THIS YEAR’S CHRISTMAS DEBUNKING: The Christmas season always seems to induce an irresistible urge among Lefty “scholars” and “journalists,” with a result that one of the latter interviews one of the former and publishes something like the New York Times’ December 21 “A Conversation About the Virgin Birth that Maybe Wasn’t” by columnist Nicholas Kristoff.

“Hate to barge in on your Christmas joy as you reflect on the miracle of the Incarnation, but The New York Times has delivered its annual dose of skepticism wrapped in tinsel. This time, it’s an interview with Elaine Pagels, a famed Ivy League biblical scholar. You’d expect some highbrow insights from the hoity toity Times, but instead, it’s a predictable grab bag of speculation and lazy thinking,” Is Jesus Alive proprietor Erik Manning writes in a lengthy dismemberment of this comedy of factual errors, fallacious logic and uninformed analyses.

Just to cite one of the many examples Manning addresses, Pagels makes a big deal out of the fact that the Gospel of Mark, which is commonly thought to be the earliest written of the four Gospels, makes no mention of the Virgin Birth of Jesus.

“There’s also a whopper of an argument from silence here that needs addressing. Just because Mark doesn’t mention the virgin birth, it doesn’t mean he’s unaware of it. Omitting a detail isn’t the same as denying it, and history is full of examples where major events go unmentioned.

“Take Pliny the Younger, for instance. In two detailed letters to Tacitus, he describes the eruption of Mount Vesuvius but says nothing about the destruction of Pompeii or Herculaneum—two of the biggest stories from that disaster. Or consider Henry Oldenburg, who wrote extensively during the Great Plague of 1665-1666 but barely mentioned the plague itself. Paul doesn’t mention Jesus’ miracles, but I’m guessing Pagels still believes Jesus was known as a wonder-worker. If these omissions don’t equal denial, why assume Mark’s silence does,” Manning writes.

Manning’s is a lengthy piece and it requires an attentive reader to follow the Pagels arguments and Manning’s critique. But it’s well-worth your time to have such a chronicle of the weaknesses in so much of the popular skepticism about Jesus, the Gospels and the miracle at the heart of Christmas.