no room at the inn

Of course, in Sunday School this year we are studying the New Testament. Today's lesson was on the birth of Christ. I've been reading "Jesus the Christ" and was fascinated to read this week that staying in a stable was not an unusual occurrence. When inns were full, that is where people stayed. Mary and Joseph were not the first to do so nor were they the last.

I never realized this. I thought that was pretty interesting.

Then, in class today someone made another interesting comment. Rooms at inns were not the private rooms we enjoy in hotels today. Many people shared a room. Thus, Mary and Joseph and Christ may have had more privacy and space in the stable.

Nothing earth-shattering or testimony-building but interesting none-the-less.

Other interesting things I've read lately:

We don't know how many wisemen there were nor why tradition uses 3. There could have been one or there could have been many.

We really have no idea the exact birth date of Christ. We celebrate December 25th. Most of the LDS faith believes Christ was actually born on April 6th. This belief stems from James Talmage in "Jesus the Christ" referencing D&C 20 as stating the church was organized 1830 years from the coming of Christ. He took that to literally mean exact years. However, Bruce R. McConkie and other general authorities have stated that D&C 20 may not be referring to an exact date like April 6th. In fact, chronological references could put the date in December. Many historical scholars believe the birth could have occurred in December or January.