Exploring Greece, Israel and Jordan– Part Sixty One

Last updated on: August 28, 2018 at 1:11 am by Ben Witherington

Exploring Greece, Israel and Jordan– Part Sixty One 2018-07-06T10:39:32-04:00 Ben Witherington

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Without question, one of the most visited sites in all of the Holy Land is the Church of the Nativity. In fact, one can wait hours in line to visit a spot claimed to be the very spot where the baby Jesus was born. But of course, we don’t really know where that is, other than in Bethlehem, and this church doesn’t date back before the fourth century A.D. Nevertheless, as a place to remember that Jesus was born somewhere in Bethlehem, it serves its purpose. Here is the entrance way, and I must say they have begun to do a much better job of cleaning up this church and making it appealing than even two years ago.

One thing one learns is that people were shorter on average in antiquity, but in fact it is also true that the floor in the church and the pediment outside is higher than in antiquity surely….
The most important part of the church that is ancient, is the ancient flooring from perhaps the 4th-5th century which is kept under cover…. The columns are being cleaned of all the ancient soot, and the wall frescoes being renewed or redone…. This church is shared by various Orthodox traditions, including Armenian Orthodox (which has it owns quarter in Jerusalem) and apparently it has taken them a long time to agree on what renovations to do….

Once one gets below ground what one sees is the following in the grotto…. The star is supposedly the spot where Jesus was born. One has to concentrate on the fact that we are celebrating the facts, not the supposition that we know exactly where it happened.

Next door, there is a beautiful, well maintained Catholic Church which is much more modern, and there is clear evidence that Jerome’s grotto where he did his scholarly work is underneath this church. There is a statue honoring him in the courtyard…

After standing in line for hours waiting to see ‘the spot’ we were all famished, and our guide Leah took us to a Tent to eat—- it was great. Here’s Leah and my wife outside the Tent….

Uncategorized

Previous Post

August 27, 2018

Exploring Greece, Israel, and Jordan-- Part Sixty

Next Post

August 29, 2018 Exploring Greece, Israel, and Jordan--- Part Sixty Two

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz