Why do we celebrate Christmas on the 25th December each year? Do we know the exact date of Jesus birth?
To my knowledge, the exact date when Jesus was born is unknown. While we are on increasingly firm ground for the date of his death—early April 33—there’s no sure way of discovering the date of his birth.
Jerry Bridges is the author of The Pursuit of Holiness, The Practice of Godliness, True Fellowship, Trusting God, Transforming Grace and The Joy of Fearing God. He has a close association with the ministry of The Navigators and lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA.
Michael Horton is the President of the American group, the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals.
Can you tell us something about yourself and how you came to be involved with the contemporary call to reformation in the Church?
My most vivid recollection of 5th class is of my teacher, Peter Harwin, perched on his desk, reading aloud from the collected stories of Sherlock Holmes. I remember looking around and seeing boys sprawled face down on their desks while this fresh-faced teacher brought to life another spine-chilling instalment of ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles’. When the hour was over, he would close the book and the class would suddenly rouse from its apparent slumber and beg him to continue. It was all in vain, for he was a master at keeping boys in suspense. It was sweet agony.