BLeach

For your Christmas critical thinking pleasure...

Our church is located in a highly populated Jewish area.  One of the Rabbis I've spent time with emailed me these two articles in which two scholars debate the birth place of Jesus.  One of them argues for Bethlehem, the other for Nazareth.

It's interesting reading.  Additionally, I think it's helpful to read authors with differing points of view, particularly historians and scholars.  It helps keep our critical thinking skills sharp.

To me, the geography of Jesus early life is one of the most convincing proofs of His unique identity.  The Old Testament prophets predicted that Messiah would be born in Bethlehem, spend time as a refugee in Egypt, and grow up in Nazareth.  It's breathtaking to observe how first century politics played into the fulfillment of these promises.

So faith-building to see how God used seemingly out of control events to orchestrate his plan.