,who takes away the Sin of the world". To be that His virgin birth is an essential component. The question of who His father is speaks to prophesy. Agreeably if Jesus were the true son of Joseph and Mary by blood he would still be in the blood line ofthe house of David. But there are nuances of that line which won''t allow Joseph to be His father(ie the curse place on Jeconiah in the book of Jeremiah at the fall of Babylon which forbid any seed of his from ever assuming the throne of David and Joseph is in that line. And if you believe iin the doctrine of original; sin you know that anyone born of Adam carries the seed of sin and for Jesus to be born of man he could not be the sinless lamb of God. This is such a complex revelation that trails back through a remarkable geneology. I would ask your commentator to consider John MacArthur, president of the Master''s college and seminary, as well as James Merrit, former president of the southern baptist convention, and maybe give a look at the book "THe case for Christ" by Strobel. The Gospel does not begin in the New Testament, it begins in Genesis and through the Pass over in Exodus. Mahtew doesn''t have to fabricate anything; it''s all there in history! GH

[robinspeer]

I wholeheartedly agree with philcrew about "The Mystery of Christmas" being unbalanced and skeptical. In order to judge the accuracy of a part of a document (such as the Gospels in the Bible), it is necessary to judge the accuracy of the entire document. No mention was made of the many proofs of the historic accuracy of the Bible and the gospels, in particular.

Instead, the Biblical accounts of birth of Jesus Christ were picked apart and anything that could not be proved was considered suspect. How would one prove the historic accuracy of any other accounts from the same time period?

We certainly cannot use the same standards used to investigate recent events when investigating events 2000+ years ago. Recent events have a much larger body of evidence with which to work. Instead, the standards used to investigate other events occurring 2000 years ago must be used.

I don''t see how the authenticity of the Biblical accounts of the birth of Christ can be considered without delving into the authenticity of the Bible as a whole. Also, a one hour news show is inadequate to cover such a complex subject.

[lpleo3]

What have been hidden so long in the dark,will surely come to the light(Jesus Christ)The people of this world should understand, the brainwash is almost over and the truth is closer than you may think.Jesus Christ is no mystery man has made it that way to have power and control, and to do that instill fear, and hide the truth.There so many shows that are seen on TV, and not one of them have investigated the color of Jesus Christ, and as long as people keep trying to make Him white, you will never find the truth, but until that happen the roots of deception will have to be dug up.People always talking about History His-Story.God made you, as He did with Christ, not the painters of that time painting everything in there image or color. But to truly be honest it''s not White people''s fault, most Blacks want Him to be white to.So if you really want to find the truth start in Egypt, and for His birth the 4th month,no one talk about the number four,look at all the things concerning the number four. Soon people will understand about how will live in the opposite of God''s word, you may find out what you have been calling myths,you might discover the real truth.

[gtmerritt]

It is truly refreshing to know there are still news people with total humility, and Maureen Maher is the most unegotistical reporter I have seen in years, I do not usually watch CBS news, but if she were the anchor or I find she is going to be doing more I will be hopefully sure to see whatever she does research on.

The Mystery of Christmas was more than well done, and she I believe is the reason, hopefully she keeps up the good work without having any head swelling.

There is still hope, Thank you Maureen.

Sincerely,
George Merritt

[watchergb]

December 25, 2007

Was watching "The Mystery of Christmas" tonight on KOLR-10, Springfield, MO.

It was interesting for the most part UNTIL later in the program, a segment where a Christian debunker visits the Holy Lands.

He and the female host of the show were walking with a "local archeologist".

They ask him about proof of shepherds and sheep being in a certain location....

He reaches under a large rock and pulls out an animal skull.

The host asks the "archeologist" what it was, and he said it is a SHEEP.

Unless sheep in the Holy Land have pointed canine teeth, it looked amazingly like a medium-sized dog skull similar to a collie.

Perhaps the "archeologist" sjould have taken the biology studies a little more seriously.

Or, maybe he actually belives that the furry, barking animals are sheep.

[philcrew]

I found your program The Mystery of Christmas very disturbing. It was so unbalanced and skeptic. The fact that you ran a show like that on Christmas is sad. Scripture supports itself over and over throughout the Old and New Testament. There were so many issues that your program said could not be answered and they are clearly stated in the Bible. Do you realize that just because you can find no record of something other than the Bible it makes it no more untrue than true? The Bible is a historical document, look at all of the things it records that you can find proof of today. The virgin birth of Christ is very significant, He is the son of God, and He is the Savior of the World. Angels appeared to Joseph to assure him that it was okay to marry Mary that she had not be unfaithful (by the way Mary and Joseph were betrothed during the time in which she conceived Jesus), Mary also visited Elizabeth (John''s mother) so John knew of Jesus'' birth, Luke 2:11 states, "Today in the city of David was born to you a Savior who is Christ the Lord." Faith is an essential component of Christianity, Believing in God and in Jesus His Son, not in ourselves or in what we can or cannot prove. I challenge you to research more throughly and not make up your mind about truth before you research. Merry CHRISTmas. Loree Phillips