Something Not Understood (alas)

Yesterday's Radio 4 programme at 6.00am, Something Understood was on the Nativity Stories. Given the description, you can see why I would be interested:

Mark Tully considers the symbolism and meaning of the traditional nativity stories and asks what they can offer us in a contemporary context.


Alas, nothing of the gospel nativity stories was explained or analyzed. Instead we got general remarks from the eminent historian Prof Diarmaid MacCulloch, author of Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years. Yes, we heard some beautiful music and some lovely poetry. But by the end of the programme, I don't think we understood anything about distinctions between Matthew and Luke and divergences amongst sources like the Protevangelion of James and the synoptic gospels. So there's plenty of opportunity to do another programme on the same topic!