No Room in the Inn? | The Jimmy Akin Podcast

[@joshuacooley1417]

While I don't know the exact laws in place at the time of Jesus, the idea of Joseph "owning" land or a home in Bethlehem fits very well with how land ownership tended to work under ancient societies and specifically how it worked in Israel in the OT. Under OT law, the land was divided up amongst the 12 Tribes and could not be permanently sold out of a tribe's "patrimony". The tribe would then divide up the land for use among the households / families of the tribe. Thus land ownership was more tied to the family than to the individual. The individual "owner" would actually have a kind of land tenure, in which they had the right to work, rent, or otherwise make use of the land, but it technically belonged to the family or the tribe. So it seems very likely that Joseph, as a descendant of David's line, would have some kind of property tenue in or near Bethlehem. It also makes sense that as a carpenter, Joseph may have had to leave his family's ancestral land in order to find work. There are two things that play into this, just at first glance. One is that as a family multiplies over the generations, the land allotment for each individual male of the family line gets smaller. Eventually it would not be enough land to sustain a family, without getting access to more land, or taking up a trade other than farming. In addition, as Joseph was a carpenter by trade, he would not have needed farming land, so his inheritance seems more likely to have been a piece of property in the village. He would have the right to use that property, but if he left the area on a semi-permanent basis, it doubtless would have been used by the other branches of his family who remained in the area, or Joseph may have even rented it out. That could be possible as well.

[@Mariusz-fv4us]

Perfect and clear explanation. Thank you, God bless Regards from Poland

[@TiberentenTV]

Thank you Jimmy, that passage and its translations have been a pet peeve for me as a classical philologist for quite some time. I would even go further than you and translate Luke 2:7 from the original Greek as follows: "And she gave birth to her first-born son and swaddled him and laid him down in a manger, because they did not have a spot in their accommodation," i.e.: they didn't (yet) have a PROPER spot for a new-born baby where they stayed, so they took a manger up from the stable into their quarters and put him there as a makeshift cradle. This is even theologically beautiful, because the bringing upstairs of the wooden manger for Jesus at the beginning of his life on earth corresponds to the erection of the wooden cross for him at the end. For why the mistranslation came about, that's easy to see if you compare the Greek and Latin languages: Latin does - other than Greek and English - not have articles, so if you translate "ἐν τῷ καταλύματι" from Luke 2:7 from the original Greek into Latin, you get "in diversorio" without any article, and once you don't have the Greek anymore, you cannot possibly know if you should understand "in the accommodation" or "in an accommodation", so people went with the second one. Oh, and BTW, Joseph wouldn't have been required to travel to Bethlehem to have himself inscribed if he didn't have property there. The Romans had two kinds of taxes in the provinces: One was a property tax on people with real estate, which required a list to assign properties to their owners and to keep track of the respective amount a certain property was due. That's the one Joseph had to pay. The second one was a poll tax for all those who did not own any land. The poll tax did not require enlisting, because it was the same for everyone: When you paid it, you would be handed a receipt written in a little sealed tablet (a libellus), which you could be asked to produce whenever you had any business with the government. Or with the Temple, which collected its own poll tax - and that's the one Jesus and Peter have to pay in Matthew 17:24-27. In this very passage, Jesus even mentions the two kinds of taxes: the τέλη (poll tax) and the κῆνσος (the census, i.e. the property tax).

[@peterv7258]

It always seemed to me, and maybe this is already well known, that the manger is like a symbolic prophecy of eating his body and blood, as if to say he has come into the world to be utterly consumed -both figuratively in the crucifixion, and literally/spiritually, in the Eucharist.

[@OzCrusader]

@@peterv7258👍🙏

[@seanrcollier]

The original post is veeeeeerry interesting. Thank you!

[@kevinkelly2162]

Very cute but not exactly your problem. This census was never heard about by anybody except the gospel writers.

[@TiberentenTV]

@@kevinkelly2162 Sources in ancient history are few and far between. There are many facts of antiquity only attested to by one extant source (and there are surely many we don't have the slightest clue about at all), and people who know nothing about ancient history like to mock this fact whenever it concerns biblical history (while usually taking the words of ancient secular writers at face value), until they are corrected by archaeological findings, which has happened many times. Even Pontius Pilate was thought to be a very cute literary figure because this guy was never heard about by anybody except the gospel writers, until archaeologists dug up an inscription mentioning him as a prefect of Judaea in 1961.

[@baseball2008]

Excited to share this with my protestant father-in-law!

