How Authentic Is the Christmas Portrayal of Christs Birth?
During the Christmas season the Christian world’s attention is focused on its most important religious holiday that purportedly commemorates the birth date of Jesus Christ. This holiday season here in the Philippines consumes one third of each year. The Philippines has the fourth largest Christian population on earth. With over 80 million of its people professing to be Christian (mostly Catholic), the “Spirit of Christmas” begins as early as September 1 and doesn’t end until January 6 each year. During this four-month season Christmas carols are played in public and pervade the airwaves. In an effort to authentically portray the birth of Christ, a new movie titled The Nativity Story was released on December 1 for showing in theatres during this year’s Christmas season. Starring Keisha Castle-Hughes as Mary and Oscar Isaac as Joseph with Shohreh Aghdashloo as Elizabeth, movie director Catherine Hardwicke sought to achieve authenticity in the movie’s depiction of the birth of Christ. The
