Where was Jesus Born?

Where was Jesus Born?

In this year’s Nov/Dec ARCHAEOLOGY magazine, they present an article about where exactly Jesus was born. The debate is between Bethlehem of Judea versus Bethlehem of Galilee. I’ll start with some quotes (from the "In this Issue" section) from the Editor in Chief, Peter A. Young.

This first one concerns Israel taking over Canaan.

“The conquest of the Promised Land is not about a rampaging band of desert nomads wiping out everyone in their path but serves rather as a powerful political metaphor for a profound social transformation in Canaan, during which the walls of Jericho never actually came tumbling down.”

This is, of course, a secular publication so I do not expect them to believe the miracles of the Bible. However there is a fatal flaw in his ideology, which I will address later (my 'glazed pot' analogy.)

He then addresses the Star of Bethlehem.

“Was the tale inspired by a supernova or a triple conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter in the constellation Pisces in 7 B.C., or was it simply made up by Matthew?”

I believe that many times God uses natural events, which have logical explanations, throughout history (of course many have no explanation other than they are God’s ‘magic.’) So, who is to say he did not use an alignment of planets or have a star collapse and go supernova to coincide with the birth of Jesus? Astrology is hardly an exact science; especially when working backwards. And historical literary accounts from differing cultures as to when these astrological events took place would never match up anyway.

This brings me to a quote from the actual article’s author, Aviram Oshri who is a senior archaeologist with the ISRAELI ANTIQUITIES AUTHORITY.

“Luke and Matthew may have deliberately made the association between Jesus and
David's Bethlehem to give greater credibility to Jesus as Messiah."

It is always easy to discount the Bible, just say they made it up; burden of proof falls on the believer, which is not possible because God requires FAITH...

Another quote from Aviram follows:

"Religious scholars had long questioned whether the Bible's only Nativity narratives set in Bethlehem in Judea were a deliberate attempt by Matthew and Luke to associate Jesus with the House of David and reinforce his status as Messiah among the early Jewish convert communities . . . Scholars only began to write about the possibility of Bethlehem of Galilee being the birthplace of Jesus in the late nineteenth century . . .”

Here is the problem I have with secular archaeologist's ideology (many of whom I would believe are atheists.) Archaeology is all about digging up artifacts and then postulating on how they were created, to what purpose they were created for, and from what time period they came from. Let us say one found a glazed and painted clay pot on a dig. The finder would never question that the artifact was created and designed by an intelligent maker. The pot itself would never have been able to fashion itself and then build a kiln, take itself out, compound pigments, make a brush, paint itself, and then glaze itself. That scenario would be ABSURD.

Which is why it boggles my mind when they look at nature; they do not see that it was designed and created by an intelligent maker. However, this idea that nature could have created and designed itself is just as absurd as the pot that glazed itself. God is the inetlligent maker who designed and created all of this universe; and He sent His Son to glorify Himself by undoing the effects of sin.

Aviram might not necessarily dis-believe in God, but he surely does not believe that Jesus was THE Messiah. And this slant overshadows all of his postulates about what he will find on all of his digs.

While searching at Bethlehem in Judea, Aviram was surprised that he "found nothing" when it came to looking for Herodian remains. Just because one did not find anything does not mean that it is not there or has not degraded totally or has not been removed in the past. I am not impressed with the level of scientific thinking presented in this magazine.

However, while searching at Bethlehem in Galilee he found the three following structures:
1. Church (one of the largest Byzantine churches in Israel)
2. Inn
3. Monastery

These structures had been fortified and, later, violently destroyed.

"Is it possible that, because of the hostility the Jews had toward Christians in this period, the residents of Bethlehem of Galilee fortified the site which they held to be the birthplace of the Christian Messiah?"

Yes, it is; it is also possible that these structures were destroyed for a myriad other reasons. And wouldn't the early Christians be guarding the Judean Galilee if they were trying to assert that Jesus was THE Messiah (I'm sure they knew the rules set up by the OT.) They would be thinking: If He is the Christ He would have to be from David's line. Guarding Galilee would only promote the idea that He was not the Christ.

Aviram's conclusion is the following:

"If the historical Jesus were truly born in Bethlehem, it was most likely the Bethlehem of Galilee, not that in Judea. The archaeological evidence certainly seems to favor the former, a busy center a few miles from the home of Joseph and Mary, as opposed to an unpopulated spot almost a hundred miles from home. At the very least, it is an improbable trip for a pregnant woman to have made on a donkey."

My conclusion is that Aviram's ideas about his findings are clouded by his preconceived notions that Jesus is not THE Christ; and as long as he holds this bias he will never be an objective archaeologist. Packed along with his pick-ax, shovel, and dust brush is his disbelief about Jesus being the Messiah, and this array of tools is no way to ever come up with open minded opinions about artifacts and sites he will uncover.

So, what should we do as Christians? Get together and get ARCHAEOLOGY magazine banned? No, I'll leave that up to the Baptists...I, as a Biblical independent fundamentalist, should pray that Mr. Young and Mr. Oshri would have the Holy Spirit open their minds and hearts to the FACT that Jesus was sent by God and IS the true Christ, the ONLY Messiah.

TR