Letter: Festival for pagans and viewers

From The Rev Peter Hatton

Sir: Readers who lack Campbell's "understanding" of the Bible (letter, 23 December) may not be aware that the Talmud (which he regards as a source for the story of the star in the east that led the Magi to Bethlehem) was compiled some 300 years after the last of the Gospels. It seems that the Evangelists, according to Mr Campbell's theory, were gifted not only with "imagination" but also with powers of foresight so miraculous that they make their "invented" stories appear mundane by comparison.

For my part, despite years of studying the Bible, I make no claim to understand it. What has become increasingly clear to me, as I have wrestled with the Scriptures, is their power to understand me and human nature as it was in the first century and remains now.

Yours,

Peter Hatton

Droitwich, Worcester

23 December