[@tylerkessler4021]

Haha prayers for you .

[@darthbigred22]

Prayers for him, who wants to listen to a goddess cult worshipper try to tell you why the Italians should rule everyone?

[@ToddJambon]

He is our Daily Bread. Very symbolic that He would come into the world in a feeding trough.

[@tonyl3762]

@@ToddJambon That's what the early Church fathers like Augustine said.

[@shanehanes7096]

Definitely give us more of this kind of content.

[@debbiegraham5585]

Thank you, Jimmy

[@Christusrexinri]

Excellent material Jimmy!

[@claybody]

I loved your response to Bart Ehrman on this. It was a cogent answer...

[@annbradshaw5331]

That was so interesting and helpful!

[@toddgruber5729]

I think it’s confusing how art work, etc, make “the Inn” seem like a motel…this explanation is so easy to understand. It’s almost too bad how a different picture has been painted over time about the Inn situation…

[@Jaymes4001]

Good stuff Jimmy.

[@jamesorrock8897]

Merry Christmas to you too, Mr Akin! 😊

[@Light2eternity]

Many villages in Asia still follow the same pattern. Thanks

[@silencedogood2612]

Great analysis of proper word usage. This is interesting information for prayerful reflection this Christmas. Thank you, Jimmy. Merry Christmas.

[@andymonaghan7501]

Love your shows Jimmy. God Bless.

[@BensWorkshop]

No inn? I'll be going out then! Many thanks for the explanation. Also covers how they had to return to Bethlehem. Migrant workers would have to do that. oh and I hope you have a merry and blessed Christmas!

[@robpata8278]

Thanks, Jimmy! Always thought provoking. Merry Christmastide to you.

[@mementomori7266]

I had heard that it was possibly family of Joseph, and not Joseph's home, itself. When the Magi arrive (~2 years later) it says they entered the "house." I had heard that this implied Mary and Joseph had remained in Bethlehem for at least two years and were indeed staying at a house. Whose house it was is another question.

[@michaelcurry8905]

Thanks Jimmy. I've often argued that a better translation for "inn" in Luke 2 was "upper room", which parallels Luke 22. I've also argued that Luke 2:2 would be better rendered "This was the enrollment when Quirinius first governed Syria." Merry Christmas.

[@DudeNamedDuncan]

Please consider writing a New Testament Study Bible or theology book in the future.

[@Lili-Benovent]

It could be called 'The Book of Lies and Fairy Stories'

[@dynaspinner64]

@@Lili-Benovent May God bring you home and forgive you of your sins.

[@Lili-Benovent]

@dynaspinner64 I'm happy to tell you I don't have any sins because there is no such thing as a sin, if it feels good do it ........

[@nickw9766]

Definitely should.

[@OzCrusader]

@@Lili-Benovent … based on what?

[@opencurtin]

Jimmy the ultimate Scholar and protector of the faith , Jimmy the Lion ..

[@mariesook9141]

Very well put

[@mariesook9141]

It's a pleasure to listen to someone who is smart & "down home". I hope you and your people have a very Merry Christmas. Also, so kind of you to do the long show for those who find themselves alone. Season's Greetings from Wisconsin's Green Bay Diocese. Merry Christmas!

[@MartinJ-t7y]

Happy holidays everyone! 🎄🎁✨🕊️🙏

[@marksteo6178]

Thank you for giving the best explanation for this discrepancy

[@ironrex6979]

Merry Christmas sir and great video! I didn’t know about the theory and that diagram in the end really puts it into perspective. I never knew about the grotto births.

[@otakubullfrog1665]

Another theory I've heard that absolves the "innkeeper" is that the lodging place wasn't a building at all, but rather a tent area set up for travelers and that it simply might not have been a comfortable place for a women to deliver since it would have been crowded with people who, after riding all day, would stay up late telling stories, singing songs, sharpening tools and conducting business with locals who would drop by to see what the visitors had brought.

[@arroyosmelgar7042]

Great point, two homes!!!

[@qanaqa33174]

Thanks for this knowledge 🎉

[@Hoireabard]

I like these in-depth explanations. I want to hear one about “the love of money”. For example, the Greek uses the adjective “kind” love of money and doesn’t use an article. Since no one understands the ancient use of “kind” in this context it seems to me that no one understands the quote. Please do an analysis.

[@cassandraboll1853]

Thank you! This was a wonderful explanation of how the Infancy Narrative probably worked. God bless you, Jimmy, and have a Merry Christmas!

