"'Raymond E. Brown's Birth of the Messiah was a milestone and indeed a touchstone in Catholic research on the Infancy Narratives of Matthew and Luke. However, Father Brown never intended his book to be a barrier to further research and reflection, but rather a springboard. It is in that spirit that these essays offer new paths of research and reflection to continue and carry forward our appreciation and appropriation of the message of the Infancy Narratives.' - John Meier, Department of Theology, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, USA" --John Meier "'This engaging collection of essays offers an excellent showcase of literary, theological and political readings of the birth narratives in Matthew and Luke, including studies in the history of reception. It ably demonstrates that when historical questions grow old, the texts prove fertile in ever new ways. A great resource for many Christmases to come!' - John M.G.

Barclay, Department of Theology and Religion, Durham University, UK" --John M.G. Barclay "'Jeremy Corley and his team are to be congratulated. New Perspectives on the Nativity is the unrivalled complement to and extension of Raymond E. Brown's magisterial study, The Birth of the Messiah. Sharing Brown's conviction as to the priority of theological over purely historical analyses of the infancy narratives, the contributors pursue this intent through a refreshing range of literary, cultural, socio-political, feminist, inter-religious and liturgical readings. Together, the essays witness to the remarkable vitality of contemporary biblical scholarship and proliferation of approaches, contributing insights extending well beyond those available in Brown's rather more constrained approach, yet evincing a similar concern to place the best of scholarship at the service of as broad a readership as possible.' - Paul D.

Murray, Professor of Systematic Theology and Director of the Centre for Catholic Studies, Department of Theology and Religion, Durham University, UK." --Paul D. Murray "This book offers a glimpse of some recent approaches to aspects of the Christmas story. It offers, as the Introducation says, 'a wide variety of perspectives - literary, political, feminist, theological, poetic, Islamic and liturgical'. Something for everyone." --Theology "This new collection of essays edited by Jeremy Corley, offers a smorgasbord of entrances into the nativity stories of Matthew and Luke. What these essays offer is a fresh look at these stories through the lens of newer methods of reading that are gaining ground in the realm of academic biblical studies such as feminist readings, literary readings and various aspects of the history of interpretation. - Benjamin J M Johnson, University of Durham, UK" --Benjamin J M Johnson.