Early Christians were hardly monolithic in their preachings, and the Nativity accounts of the gospels may have diverged as a result, but a comparison of the Nativity stories of Luke and Matthew show common elements in terms of the virgin births, the birth at Bethlehem and the upbringing at Nazareth.

The accounts of the birth and Nativity of Jesus appear in only two of the four Canonical Gospels, the Gospel of Luke and the Gospel of Matthew.

The Nativity of Jesus, also The Nativity, refers to the accounts of the birth of Jesus, primarily based on the two accounts in the gospels of Luke and Matthew, and secondarily on some apocryphal texts.

The accounts of the Nativity of Jesus in the New Testament appear in only two of the four Canonical Gospels, namely the Gospel of Luke and the Gospel of Matthew.

George Kilpatrick and separately Michael Patella state that a comparison of the Nativity stories of Luke and Matthew show common elements in terms of the virgin births, the birth at Bethlehem and the upbringing at Nazareth and that although there are differences in the accounts of the Nativity in Luke and Matthew, a general narrative may be constructed by combining the two.

Two independent approaches have been used to estimate the year of the birth of Jesus, one by analyzing the Nativity accounts in the Gospels of Luke and Matthew along with other historical data, the other by working backwards from the estimation of the start of the ministry of Jesus.

Based on the Gospel accounts of the Nativity of Jesus, this was one of the tenderest hymns and is often considered one of the seven greatest Latin hymns.

It is three times the length of the Nativity text in the Gospel of Matthew and in itself longer than several of the books of the New Testament.

The upper part has nine panels dramatic showing scenes from the New Testament, carved in white marble with a chiaroscuro effect and separated by figures of prophets: Annunciation, Massacre of the Innocents, Nativity, Adoration of the Magi, Flight into Egypt, Crucifixion, and two panels of the Last Judgement.

" Among the notable Bread and Puppet Theater shows directed by Schumann are " Nativity 1992 ", described by The New York Times as " an exemplar of performance folk art ", and " The Divine Reality Comedy ".

Over the period many ancient iconographical features that originated in New Testament apocrypha were gradually eliminated under clerical pressure, like the midwives at the Nativity, though others were too well-established, and considered harmless.

The significance of the name of Jesus in the New Testament is underscored by the fact that in his Nativity account Matthew pays more attention to the name of the child and its theological implications than the actual birth event itself.

In the east window of the south chapel are set fifteen medallions of German or Flemish glass of the 16th and 17th centuries ; five are circular, the others oval ; they mostly depict scenes from the Old and New Testaments and include a Nativity, and the placing of our Lord in the sepulchre.

During Stalinist times, Ded Moroz, Snegurochka ( or " Snow Maiden "), and New Year Boy were featured in Communist-type Nativity scenes, or public appearances, with Ded Moroz as the equivalent of Joseph, Snegurochka as the equivalent of Mary, and the New Year Boy as the equivalent of the Christ child.

Madeline Bell ( born July 23, 1942, Newark, New Jersey ) is an American soul singer, who became famous as a performer in the United Kingdom during the 1960s, having arrived from the US in the gospel show Black Nativity in 1962, with vocal group The Bradford Singers

* Venerable New Martyr Olympiada ( Verbetska ), Igumenia of Kozelschansk women's monastery of the Nativity of the Mother of God ( 1938 )

In 2006, Hardwicke directed the biblical film The Nativity Story for New Line Cinema.

He designed the Redemptorist Church of the Holy Spirit in Michalovce ( 1933-1934 ) and the Boiko-style wooden Church of the Nativity of the Mother of God in Nizny Komarnik, just south of the Dukla mountain pass ( 1937 ), both in Slovakia ; the Ukrainian churches in Whippany, New Jersey ( 1949 ), and Pôrto Uniao, Brazil ( 1951 ); and the Orthodox cathedral in Montreal ( 1957 ).

These are: the Portrait of Edward Grymeston ( on loan to the National Gallery, London, 1446 ), the Portrait of a Carthusian ( Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1446 ), the so-called St. Eligius in His Shop ( Metropolitan Museum of Art Lehman Collection, New York, 1449 ), the Virgin Nursing the Child ( now in the Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp, 1449 ), the so-called " Berlin Altar Wings " with the Annunciation, Nativity, and Last Judgment ( Gemaldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, 1452 ), and the Virgin and Child Enthroned with Saints Jerome and Francis ( Stadelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt-am-Main, 1457 ?-- the digits are not clear ).

