SOME STORIES SHOULD NOT BE presented on television. For me, the murder of the children in Bethlehem is such a story (Mt 2:16–18). The scene is simply too brutal for viewers, even in modern times. Two questions arise: Why did such an event happen, and why did Matthew include such an unspeakably repulsive story in his Gospel? Herod was an exceedingly complex person. Racially, he was an Arab. His father
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