i say no because the Bethlehem story is a jewish midrashic creation. let me explain
i believe that jesus was born in egypt. However the gospel writers tried to fullfill the promise that isaiah made to the jews which says
to you a saviour will be born in the city of david
so the gospel writers created a story how joseph kept the heavily pregnent mary on a donkey and travelled to jerusalem which is about 70 km. no pregnent woman would have survived that journey
but in order to fulfill the prophesy jesus had to be born in a town in jerusalem
but does it matter if jesus was born in bethlehem or egypt?
to me it matters not one wit
to me what matters is how jesus can inspire people through his love
your comments?
ex muslim / free thinker
2007-08-05 00:49:53 · 10 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
No, he wasn't born in Bethlehem, he was born in Nazareth. According to John, this is why the Jews rejected him as the Messiah. Of course, the Gospels that do claim he was born there - Matthew and Luke - were trying to fulfill the prophesy.
There was no census requiring families to return to the town of the father's birth (why would there be?), and Bethlehem was not even functioning at the time.
2007-08-05 01:06:49 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Okay, to answer the initial question, Jesus was born in Bethlehem. The Gospels don't disagree on this. The fact that Mary and Joseph had to travel from Nazareth for the census is akin to us having to travel back to our families' historic homes for a census today (not that we do, but the same notion.) If, for the 2010 census we were suddenly required to do that, then it doesn't matter that I live in Houston now, I'd have to go back to Dallas to be counted. As for the bit about the census...there's any number of ways to explain it. Arguing it here is futile.
2016-05-18 22:02:14 · answer #2 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes it matters a great deal where Jesus was born. Because once you start picking and choosing of what you want to believe about the Bible, you are going down a confusing road.
Your next question will be, "Did Jesus really exist?"...and if He didn't exist, you can throw out the whole New Testament. Then you can eliminate all of Christianity and Islam, who both mention Jesus in their books.
So, you need to make the choice to either NURTURE FAITH OR NURTURE DOUBT...you can't have it both ways.
Either God inspired people to write the Bible and preserved the writings for thousands of years, or God does not exist and the whole Bible is just a fantasy book.
2007-08-05 04:59:05 · answer #3 · answered by Friend of Jesus 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Your assumption about the gospel writers doesn't stand up to scrutiny. They could easily have left out the story of where Jesus was born as John and Mark did in their gospels and still made their case for Christ. They were writing to other people in the faith as Luke clearly demonstrates in the opening of his letter.
Luke 1:1 Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, 2 just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, 3 it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4 that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught.
Luke went around interviewing people, most likely including Mary to come up with his account. As a devoted follower of Jesus how could he invent lies about Jesus and send them in a letter to a fellow believer?
2007-08-05 02:09:31 · answer #4 · answered by Martin S 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes. Jesus was indeed born in bethlehem. Jesus was brought to egypt some time after his birth. If Jesus was already in Egypt then Herod would not need to order the infaticide since Jesus was already gone. Joseph didn't bring mary to egypt when she was pregnant because she already gave birth when they went there.
2007-08-05 01:11:05 · answer #5 · answered by mack-mack 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I say she gave birth in the wilderness near Bethlehem. As she was driven to the trunk of a date palm with labor pains. And it states in the Qur'an that she brought the babe to her people in Bethlehem. Therefor she most likely wasn't already within the city. Allah knows best!
Muslim / Free Thinker
2007-08-05 01:00:10 · answer #6 · answered by Red Dragon 2007 {Free Palestine} 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Do you read the bible, yes Jesus was born in Bethleham.
2007-08-05 00:53:20 · answer #7 · answered by hatch_53 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
not a real man...just a story
2007-08-05 00:55:09 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
yes betlahem
2007-08-05 01:00:53 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
err.i don't believe in the bible.just god..
2007-08-05 00:53:36 · answer #10 · answered by banzaiii 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