{"id":26354,"date":"2021-09-10T10:38:00","date_gmt":"2021-09-10T10:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/2021\/09\/10\/historical-and-cultural-setting-of-christmas\/"},"modified":"2026-03-06T18:58:35","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T18:58:35","slug":"historical-and-cultural-setting-of-christmas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/historical-and-cultural-setting-of-christmas\/","title":{"rendered":"Historical and Cultural Setting of Christmas"},"content":{"rendered":"

Steve Carter, editor for Preaching Today, and Gary Burge, New Testament scholar, discuss the importance of properly understanding the historical and cultural setting of the birth of Jesus.<\/p>\n\n

Gary shares with us what it was like to live in Bethlehem. He dives deep into the Roman occupation and the census that was taking place, and how oppressive that was to the people. You will never hear “O Little Town of Bethlehem” in the same way again, after watching this video!<\/p>\n\n

Then stay tuned to the second half of the video where three pastors—Alison Gerber, Lee Eclov, and Joel Thomas—discuss how to apply Gary’s revelations to our Christmas sermons.<\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n\n

Other Videos in this Series<\/h2>\n\n
\n\n\n\t\n\t\n
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\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t
Video<\/a><\/span><\/div>\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tThe Prophetic Hope for a Messiah\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/h3>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t

\n\t\t\t\tSteve Carter and Gary Burge\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\n\n\n\t\n\t\n
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\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t
Video<\/a><\/span><\/div>\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tThe Christmas Scene\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/h3>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t

\n\t\t\t\tSteve Carter and Gary Burge\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\n\n\n\t\n\t\n
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t
Video<\/a><\/span><\/div>\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tChristmas Sermon Ideas\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/h3>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t

\n\t\t\t\tSteve Carter and Gary Burge\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Steve Carter, editor for Preaching Today, and Gary Burge, New Testament scholar, discuss the importance of properly understanding the historical and cultural setting of the birth of Jesus. Gary shares with us what it was like to live in Bethlehem. He dives deep into the Roman occupation and the census that was taking place, and Read more…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":128,"featured_media":26357,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"tax_ctp_authors":[1600,3055],"tax_ctp_books":[],"tax_ctp_categories":[165],"tax_ctp_field_guide_subcategory":[],"tax_ctp_field_guides":[],"tax_ctp_format":[174],"tax_ctp_multimedia":[413],"tax_ctp_point_editor":[],"tax_publications":[140],"tax_ctp_tags":[3387,3497,3600,4153,4569],"tax_ctp_topics":[],"class_list":["post-26354","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tax_ctp_authors-gary-burge","tax_ctp_authors-steve-carter","tax_publications-ct-pastors","tax_ctp_tags-advent","tax_ctp_tags-birth-of-christ","tax_ctp_tags-christmas","tax_ctp_tags-holidays","tax_ctp_tags-oppression"],"acf":{"scripture_references":null},"yoast_head":"\nHistorical and Cultural Setting of Christmas - 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