Nativity: Encyclopedia - Nativity

Nativity

Nativity is the general time and place of a person's birth and early years. The term has evolved a strong association, at least in Western civilization through the enfluences of Christianity to the nativity of Jesus of Nazareth iconified as simply The Nativity.

The term can also apply to cultural appropriation to identify the specific and general situation, as in Native land, language, political system and environment of a person. In this sense, a person's nativity is construed (or misconstrued) to form a basis for a general impression based on national origin or ethnicity.

Nativity can be applied to abstractions like a genre such as Blues music or a particular discipline like the Scientific method; see also: native.

Nativity - The Nativity of Jesus

• Nativity
• Childhood
• Baptism
• Temptation
• Sermon on the Mount
• Transfiguration
• Last Supper
• Passion
• Crucifixion
• Hell
• Resurrection
• Ascension

The Nativity refers to the birth of Jesus.

According to traditional telling of the birth of Jesus Christ, Jesus was born in the city of Bethlehem in a stable, surrounded by farm animals and shepherds. The baby Jesus was born into a manger from the Virgin Mary assisted by her husband Joseph. The odd location of the birth was the result of Joseph and Mary being forced by order of Herod the Great to leave their homes in Nazareth and come to the home of Joseph's ancestors, the house of David, for a census. The whole city was full of people who had made the pilgrimage to the city of David and as a result there was no room for the expecting couple at the town's inn. Although the event is usually depicted as taking place in a man-made free standing structure, many biblical scholars believe that the stable was probably a cave carved in the side of a hill. Others believe that the manger was not in a stable at all but in a lower floor room of a building or house where agricultural tools and grain stores were normally kept, but where animals were brought into on cold nights or to protect them from thieves. The Bible does not specifically mention an inn keeper or a stable or even animals (except the flocks of the sheperds) relating to the birth of Jesus. Also, some biblical scholars believe that the use of the word "inn" in the recounting of the birth of Jesus may be the result of the mistranslation of one of two similar words meaning a "gathering room" (in a home) or "host's home".

There is also a traditional depiction of Three wise men from Persia visiting the event, bearing gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. The men were said to be following a mysterious star, commonly known as the Star of Bethlehem, that had suddenly appeared in the sky, believing it to be to be the fulfillment of an ancient prophecy of the coming of the Messiah, or king of the Jews. The star's zenith was apparently directly over the city of Bethlehem, and it disappeared soon after they visited the child. The source of this story is Gospel of Matthew, although the number, exact origin, and, for that matter, gender of the Magi are unspecified there. The tradition that they were three probably comes from the number of gifts they presented.

Also present at the scene, according to Luke's account, were local shepherds who were visited in the night by an angel (herald) who said "Don't be afraid, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be to all the people, for there is born to you, this day, in the city of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. This is the sign to you: you will find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth (swadling clothes), lying in a feeding trough (manger)." After this an innumerable company of angels appeared with the herald singing "Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, good will toward men." (see The First Noël). The shepherds went quickly to Bethlehem, finding the sign to be as the angel foretold. They subsequently publisized what they had witnessed throughout the area.

Remembering or re-creating the Nativity is one of the central ways that Christians celebrate Christmas. For example, the Eastern Orthodox Church practices the Nativity Fast in anticipation of the birth of Jesus Christ, while the Roman Catholic Church celebrates Advent. In some Christian churches, children often perform plays re-creating the events of the Nativity, or sing some of the numerous Christmas carols that reference the event. Many Christians also display a small re-creation of the Nativity known as a Nativity scene in their homes, using small figurines to portray the key characters of the event. Live Nativity scenes are also re-inacted using Human actors and live animals to portray the event with more realism.

Though Jesus's birth is celebrated on December 25, most scholars agree that it is unlikely he was actually born on this date.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Nativity", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki