So Mark and John don’t really deal with the Nativity, and seem to assume Jesus had always lived in Nazareth.
Matthew thinks Joseph lived in Bethlehem, had to flee from Herod to Egypt, and came back to live in Nazereth.
Luke squares the circle by saying Joseph lived in Nazareth but had to travel to Bethlehem for a census, after which they just went home
On balance I’d say this means there is an early tradition of a Bethlehem nativity and Luke and Matthew obtained that from different sources. But then Mark is the earliest gospel and while John probably wasnt written by John the writers have a more direct apostolic connection.
This sounds interesting, I haven’t heard it before or if I have I forgot about it. What are the differences?
So Mark and John don’t really deal with the Nativity, and seem to assume Jesus had always lived in Nazareth.
Matthew thinks Joseph lived in Bethlehem, had to flee from Herod to Egypt, and came back to live in Nazereth.
Luke squares the circle by saying Joseph lived in Nazareth but had to travel to Bethlehem for a census, after which they just went home
On balance I’d say this means there is an early tradition of a Bethlehem nativity and Luke and Matthew obtained that from different sources. But then Mark is the earliest gospel and while John probably wasnt written by John the writers have a more direct apostolic connection.