Before:
People engage with the story of Jesus’ birth, in the New Testament of the Christian Bible, in different ways. The infancy narrative holds significance around the world for many people for various reasons. The story heard in contemporary western Christmas context is too often simply “the story of the birth of a cute baby” which “provides at most a religious tinge for domestic celebrations,”[1] but there is much more substance and significance to the story than this type of reading allows. Readers have the choice to view the narrative as a story of a “cute baby” or as a complex story with much deeper meanings. It is noticeable that “most churchgoing people seem quite happy to believe that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, said many wise things, and died on Calvary.”[2] Yet, this surface level perception does a disservice to the reader. Reading the birth story in the biblical text and its interpretations mythologically allows the reader to imagine an oppressed and refugee Jesus that has the possibility of positively impacting the reader’s hope and empathy.
After:
As people with different experiences and different circumstances, we can engage with the story of Jesus’ birth, in the New Testament of the Christian Bible, in different ways. The infancy narrative holds significance around the world for people for various reasons. Too often in the contemporary western Christmas context, we hear the story as simply “the story of the birth of a cute baby” which “provides at most a religious tinge for domestic celebrations,”[3] but there is much more substance and significance to the story than this type of reading allows us. As readers, we have the choice to view the narrative as a story of a “cute baby” or as a complex story with much deeper meanings. I notice that sometimes myself and many “churchgoing people seem quite happy to believe that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, said many wise things, and died on Calvary.”[4] However, this surface level perception does us, the readers, a disservice. Reading the birth story in the biblical text and its interpretations mythologically allows us to imagine an oppressed and refugee Jesus that has the possibility of positively impacting our hope and empathy.
I think this drastically improves my work. This is the last paragraph of my introduction paragraph and it now pulls the reader in. Now the reader is able to see themselves more in the work I am writing on.
[1] Warren Carter, “Matthew 1-2 and Roman Political Power,” in New Perspectives on the Nativity, ed. Jeremy Corley (London: T&T Clark International, 2009), 77.
[2] Thomas O’Loughlin, “Losing Mystery in History: The Challenge of Recalling the Nativity,” in New Perspectives on the Nativity, ed. Jeremy Corley (London: T&T Clark International, 2009), 181.
[3] Warren Carter, “Matthew 1-2 and Roman Political Power,” in New Perspectives on the Nativity, ed. Jeremy Corley (London: T&T Clark International, 2009), 77.
[4] Thomas O’Loughlin, “Losing Mystery in History: The Challenge of Recalling the Nativity,” in New Perspectives on the Nativity, ed. Jeremy Corley (London: T&T Clark International, 2009), 181.