heaven. caesar augustus used that star on all of its coin. when you sang the nativity story the real star is in fact over a manger in healle bethlehem and little jewish boy was there. that is a dramatic counter claim to the message of roman imperial theology. i think these details become food for thought. i also agree with the expression that the devil is in the details. bernard is pastor and founder of christian cultural center in new york city. to me the birth of jesus is the miracle and mystery of the incarnation of god. we are taught to question or taught to treat things, too, but we are taught to never allow these discussions to actake awa face to face.
where have all of the christians gone? they are afraid to come. they are afraid of all of the turmoil and fighting that has plagued this area. this bethlehem used to be 100 percent christian. now it stands only above 35. i talked with people who used to wait in line for hours to get into the church of the nativity. now it looks like you can walk right in. absolutely. the door we will be going through. so this is the traditional birth place of jesus? this is the traditional birth place. there is very little doubt about the city and for us the probability about 85 percent that the church is actually built over the right place. we have two different versions one in luke where mary and joseph start from nazareth and matthew where mary and joseph are native of bethlehem. that s why jesus is born here.
apocryphal gospels. professor of religious studies california state university. they believe just like christians do jesus was born to mary who was a virgin. mary is the only woman mentioned by name in the koran. is mentioned more by name in the koran than in the new testament. of the four new testament gospels only two feature the nativity story. the gospel according to luke tells the roman emperor augustus caesar journey from nazareth to bethlehem wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger. in the gospel according to matthew joefs and mary are already living in bethlehem. some details in matthew the star, the maja, massacre of the innocent are not mentioned in
we are on a hillside over looking what was a little town when jesus was born there. bethlehem is under palestinian control because of the violence of the last few years visitors are staying away even at christmas. in all of the holy land heal bethlehem is considered one of the hole list places by christians jews and muslims. jews come here to pray at rachel s tomb judaism s third holiest site. rachel was the beloved wife of jacob the third patriarch she died in child birth. muslims also reveer bethlehem. they believe the prophet mohammed stopped here escorted by gabriel on a visit the birth place of jesus.
the door we will be going through. so this is the traditional birth place of jesus? this is the traditional birth place. there is very little doubt about the city and for us the probability about 85 percent that the church is actually built over the right place. we have two different versions one in luke where mary and joseph start from nazareth and matthew where mary and joseph are native of bethlehem. that s why jesus is born here. i say most scholars matthew s account is preferable. didn t luke give the more detailed account. more detailed more vivid more dramatic but the benefit accounts for the census which forces a man and his very pregnant wife to move through the country. i don t accept that census because this was not part of the roman empire and the census was