Answers in Genesis is a ministry devoted to proclaiming the message of biblical authority. This means that we believe the Bible is the inspired and inerrant Word of God. The Bible can be trusted from the very first verse, and it must be the basis for our thinking.

One of the keys to taking a stand on the Word of God is making sure we understand what is actually stated in the Bible. Too often we allow other sources to influence our thinking about certain Bible passages. Christians must learn to be serious students of the Word. We need to pay close attention to the text itself rather than allowing our culture and traditions to determine our understanding.

Many of us have been led to believe that the Bible proclaims some things it really doesn’t. This is often the result of well-intentioned but inaccurate teaching in Sunday school, sermons, songs, portrayals of biblical accounts in film and television, or even our own misinterpretation of the Bible.

Nowhere are these misconceptions more apparent than in our understanding of the birth of Christ. The little drummer boy, Santa Claus, Frosty the Snowman, and Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer have nothing to do with that night—over 2,000 years ago—when the Lord Jesus Christ was born, yet they have become part of our culture’s portrayal of Christmas. When we, as Christians, are careless with our reading of the text, it is easy to become guilty of embellishing the accounts.

In the coming weeks, we will examine some of the misconceptions surrounding the first Christmas. Don’t worry; these will be of a more serious nature than Frosty and the gang. This will be followed by a handful of articles discussing some of the most common misconceptions that many people have concerning other biblical accounts.

The goal of this series is not to spoil our thoughts about the beloved accounts in Scripture. Rather, we intend to train believers to read the text carefully and build their thinking on the Bible alone. After all, the Bible provides strong warnings against distorting its text (Revelation 22:18-19; Deuteronomy 4:2; Proverbs 30:6).

While these misconceptions are usually unintentional, we must still be careful not to add or subtract from God’s Word. We pray that this series will help you pay closer attention as you read and study His Word, and that you will come to a deeper and more accurate understanding of the Bible.