I want to wish all readers of my blog who celebrate it a very Merry Christmas!<\/p>\n
The story published I published in the first issue of\u00a0AcademFic<\/em><\/a> has a Christmas connection<\/a>, and so initially when I announced that I thought I\u2019d share some other seasonal links along with it. In the end, there were so many that I opted to keep them for a separate Christmas post.<\/p>\n For those who stick more strictly to the church\u2019s calendar, the actual connection of my story with a holiday is of course with Epiphany rather than Christmas, despite the frequent inclusion of magi and shepherds together in nativity scenes. But since many will want to read about magi before or on but not after December 25th, I am glad the volume appeared when it did!<\/p>\n Here is other news related to Christmas (including about the magi):<\/p>\n Margaret Barker on where Christmas came from<\/a><\/p>\n Amy-Jill Levine on the Jewish origins of Christmas<\/a><\/p>\n Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Zvi Brettler on Isaiah\u2019s \u201cvirgin\u201d and the translation issue<\/a><\/p>\n Part 3 of a podcast on Raymond Brown\u2019s classic treatment of the infancy stories,\u00a0The Birth of the Messiah<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n On not taking the Christmas stories literally<\/a><\/p>\n Baby Jesus was a refugee<\/a><\/p>\n Manuscripts with the ox and ass at the manger<\/a><\/p>\n 2020 is the perfect year for inclusive Christmas carols<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n