Everyone knows the Christmas Gospel, but isn't there a part of the story that is untold?

Dec. 02, 2019

In those days a decree went out by post from Emperor Augustus that everyone in the world should be registered. At least that’s what The Norwegian Postal Service (Posten Norge) wants us to believe. This humorous twist on The Christmas Gospel reveals the mystery about the virgin birth.

In the Norwegian translation of The Christmas Gospel from 1930, it says that the decree from Emperor Augustus was sent by courier. Who was this courier? Could he have played a bigger part in the story?

Well, even though The Norwegian Postal Service didn’t exist 2000 years ago, the post has always been an important part of Christmas, delivering cards to near and far, or gifts to loved ones. And everyone has heard the urban legend of the “Postman Joke”, or “The Milkman Joke,” as some call it.

*Even though most Norwegians know The Christmas Gospel, only 46% of the population say that they believe in God, while 20% don´t know (Ipsos Norge, 2017).