Did you read in the Good Weekend last week the article by Fenella Souter entitled “Truth, Lies and Santa Claus: Exploding the Myths of Christmas” (not available online)?

It's the usual attempt to discredit the historical reality of the events surrounding the birth of Jesus. However the article suffers from the same problems that the gospel writers are accused of falling into. Problems of source, consistency and more.

Check out these helpful responses:

From Dr Paul Barnett, here.