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But, rather than telling us why many scholars find no contradiction between faith and history, Meacham gives those of us who do believe the Gospel story a piece of advice. "Christianity is a religion of perplexing contradictions. To live an examined faith believers have to acknowledge those complexities and engage them, however frustrating it may be."

So, don't believe the Bible, it's wrong. But there's some spiritual truth there, which you can also find elsewhere.

"The Christmas star is just one such light; there are others. Whatever our backgrounds, whatever our creeds, many of us are in search of the kind of faith that will lead us through the darkness, toward home."

For those searching for such a light, Jesus said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

Time's story goes through all the same scholarly dilemmas, but with a little more sympathy. For example, some of the differences between Gospel narratives, David Van Biema writes, can be understood by recognizing the different audiences intended to read the story.

Van Biema, though, ends without condescending advice. Even those with a "politically progressive analysis of Scripture" find something miraculous in the birth of Christ, as the Gospels tell it. During the nativity pageant at Arlington Heights First Presbyterian in Illinois, pastor Dianne Shields won't be including her historical qualms. She's preached her "scholarly sermons on the Magi and the meaning of Mary's answer to Gabriel," says Van Biema. But she's also going to play the angel in the play.

As she walks down the aisle holding Jesus, Van Biema says, "Many will cry out, if only silently within their hearts, Hallelujah!"

Even for the skeptic, the story of Jesus' birth is compelling. The son of God born to a virgin, the jealous ruler who slaughters a generation, the Magi who come to pay tribute, the king born in a manger, God with us.

Maybe the news angle isn't why so many people disbelieve the story, but why so many people cling to it.

Millard Fuller, founder of the home-building ministry, Habitat for Humanity, stepped down recently as CEO of the huge nonprofit. According to the Associated Press, "Accusations of 'inappropriate conduct' … led to Mr. Fuller's temporary banishment from the headquarters of the Christian home-building organization that he and his wife, Linda, founded 28 years ago. Mr. Fuller said the board of directors was on the verge of firing him before he asked former President Jimmy Carter, Habitat's most visible volunteer, to intervene."

The board eventually found "insufficient evidence" to substantiate the charges that Fuller acted inappropriately during a car ride to catch an Atlanta plane. Fuller said the charges were lies, but agreed to step down as CEO. He is now "founder and president."

But the new title leaves him little real authority to act against a board that Fuller fears is changing the ministry movement to a bureaucratic nonprofit. The AP writes, "In a Nov. 5 letter to members of the search committee, Mr. Fuller expressed his concerns that the board would hire a high-paid bean counter instead of someone with 'strong Christian commitment.'

"'The danger, I fear, is that Habitat for Humanity will become a bureaucracy,' he wrote. 'If we lose the 'movement mentality,' we will not go out of existence, but we will stagnate and become 'just another nonprofit' doing good work across the country and around the world.'"

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December (Web-only) 2004, Vol. 48