He wrote a quarter of the New Testament and never once mentioned Bethlehem. He was not missing the story. He was telling the part of it that happened before there was anything to see.
Where a Gospel would tell a story, Paul reaches for a verb — and uses it three times, in three letters. Three weeks, one occurrence each.
The birth of Jesus according to Paul.
Three sessions, one hour each — Wednesdays at noon, December 2, 9 and 16 — and then, on Christmas Eve, the verb changes.
Paul is silent about the Christmas story. He is not silent about the birth.
At the exact place in each letter where a Gospel would begin telling the story, Paul reaches for one small Greek verb. It is ginomai, and it means to come to be. Not to be made. Not to be fathered. To come to be — to arrive at a condition that was not yours before.
And then, in one of the last letters we have from him, the verb changes — and that fourth sentence is the one I preach on Christmas Eve.
— Jonathan Speegle, from the introduction to Grace Appeared: The Birth of Jesus According to Paul, the book the study is taught from. Galatians 4:4 · Philippians 2:7 · Romans 1:3 · Titus 2:11.
Wednesdays, noon to 1 p.m. · Monticello United Methodist Church · 130 East Broad Street
Adults who want to read Paul closely. The study teaches the faith of the Church from Paul's own letters — the letters written before any Gospel. You do not need Greek: every Greek word is given in English letters and translated.
Each week has a take-home sheet, and the study's own site has the readings, the teaching notes, the sheet to fill in, puzzles made from that week's session, and Brother Cuthbert to ask about it.
Tap everything Paul never mentions in his letters. Leave standing what he does say.
Each Greek form is the same verb. Match it to the letter where Paul uses it.
The study's pages are for the class. Ask Pastor Jonathan for the code, or send your name and email and he will send it to you.