Jesus Birthplace
Jesus Birthplace?
After entering the Nativity Church in Bethlehem, walk to the
place to the right of the
altar and take the stone steps down to the underground grotto. There you
will find Jesus' birthplace, emblazoned by a metal
starburst. But is this really Jesus' birthplace?
In the late 19th century, British engineers digging around the church's pillars to study their sturdiness accidentally discovered the mosaic floor (on display in the church) of a 1st century church that is about six feet above this starburst. Since 1st century barns weren't in basements, this cannot be Jesus birthplace.
The precision (or the lack thereof) of Jesus birthplace aside, staring at this starburst did lead me to think about Jesus, whose birth this place is supposed to mark, and reminded me of the "Lord, Lunatic, Liar" argument that forced me to revisit my atheism a few years ago:
The Bible records Jesus making three claims about himself (see John 1:1 and John 8:58):
"I am God."
"I created the universe."
"I have existed forever."
Before jumping to conclusions, the theoretical possibilities first had to be considered. Taken as a set, these three claims could only be true or false.
If the claims are true, then Jesus is who he claimed to be - God or LORD.
If the claims are false, but Jesus sincerely believed them to be true, then he is a LUNATIC.
If the claims are false, Jesus knew them to be false and was being insincere, then he is a LIAR.
C.S. Lewis, the Englishman who reasoned as above indicated that the unprecedented nature of Jesus' claims precludes any other possibility. In particular, Jesus couldn't have been a wise teacher or prophet because wise people don't claim to be God.
I tried hard to think of a fourth option to put Jesus back in the corner as just a wise teacher or prophet. Having failed, I then spent months looking for evidences in favor of Jesus having been a lunatic (it seemed the least-worst option of the three for me) and/or the Bible to be false.
In the late 19th century, British engineers digging around the church's pillars to study their sturdiness accidentally discovered the mosaic floor (on display in the church) of a 1st century church that is about six feet above this starburst. Since 1st century barns weren't in basements, this cannot be Jesus birthplace.
The precision (or the lack thereof) of Jesus birthplace aside, staring at this starburst did lead me to think about Jesus, whose birth this place is supposed to mark, and reminded me of the "Lord, Lunatic, Liar" argument that forced me to revisit my atheism a few years ago:
The Bible records Jesus making three claims about himself (see John 1:1 and John 8:58):
"I am God."
"I created the universe."
"I have existed forever."
Before jumping to conclusions, the theoretical possibilities first had to be considered. Taken as a set, these three claims could only be true or false.
If the claims are true, then Jesus is who he claimed to be - God or LORD.
If the claims are false, but Jesus sincerely believed them to be true, then he is a LUNATIC.
If the claims are false, Jesus knew them to be false and was being insincere, then he is a LIAR.
C.S. Lewis, the Englishman who reasoned as above indicated that the unprecedented nature of Jesus' claims precludes any other possibility. In particular, Jesus couldn't have been a wise teacher or prophet because wise people don't claim to be God.
I tried hard to think of a fourth option to put Jesus back in the corner as just a wise teacher or prophet. Having failed, I then spent months looking for evidences in favor of Jesus having been a lunatic (it seemed the least-worst option of the three for me) and/or the Bible to be false.