[@mercedesaschenbrenner9352]

I’ve heard your opinion about the 2 houses but I always thought that if Joseph had a second home in Bethlehem why would they had gone to a “cave” for the night of Jesus’ birth?. But now, your video makes total sense. Since the “kataluma” was full (it was probably only one room) Mary wanted to give birth in a more quiet/private place, not considering that her delivery was probably miraculous which she probably also intuited, cave down below with animals sounds good to me. Merry Christmas!

[@jendoe9436]

One other thing to note about Mary having to give birth away from other people is that OT laws about childbirth were quite explicit and strict. A big thing with the Jewish were laws about purity and being clean, with things involving blood and corpses being some of the most uncleanness matters to deal with. I don’t quite remember the specifics on times and all that, but women were often not allowed in the temple area when they were menstruating and they were supposed to stay away from others until their periods were complete and then went to the temple to cleanse themselves, or something to that effect. After child birth, there was also supposed to be a set time to where the new mother would have to be confined to a room or section of the house and not conduct chores or the other household matters to avoid “dirtying” whatever she touched. I know the gender of the baby played a role in how long she was to be confined, with sons being a shorter time away than with daughters. I’m not sure how strictly those laws were followed during Mary and Joseph’s time, as those laws were written during the era of Leviticus and there are mentions in the NT of some laws being followed more closely than others. But overall, childbirth is still a messy occasion and while Mary and Joseph knew of the miraculous nature of Mary’s pregnancy, relatives would probably be unaware of things so would assume the process would be business as usual. I also think Mary herself wasn’t quite sure how messy or not it would be. She had just helped Elizabeth during her pregnancy and delivery of John, and probably had helped other relatives and friends during her life. Of course she could have received some message from God about it, but it’s more likely she would want to draw away to a quieter place anyway to avoid causing issues and because she was still a follower of the Law. After all, she and Joseph did present Jesus in the temple for both his and her purification despite neither really having to, so I can totally see her complying with the childbirth customs of her time.

[@danielmalinen6337]

Indeed. Inn is a historical mistranslation. As you also said, the word "kataluma" is reused from the upper room where Jesus and the disciples celebrated Passover, while the Gospel writer uses a different word for inn in the story of the Good Samaritan. For example, today the new Finnish translation uses the translation "place of resident" instead. I wish you a good Christmas times.

[@jdotoz]

6:40 "hotel, motel, Holiday Inn"

[@tonyl3762]

I keep telling people Jesus was born in a cave. I showed my wife the diagram of the house in the video, and she asked, "But don't you keep saying he was born in a cave?" And then you vindicate me at the end. Nicely done covering all the bases on this issue. Though might have been worth naming the early Church fathers/writings who testify to the cave birthplace (e.g. Justin Martyr, Origen, Jerome).

[@Lili-Benovent]

There's no evidence he ever existed, it's all fairy stories.

[@RachelNichols-writer]

The Bible doesn't say Jesus was born in a stable. Just that he was placed in a manger.

[@tonyl3762]

​@@RachelNichols-writerDo you think I'm not aware of that? Do you know how many times I've heard/read the gospel Nativity accounts of Mt & Lk?? It doesn't matter. The cave theory has the strongest evidence behind it (early patristic and archaeological) and is compatible with the gospel accounts, as Jimmy showed.

[@audreymarsh5090]

Very helpful! I hope to eventually make a crocheted creche, and it’s nice to have a better idea what to craft for the stable. Merry Christmas!!!

[@andreawalker2535]

Thanks, Jimmy. Merry Christmas!

[@liliabrizuela2569]

Great explanation jimmy.

[@margaretposner450]

Jimmy Akin my go-to guy for all things catholic

[@dannytriplett8625]

Thank you for this video. It just makes sense

[@patrickrico3418]

Amazing!!!! Thanks

[@GrammyAmanda]

Fascinating!

[@jaypsumpter]

Thank you Jimmy!

[@nicoledidyk2669]

Thank you! Merry Christmas!

[@solidgroundmusic]

Could the lodging place or guest room have been the house that Joseph grew up in? and it was full because so much family were in Bethlehem for the census.

[@TheJLassabe]

Thank you this was amazing. Merry Christmas

[@alexplayford3628]

Always good stuff :)

[@okechukwuanele5315]

Thanks

[@OzCrusader]

Merry Christmas and thank you, Jimmy 👍🙏

[@skylerstorm527]

Merry Christmas, Jimmy!

