Lydia McGrew on the Historical Reliability of the Christmas Story

In this episode, we welcome back Dr. Lydia McGrew to help us understand and respond to the widespread dismissal of the historicity of the Nativity Story. What are the issues often brought up by skeptics and cynics - and what are they missing about the Gospels of Matthew and Luke? On issues such as the Census, the Virgin Birth, and King Herod's Killing of the Innocents - Lydia helps us think through the common abuse of the argument from silence, untangle phony contradictions (often based on misreading) - and understand the flawed use of "multiple attestation" as a way to dismiss unique material in Luke or Matthew. 

Lydia’s Website; YouTube Channel (see Virgin Birth Playlist); Podcast 

The Mirror or the Mask: Liberating the Gospels from Literary Devices by Lydia McGrew  

"Some more notes on the Census in Luke" 

Review of Michael Licona's Why Are There Differences in the Gospels? 

"The Nativity Census: What Does Luke Actually Say?" by John Thorley 

The First Days of Jesus by Alexander Stewart and Andreas Kostenberger 

The Virgin Birth of Christ by J. Gresham Machen (also here and here) 

Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes by Kenneth Bailey (also here, here, here and here; see also here) 

The Evidence for Jesus; The Gospel of Matthew (NICNT) by R.T. France; and some more relevant articles by R.T. France:

• "The Formula-Quotations of Matthew 2 and the Problem of Communication"  
• "Herod and the Children of Bethlehem" 
• "Jewish Historiography, Midrash, and the Gospels" 
• "Scripture, Tradition and History in the Infancy Narratives of Matthew" 

"Jesus' Genealogies: Coherence in Content"; "Jesus; Genealogies: Coherence in Numbers"; "We Three Kings of Israel Aren't!" by James Behon 

  “Matthew 1.1-17 as a Summary of Israel’s Story: The Messiah, His Brothers, and the Nations” by Jason B. Hood

The Gospel and the Greeks by Ronald Nash 

The God of Miracles by C. John Collins 

The Witness of the Synoptic Gospels to Christ; Origins of the Synoptic Gospels by Ned Stonehouse 

From Every People and Nation by J. Daniel Hays

New Testament History by F.F. Bruce 

Papyri and the Social World of the New Testament by Sabine Huebner 

The Harmony of the Gospels by St. Augustine (e.g. here) 

Julius Africanus, Letter to Aristides I 

The Jews of Ptolemaic Egypt by Zsuzsanna Szanto

• outlines her chapter on Jewish settlements of Ptolemaic Egypt with these regions: Alexandria, The Nile Delta, Memphis, Arsinoite nome (Fayum Oasis), Herakleopolite nome, Oxyrhynchite nome, Diospolis Magna (Thebes), Apollinopolis Magna (Edfu)
• F.E. Peters states: "The number of Jews in Egypt may have reached one million by Roman times, but whether that figure is accurate or not, the Jewish population in Egypt was considerable." (The Harvest of Hellenism, p. 296)

Please also check out other books by Dr. Lydia McGrew: 

The Eye of the Beholder: The Gospel of John as Historical Reportage by Lydia McGrew 

• hear our previous interview here

Testimonies to the Truth: Why You Can Trust the Gospels 

Hidden in Plain View: Undesigned Coincidences in the Gospels and Acts