Posted on 12/23/2014 7:31:10 PM PST by OddLane
This is a column we still get a lot of requests for this time of year - written eleven Christmases ago and riffing off an often overlooked corner of the Gospels. It represents one of my first forays into what would become the demographic thesis of America Alone. I'm happy to report that Israel's fertility looks a little healthier than Mr Netanyahu gave it credit for. Europe, alas, remains largely blind to what lies ahead:
But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.
If you're one of the increasing numbers of Britons who have "some problems with conventional organised religion" (as JK Rowling puts it), you've probably forgotten that bit from the Christmas story. It's Luke 1:13, part of what he'd have called the backstory, if he'd been a Hollywood screenwriter rather than a physician.
Only two of the gospels tell the story of Christ's birth. Mark plunges straight into the Son of God's grown-up life: he was writing for a Roman audience and, from their perspective, what's important is not where Jesus came from but what He did once He got going. But Matthew was writing for the Jews, and so he dwells on Jesus and His parents mainly to connect the King of the Jews with all that had gone before: he starts with a long family tree tracing Joseph's ancestry back to Abraham.
(Excerpt) Read more at steynonline.com ...
Of course, the demographics are changing. I don’t remember the figures, but a Haredi family has on the average more children than a Muslim one. Time and demographics are on Israel’s side. But as for Europe...
Steyn pyng!
Mark Steyn ping and Merry Christmas.
Freepmail me, if you want on or off the Mark Steyn ping list.
Thanks for the ping Slings and Arrows.
bttt - Thanks for posting.
An interesting side note about Zechariah and Elizabeth: Scott Hahn points out that Temple priests such as Zechariah were retired at the age of 50, so he and his wife - “I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” - would have been in their 40s.
Thank you for the ping, and Merry Christmas.
Steyn Bump!
Steyn is the perfect Christmas Eve reading, IMO.
LOL.
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