[@MelissaLange-l8m]

Just wow!

[@MichaelWysocki-ks5xt]

Years ago I heard a presentation on the possible birthplaces of Jesus and learned that in that country they often used sheepfolds which were primarily just a stone walled in area with one doorway where shepherds could corral their flock for the night and sleep in the doorway. Jesus could have been born in one of these walled - in sheepfolds. I take it they went to a ‘ lodging place ‘ which was full of people already and the ‘ inn keeper ‘ was not a mean punk but rather when they rolled up with Mary getting ready to ‘ pop ‘ he looked at her and said “ you don’t want to have a baby HERE, we’ll fix you up “ and directed them to one of these nice quiet sheep enclosures and likely got them some things they might need for birthing a baby, like water and swaddling cloths. The nearby shepherds were likely also in similar open - air enclosures when the heaven opened and the angel proclaimed the birth nearby of the messiah.

[@LL-bl8hd]

Merry Christmas Jimmy! 🌟🔔

[@johnwalsh6004]

Great job in further clearing the fog!

[@dawnrock4675]

Merry Christmas

[@crkenawell3]

My two corn cob pipes are shot, what do you recommend I look into getting?

[@JimmyAkin]

It's really up to one's personal preferences. Corn cobs aren't really my thing, but I tend to like Savinellis, and especially the 606 KS shape with a smooth finish. I have multiples of that!

[@crkenawell3]

@@JimmyAkin Thanks Jimmy, such an honor to converse with you! Nice collection of pipes. Merry Christmas!

[@MW-eg4gu]

Actually happened. I finally convinced my wife we go from Florida up to Massachussetts to have a bit of cold and maybe catch some snow. We were quite young and I think it stupid of me we traveled near Christmas Day. Why that was picked I do not recall. Anyway, we got up there and it was Christmas Eve. We were turned down at motels, and I got in my head a joke if we were turned down again. Plenty cold night and time was getting late. I go in. No rooms available. I smile and looked at the desk clerk and said, "Wow! What night is it tonight? It's Christmas Eve ... and no room in the inn." She looks at me, unsmiling, matter of fact she seemed angry. Would it be, "Security!"? I then hurriedly left. Another motel or two we got a room.

[@Lili-Benovent]

What is the object of your silly story?

[@dr.tafazzi]

Lmao

[@Khajiitt]

Merry Christmas.

[@Jtrueful]

Hey Jimmy, I love everything you do. Thank you for the time you put into your work. I'm sure someone has thought about this answer to your video concerning the home of Mary and Joseph, but here's an idea... maybe they just didn't live there anymore.

[@concrete3030]

Douoy Rheims Matthew 2.11 And entering into the HOUSE...... I have seen this before but never thought about it.. why would they be in an Inn one day and a house the next???? There was no room for them in the house's guestroom

[@enderwiggen3638]

There are tens of thousands of people who work away from home out of necessity today. Most of them are not rich. I would expect a home in the ancient days was easier to maintain. Most likely built their own home with few amenities so upkeep would have been maintenance and any taxes.

[@TheLincolnrailsplitt]

Even though this supposition comes off as too cute by half, it is definitely worth investigating.

[@mias392]

❤+JMJ+

[@RebeccaLynne2046]

The nuns used to make us write that at the top of all our assignments :)

[@sighthoundlady15]

Yes thank you! This narrative Jesus’s family being excluded from the “Inn” just never made sense to me. Even through medieval times a classic inn with individual rooms and beds didn’t really exist. Last night the priest’s homily was like, “if they’d had better financial means they could have been given a room!” But it was literally a family home which many extended family would make use off. It was full to the rafters with everyone gathering for this census. Through many millennia humans have lived in close association with their livestock out of necessity. Giving birth among the livestock was not as shocking a circumstance to anyone from antiquity.

[@FrankThetank-w2u]

Are you doing "Alone For Christmas" this year Jimmy? Merry Christmas Jimmy!

[@FrankThetank-w2u]

@Jimmy Akin

[@tonyl3762]

@@FrankThetank-w2u yes, he scheduled one. You can find it if you look.

[@FrankThetank-w2u]

@@tonyl3762 Thank you! Merry Christmas

[@theresamc4578]

I have a recollection that seer Anne Catherine Emmerich said that Joseph was ill treated by his older brothers, left the family home in Bethlehem to learn to be a carpenter and (I am not sure how) ended up in Nazareth. So he could have a recourse to the family home, but did not get a great welcome from whoever still resided there. Besides, what woman would wan to give birth in a crowded room when a quiet place was available downstairs?