The Law Center sued New York's school district in December 2002 for banning Nativity scenes in public schools.

Those in the choir depict the kings of France and Castille and members of the local nobility in the straight bays, while the windows in the apse hemicycle show those Old Testament prophets who foresaw the virgin birth, flanking scenes of the Annunciation, Visitation and Nativity in the axial window.

Situated along the passage used by pilgrims making their way to the Grotto of the Nativity, the bas relief also incorporates symbolism from the Old Testament.

The doors of the church of the Nativity at Bethlehem ( 6th century ) are covered with plates of bronze, cut out in patterns.

Baldung's most sustained effort is the altarpiece of Freiburg, where the Coronation of the Virgin, and the Twelve Apostles, the Annunciation, Visitation, Nativity and Flight into Egypt, and the Crucifixion, with portraits of donors, are executed with some of that fanciful power that Martin Schongauer bequeathed to the Swabian school.

* The principal ecclesiastical feasts falling within the month are: the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin on the 8th, the Exaltation of the Holy Cross on the 14th, St. Matthew the apostle on the 21st, and St. Michael the archangel on the 29th.

* The Samaritans revolt and are defeated ; the Church of the Nativity is burnt down during the uprising.

When a Saturday falls during one of the fasting seasons ( Great Lent, Nativity Fast, Apostles ' Fast, Dormition Fast ) the fasting rules are always lessened to an extent.

These are: the week following Pascha, the week following Pentecost, the period from the Nativity of Christ until January the 5th and the first week of the Triodion ( the week following the 33rd Sunday after the Pentecost ).

Apart from the solemnities of Nativity of the Lord, the Epiphany, the Ascension, and Pentecost, which are outranked only by the Paschal Triduum, solemnities give way only to the following celebrations:

In the Christian liturgical calendar there are two principal feasts, properly known as the Feast of the Nativity of our Lord ( Christmas ) and the Feast of the Resurrection, ( Easter ).

His works on sacred texts and subjects, which include another large-scale theater piece, Le Mystère de la Nativité ( The Mystery of the Nativity / 1959 ) are widely considered to rank among the finest religious compositions of the 20th century.

There are separate carols for each of the three great feasts, referring respectively to the Nativity, to St.

Perceived relations among the Mithraic mysteries, the Dies Natalis of Sol Invictus ( the " Birthday of the Unconquered Sun ") on December 25, and the Christian Nativity as celebrated in December are a matter of longstanding and complex scholarly debate.

It is the concluding day of the Nativity Fast and is celebrated as a day of strict fasting by those devout Orthodox Christians who are physically capable of doing so.

" ( these are the opening words of the Canon of the Nativity that was chanted the night before during the Vigil ).

Nativity scenes are permitted on public lands in the United States as long as equal time is given to non-religious symbols.

Two of his famous works are The Nativity, circa 1460 and Madonna and Child, circa 1475.

The hexagonal pulpit itself consists of five scenes in white Carrara marble from the Life of Christ: the Nativity, the Annunciation, the Annunciation to the Shepherds are juxtaposed in the first relief, the Adoration of the Magi, the Presentation, the Crucifixion and the Last Judgement.

During the forty days leading up to Christmas, the Eastern Orthodox Church practices the Nativity Fast, while the majority of Christian congregations ( including the Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion, many Mainline churches, and Baptists ) begin observing the liturgical season of Advent four Sundays before Christmas — both are seen as times of spiritual cleansing, recollection and renewal to prepare for the celebration of the birth of Jesus.

Augustine was fond of a statement on Nativity by Saint Gregory of Nyssa and he quoted in five times: " Venerate the Nativity, through which you are freed from the bonds of an earthly nativity ".

Depictions of the Nativity are now a normal component of the sequences illustrating both the Life of Christ and the Life of the Virgin.

In the Eastern Church icons of Nativity often correspond to specific hymns to Mary, e. g. to the Kontakion: " The Virgin today bringeth forth the Transubstantial, and the eart offereth a cave to the Unapproachable ...." In many Eastern icons of Nativity ( often accompanied by matching hymnody ) two basic elements are emphasized.