He says the two evangelists set out to "write history, real history that had actually happened, admittedly interpreted and understood in the context of the word of God".

"The accounts of Matthew and Luke are not myths taken a stage further. They are firmly rooted, in terms of their basic conception, in the biblical tradition of God the Creator and Redeemer," he writes.

Jesus of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives was published in English and eight other languages on November 21.

The book reaffirms the importance of the Christian belief in the virgin birth, that Jesus was not conceived through sexual intercourse but through the Holy Spirit. Belief in the virgin birth and the Resurrection are described as "cornerstones of faith" because they demonstrate God's creative power over matter.

"These two moments are a scandal to the modern spirit," which expects and allows God to act only in ideas, thoughts and the spiritual world, not the material, the Pope writes. Yet it is not illogical or irrational to suppose that God possesses creative powers and power over matter, otherwise "then he is simply not God".

Pope Benedict also argues that the star of Bethlehem was a true celestial event. It "seems to be an established fact," he writes, that a conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn happened in 7-6 BC, which "as we have seen is now thought likely to have been when Jesus was born".

While he expresses belief in the story of the adoration of the Magi, he says no foundation of faith would be shaken if turned out to be an invention based on a theological idea.

But the Pope is sceptical about the presence of animals at Jesus' birth. There is no Gospel evidence for that, he argues, but acknowledges that images of oxen and donkeys have become such a staple part of the Nativity that they are now accepted.

Sources:

Catholic News Service

Reuters

BBC

Image: Grafida.net

According to a Times article in The Australian, the new account suggests there were "scores" of Magi, rather than just the three wise men bearing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

The account, which has been in the Vatican archives for 250 years, is translated from ancient Syriac and gives a detailed account of the Magi prayers and rituals.

"Somebody was really fascinated by the wise men to have created this big, long story and tell it from their perspective," said Brent Landau, professor of religious studies at the University of Oklahoma, who spent two years deciphering the fragile manuscript.

"A great deal of thought and imagination has gone into it.

"There are many details of strange rituals, praying and silence. There is a description of a sacred mountain and purification at a sacred spring.

"The detail is so great I wonder if it is the community's actual practices that are being described."

"Nobody knows where Matthew got the story from, so along with Matthew's Gospel this is as close as you can get to the Magi."

The story relates that Seth passed down a prophecy that a star would appear that would signal the birth of God in human form. The Magi waited thousands of years until the day the star appeared.

Professor Landau said: "It transformed into a small luminous human being who was Christ himself in a pre-existent, celestial form.

"It is saying that Jesus Christ and the Star of Bethlehem are the same thing and Jesus Christ can transform himself into anything.

"The star guides them to Bethlehem and into a cave where it transforms into a human infant who tells them to go back and be preachers of the Gospel."

The manuscript is an 8th Century copy of a story first written down nearly half a millennium earlier, less than 100 years after the Gospel of Matthew, the original source of the Bible account.

Matthew's Gospel does not specify the number of Magi.

The manuscript has been in the Vatican library for more than 250 years. Nothing else is known about it.

Source

• The Australian
• Image: Mystagogy