Was Jesus really born in another Town Called Bethlehem?
Pastor Dale Morgan
Was Jesus really born in another Town Called Bethlehem?*
Israeli scholar believes Christ's birth was in Galilee town with same name
Posted: December 25, 2007
News from Israel
As millions celebrate the birth of Jesus, a question has arisen about
the actual location the Son of God came into the world.
The Bible mentions Bethlehem in both the Gospels of Matthew and Luke,
but an Israeli archaeologist believes another Bethlehem, one situated in
the region of Galilee and not Judea, is the likely place Christ was born.
"There is the fact that Jews were living here at the time of Jesus, that
is absent in the other Bethlehem," archaeologist Aviram Oshri told
Britain's Sky News.
The lesser known Bethlehem is mentioned in the Old Testament Book of
Joshua, situated among towns of the tribe of Zebulun.
"We have a Christian community, a very large Christian community, living
here and defending itself by building a fortification wall, signifying
that the spot was very important for them," said Oshri. "We have a large
church with a cave underneath which is exactly the same as the other
Bethlehem."
Oshri reportedly found the remains of the strong fortification walls
among olive trees on the edges of Bethlehem of Galilee, and he suggests
early Christians built it to protect the real site of Jesus' birth.
On his website, he writes, "It is 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."
But at some point in history, all traces linking the Galilee site to the
Nativity disappeared.
"They did not die out; they were killed off, deliberately" Oshri told
Sky News, suggesting a reason for the cover-up of sorts.
The Old Testament prophets had predicted the Savior would be born in
Bethlehem of Judea.
That would preclude the Messiah from being born in Galilee.
Oshri has had trouble finding out for sure because the key piece of
evidence has been destroyed.
In the 1960s, a road was constructed through the ruins of the early
Christian church in the heart of the Galilee Bethlehem.
The cave underneath the church was only partially damaged, but Oshri has
not been able to get permission or funding to excavate the site.