[@xulitalita3027]

❤

[@Hockeytown19]

I wonder if Jospeh might have rented out his home while he was away. So the home was not available when they went back for the census.

[@rukidding-y2c]

Get rid of this Inn idea. The homeowner ( or more likely his wife) knew that this young woman shouldn't give birth in this communal room. No privacy. So they were offered the animal shed below the house. An act of kindness.

[@RachelNichols-writer]

Inns were different back then. Not the Motel 6.

[@rukidding-y2c]

@RachelNichols-writer Exactly. It was a communal room in the house. Kataluma.

[@fordhamdonnington2738]

That’s not it. She gave birth and then sought shelter in the Inn but there was none.

[@johnmccarthy7839]

😊👍👍👍

[@DoloresJNurss]

I have often wondered if Joseph was actually poor. Sacrificing doves for the presentation of Jesus at the Temple might have been the result of discrimination rather than poverty. Galileans were looked down on, since Galilee was only a recent addition to Israel. Having been paid for his work there in Galilean coins, Joseph would have had to go to a money-changer before buying an offering, because Galilee used coins that had Roman deities on them and you couldn't buy anything for sacred purposes with that. If Joseph had an income typical of a contractor at the time, he could have afforded a much better offering than a pair of doves, and he was by no means the kind of man who'd get stingy making an offering to God, but if the moneychanger ripped him off, humiliating him for coming in from Galilee, he'd wind up with nothing left but an offering one step up from homeless. Just a thought.

[@rebeccakerschen5823]

Would like more info please n why Joseph didn’t take Mary to his home in Bethlehem?

[@dave_ecclectic]

Houses may be small but if there is a reason to rent, they suddenly become large _enough._ In Bethlehem there would be a good opportunity to make some extra money. I Imagine this was a normal occurrence in Jerusalem for the Passover, how else could the city contain some 300% more people. (there would be plenty of large upper rooms for the same reason). So, whether a building is built to have several rooms for guests or a building that has produced a room for guests doesn't matter. What I failed to see in all of this is how any of this impacts the part where it says *There was no room in the...* Whatever the word meant there was no room in it. For any car enthusiast you may have gone to Carlisle PA. when parking, people who live there will direct you where to park in their yard on the grass...for a small fee for the convenience. The yards are not large by any means. As for the census in Bethlehem. I don't think Jo had a 1st house there. For the simple reason that anyone _attached_ to this town was required to register there. As the town was overwhelmed by this census it seems to me it was a matter of record and not the location of your home. His Father was born there and had him _baptized_ in Bethlehem, so as Josephs records were kept in Bethlehem that is where he had to go.

[@David20092203]

Six of one, half a dozen of the other. I didn't see the big reveal in this take.

[@nickw9766]

More than one home? Never heard that one. Migrant workers? Very interesting. Merry Xmas.

[@kimfleury]

Would the accommodation and property belong to the clan, that is, the entire family line? I'm thinking of inheritance law as described in the Old Testament, such as the dividing of the land among the tribes. If I recall a-right, a daughter who married within the tribe was permitted a full share of the inheritance granted to daughters, but one who married outside of the tribe either received nothing or only a portion. That would prevent the tribe's wealth from being given to another tribe, making that tribe wealthier. And in a society where resources were limited and one party's gain always meant another party's loss, you wouldn't want your tribal wealth being given to another tribe, making your tribe poorer and the other tribe richer. In fact, it could set up antagonism and a practice of stealing brides from another tribe so as to amass the wealth. Coming to St. Joseph's day, he would own a share of the family's inheritance, but not the entire thing, and he couldn't sell it. Other family members would continue to live there even while he was away as a migrant worker. In a family system like that, it's unthinkable to not provide support to the household even if you work elsewhere. And considering the Roman property tax that someone else mentioned, every member of the family would be expected to contribute towards paying the tax. It might also be that the Romans practiced a ledger policy to list every family member who owned the home and property, which might aid not only in collecting taxes, but also in resolving disputes arising when disgruntled cousins sought to strip their kin of their inheritance rights. I'm just guessing based on what's known, but I think it fills out the story quite well. This is what Jesus was born into.

[@RachelNichols-writer]

The true inns back then were nothing but a big common room. Not the kind of place for giving birth even if they had sought lodging in one of the inns of Bethlehem.

[@WaywardTemplar1314]

Kataluma = AirBnB Pandocheion = Inn

[@deutschermichel5807]

In Germany we say Jesus was born in a stable

[@twoody9760]

Oh my gosh, The revered KJV transalation could be wrong.

[@nelmezzodelcammin]

Interesting, but the following proofs are missing: Specific archaeological data on houses from that period Statistics on migrant workers of the time Historical documentation on multiple residence ownership Concrete archaeological evidence of structures in Bethlehem/Nazareth from the 1st century

[@PhuzzPhactor]

Bump

[@edmundpace4030]

The home shown in Nazaret belonged to Mary not Joseph. It is the place of the annunciation when they were not living together yet. So probably her parents'.

[@boris8787]

Well, actually, how can I say this with respect - Xmas is a heathen festival NOTHING to do with Jesus Christ in the first place. *John 14:6.*

[@saoirseryan4141]

😂 why are Americans so surprised that people would have access to stay in both their OWN house and their FAMILY'S house

[@onesneak7668]

Because people were far more broke 2000 yrs ago

[@R.C.425]

As American, I do not find this issue difficult...

[@kirbysmith4135]

It seems, brother, that in your desire to belittle Protestants, again, in using the KJV as your translation, you have run foul of what Mark Ward calls a false friend. The problem with the word "inn" is not in the Greek, but in the English usage of the day. The Oxford English Dictionary has as an archaic and obsolete definition of the word inn as a "lodging" or "house." The KJV translators were not wrong. It was the correct word for the day. The correct translation...by Protestants.

[@JimmyAkin]

You are mistaken about me having any desire to belittle Protestants. I didn't use the KJV because it's Protestant but because it's the most influential English-language Bible that people today are familiar with. The same reading of "inn" is found in the Catholic Douay-Rheims version, the New Testament of which was published in 1582, and the same reading is found in the earlier Bishops Bible (1568). However, most English-speakers aren't familiar with the Douay-Rheims (though many Catholics are), and even fewer know about the Bishops Bible and other early English versions. This isn't about laying blame for the translation; it's simply documenting its history in English translations in a way people will be familiar with. You're supposing some kind of ill will and hostile intent where none exist.

[@kirbysmith4135]

@JimmyAkin My apologies!! Thank you for responding!! I suppose in these days of so many " A Rebuttal to...," "A Question Catholics/Protestants Can't Answer," and "A Bible Verse That Destroys Catholicism/Protestantism" videos, I felt this was another of them...especially since you said "the Protestant KJV." Honestly, I think Catholic Answers and Pints with Aquinas and Counsel of Trent are very informative and well argued. I also very much like Gavin Ortland. I do not at all care for James White. He seems mean spirited to me. I guess my problem with all these videos is that there always seems to be an us against them theme. I wish all of you (generic) could simply state your position without trying to prove the other side wrong. Anyway, thanks for hearing me out. By the way, I'm a Baptist.

[@kirbysmith4135]

BTW, I wish, since you had no ill intent, that you had simply said "the KJV" without the qualifier. I do think it added to the ill will that is so rampant in the videos.

[@JimmyAkin]

​@@kirbysmith4135 No problem! And apology accepted! I always seek to maximize Christian unity, and--in the case of this video--I don't see anything Catholics and other Christians need to disagree about. I was actually pleased, though I don't like his personal style (which I find acidic), when I saw a video clip the other day where James White pointed out that kataluma would be better translated with something other than "inn" in contemporary English. Many other Protestants, including actual scholars, make the same point. Just to explain, the phrase I used in the video--"the familiar Protestant King James Version"--is consciously balanced to try to be as useful as possible while heading off as many problems as possible. I'm going to be quoting the KJV, but it isn't a current, modern translation that I normally use, so I need to identify it. To head off concerns like, "Wait! You're a Catholic! Don't you know that the KJV is a Protestant version!" I include the word "Protestant" first to acknowledge that I do know this. And to explain why I'm using it, I put "familiar" in front of that. Hence: "The familiar Protestant King James Version." Every way of expressing a thought has trade-offs, but I hope this clarifies what I was trying to do and how I was trying to be neutral in acknowledging the history of the English Bible. God bless you, and Merry Christmas!

[@kirbysmith4135]

@JimmyAkin Merry Christmas to you as well! And yes, I do see your point. And again, thank you for engaging. Blessings!

[@richarddelo3506]

Thank you, Jimmy!

[@cactoidjim1477]

Merry Christmas, Jimmy!