Comments on: Thoughts on the Meaning of the Birth of Jesus http://bycommonconsent.com/2007/12/08/thoughts-on-the-meaning-of-the-birth-of-jesus/ A Mormon Blog Tue, 14 Feb 2012 20:31:41 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Matt http://bycommonconsent.com/2007/12/08/thoughts-on-the-meaning-of-the-birth-of-jesus/#comment-76490 Mon, 10 Dec 2007 15:19:02 +0000 http://www.bycommonconsent.com/2007/12/thoughts-on-the-meaning-of-the-birth-of-jesus/#comment-76490 I’ve recently put out a couple of negative comments so I have to specifically thank you for this post because it is so well done. Your line that “his is a kingdom for all those whom the world considers to be ‘nobodies’” parallels how President Hinckley has commented to the effect that “the Gospel makes bad men good and good men great.”

Thank you, also, for helping us focus the holiday season on the birth of the Savior.

]]> By: Steve Evans http://bycommonconsent.com/2007/12/08/thoughts-on-the-meaning-of-the-birth-of-jesus/#comment-76489 Mon, 10 Dec 2007 04:16:39 +0000 http://www.bycommonconsent.com/2007/12/thoughts-on-the-meaning-of-the-birth-of-jesus/#comment-76489 Thanks Brad — I love this season for thoughts like these that distill on us. Glad you shared this.

]]> By: Tracy M http://bycommonconsent.com/2007/12/08/thoughts-on-the-meaning-of-the-birth-of-jesus/#comment-76488 Mon, 10 Dec 2007 04:02:25 +0000 http://www.bycommonconsent.com/2007/12/thoughts-on-the-meaning-of-the-birth-of-jesus/#comment-76488 Wow, Brad. Thank you for this timely and thought-provoking piece. Simply beautiful.

]]> By: Sam MB http://bycommonconsent.com/2007/12/08/thoughts-on-the-meaning-of-the-birth-of-jesus/#comment-76487 Mon, 10 Dec 2007 03:27:24 +0000 http://www.bycommonconsent.com/2007/12/thoughts-on-the-meaning-of-the-birth-of-jesus/#comment-76487 Ronan, thanks for your fascinating and beautiful use of homophony in #3. I’d not thought of the vale of tears as a veil of tears before. I like it. And nice post, Brad.

]]> By: J. Stapley http://bycommonconsent.com/2007/12/08/thoughts-on-the-meaning-of-the-birth-of-jesus/#comment-76486 Sun, 09 Dec 2007 19:27:54 +0000 http://www.bycommonconsent.com/2007/12/thoughts-on-the-meaning-of-the-birth-of-jesus/#comment-76486 I appreciate the post, Brad, as well as several of the comments. This is good stuff.

]]> By: Ray http://bycommonconsent.com/2007/12/08/thoughts-on-the-meaning-of-the-birth-of-jesus/#comment-76485 Sun, 09 Dec 2007 03:06:28 +0000 http://www.bycommonconsent.com/2007/12/thoughts-on-the-meaning-of-the-birth-of-jesus/#comment-76485 “versus” not “verses”

]]> By: Ray http://bycommonconsent.com/2007/12/08/thoughts-on-the-meaning-of-the-birth-of-jesus/#comment-76484 Sun, 09 Dec 2007 03:05:43 +0000 http://www.bycommonconsent.com/2007/12/thoughts-on-the-meaning-of-the-birth-of-jesus/#comment-76484 The current situation with sub-prime loans is not outside the scope of Brad’s post, imo – nor is the difference in the cost of basic goods in poor, inner-city neighborhoods verses more affluent suburbs. (I do NOT want this to turn into a debate on those topics, however. I use them only as examples of “grinding the faces of the poor”.) Lack of preventative health care, the treatment of those with AIDS, counseling for unwed mothers, homelessness among the mentally disabled – there are many examples of the continuing existence of marginalization and disdain beside the treatment of children.

]]> By: Brad http://bycommonconsent.com/2007/12/08/thoughts-on-the-meaning-of-the-birth-of-jesus/#comment-76483 Sun, 09 Dec 2007 02:46:10 +0000 http://www.bycommonconsent.com/2007/12/thoughts-on-the-meaning-of-the-birth-of-jesus/#comment-76483 I think it’s important to see in this story something more than just a love for children per se. Treating children as fully fledged, lovable persons was part of a larger program that included the fellowshipping of the socially and ritually unclean, a communal table with sinners, a ministry that prominently featured women, undergoing a Messianic anointing in the house of a leper after declaring the temple at Jerusalem as utterly unclean, being homeless and relying upon the goodwill of his mostly destitute fellow travelers, demanding self-imposed destitution from prospective comrades burdened by high rank and social status, etc., etc.

Oh, and utter contempt for the social, political, and religious elites who benefited from and sought to reinforce and sanctify an order based upon oppression, exploitation, marginalization, inequity, and iniquity.

So my answer is, Yes I do think the ministry of the Savior and His treatment of children and all the outcast should have very unique meaning for Western (read: First World) Christians.

]]> By: Aaron L. http://bycommonconsent.com/2007/12/08/thoughts-on-the-meaning-of-the-birth-of-jesus/#comment-76482 Sun, 09 Dec 2007 02:24:33 +0000 http://www.bycommonconsent.com/2007/12/thoughts-on-the-meaning-of-the-birth-of-jesus/#comment-76482 Just curious Brad if you think that Western Christians see this contrast more than most given, as you pointed out, our higher regard for children and a higher standard of living. Children are still poorly treated in many countries, Western society included, but rearly do you see young ones recruited for militia service among other things here. So, understanding the historical context, might we appreciate Christ’s love for children more than a culture that still shows vestages of the older mindset toward them?

]]> By: Brad http://bycommonconsent.com/2007/12/08/thoughts-on-the-meaning-of-the-birth-of-jesus/#comment-76481 Sun, 09 Dec 2007 02:10:01 +0000 http://www.bycommonconsent.com/2007/12/thoughts-on-the-meaning-of-the-birth-of-jesus/#comment-76481 Thanks, Aaron.

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