Matthew and Luke both tell the story of the birth of Jesus Christ. The stories share some details in common but also vary in others.  Where did they get their information from, and should we regard them as historical or merely "theological"?

Stephen Thornton is a liberal Bible tutor who believes that none of the details of the Christmas story are historically true. Rather, stories of the virgin conception, the shepherds, the wise men etc contain "deeper meanings" that were written down as a "teaching aid" to the early church.

Ben Witherington III is New Testament professor at Asbury Theological Seminary.  He says that the Christmas stories certainly contain deep meaning, but only because they have a basis in historical events, and that Stephen's approach is out of date.

For Ben Witherington www.benwitherington.com

You can email Stephen Thornton smthornton@ntlworld.com

Watch the video promo for Unbelievable? the Conference 2012 DVD http://youtu.be/6g-5jTMeZew Order it at http://www.premier.org.uk/dvd

For more Christian/non-Christian debate visit http://www.premier.org.uk/unbelievable or get the MP3 podcast http://ondemand.premier.org.uk/unbelievable/AudioFeed.aspx or Via Itunes

You may also enjoy:

Unbelievable? 9th January 2012 - Is there scientific evidence for the star of Bethlehem? Hugh Ross, Jeff Zweerink, Mark Kidger and Norman Bacrac

Unbelievable? 22 Dec 2007 - Did Christians steal Christmas? Did Christians steal Christmas?

Join the conversation: http://www.premiercommunity.org.uk/group/unbelievable and via Facebook and Twitter