There has been a debate over the historicity of the Nativity



Check out this Documentary

Born In Bethlehem
https://vimeo.com/195056291

From Randall Price Book as it is such great material

Check out his website as he is a fantastic archaologist, As this is material from his book!
http://worldofthebible.com/

Zondervan Handbook of Biblical Archaeology: A Book by Book Guide to Archaeological Discoveries Related to the Bible28 Nov 2017
by J. Randall Price and H. Wayne House
https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Zondervan+bible+handbook&rh=n%3A266239%2Ck%3AZondervan+bible+handbook



GOSPEL OF MATTHEW Matthew 2: 1 The Site of the Nativity in Bethlehem After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod (Matt 2: 1a) Matthew’s Gospel recounts that Jesus was born in “Bethlehem in Judea” 1 (Matt 2: 1). Bethlehem (Hebrew for “house of bread”) is located 6 miles southwest of Jerusalem centered on an “L” shaped ridge, about 2,500 feet in elevation. Bethlehem is first mentioned in the Bible as the burial place of Rachel in Genesis 35: 19 and 48: 7.2 It is also the hometown of Naomi, Ruth’s mother-in-law, and of King David. Later, David’s grandson Rehoboam is said to have “built up” (fortified) the city (2 Chr 11: 6). Nehemiah records that 128 “men of Bethlehem” returned from the exile (Neh 7: 26). After this the town largely remains unmentioned until Micah’s prophesy, “though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you shall come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times” (Mic 5: 2 / MT 5: 1). In the New Testament, aside from being Jesus’ birthplace, Bethlehem is also the location of Herod’s infanticide (Matt 2: 16). Although the city itself has never been fully excavated, archaeological evidence has been found indicating that Bethlehem was occupied from at least the Iron Age (1200– 1000 BC). Evidence for this was the discovery of a tomb containing Iron Age II (1000– 925 BC) artifacts (found in 1969) and a 2,800-year-old proto-aeolic capital (ninth to eighth centuries BC) discovered by a tour guide under a Palestinian orchard. According to the discoverer, the pillar marks the entrance to a carved water tunnel reaching 250 yards underground. Hebrew University archaeologist Yosef Garfinkel believes a water tunnel of this stature suggests the presence of a large, nearby farm or palace. Such complex construction certainly indicates the work would have been carried out by the central government in Jerusalem. 3 In addition, Roman and Byzantine objects have been found near the Church of the Nativity. Concerning the birth of Jesus, Luke says that Mary was forced to give birth to Jesus in a manger (an animal feeding trough), “because there was no guest room available for them” (Luke 2: 7). Early Christian tradition placed this manger in a cave (or grotto). Justin Martyr, an early second-century native of Shechem (modern Nablus), wrote “But when the Child was born in Bethlehem, since Joseph could not find a lodging in that village, he took up his quarters in a
certain cave near the village; and while they were there Mary brought forth the Christ and placed Him in a manger.” 4 However, some scholars argue that the birth place took place in the village5 in the lower level of a house, probably a cave, a place where mangers were built into the floor for animals brought in at night. 6 In AD 135, after he established a military post at Bethlehem during the Bar Kokhbah Revolt, Hadrian is said to have planted a sacred grove and erected statues of the Greco-Roman deity Adonis (equivalent to Tammuz mentioned in Ezek 8: 14) above the grotto “in which Jesus was born.” Scholars theorize that this was an effort to thwart Christian use of the grotto by eclipsing their place of veneration with that of Roman worship. In the early third century, Origen wrote, “in conformity with the narrative in the Gospel regarding His birth, there is shown at Bethlehem the cave where He was born, and the manger in the cave where He was wrapped in swaddling-clothes. And this sight is greatly talked of in surrounding places, even among the enemies of the faith, it being said that in this cave was born that Jesus who is worshipped and reverenced by the Christians” (Cels. I, LI). This fact supports the identification of the site with Jesus’ birth since the myth teaches that Smyrna, daughter of the king of Syria, conceived a child by him through trickery and the gods intervene and turned her into a myrrh tree. Out of this tree nine months later came Adonis. 7 The pagan parallel to virgin birth is obvious. Moreover,
Adonis is related to Hebrew Adonai (“ my Lord”), one of the titles of God in the Bible, and was recognized as a fertility deity related to death and rebirth. Again, the parallel with Jesus is evident. Hadrian is also said to have erected a temple to Aphrodite over the place of the site of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection, possibly because of her love connection with Adonis. Testimony to the history and tradition associated with the site was given by Jerome when he came to Bethlehem in the fourth century AD to begin his translation of the Vulgate (Latin Bible) in a grotto next to the birthplace. He wrote that at that time the city was already “the most venerated site in the world” (Epist. 58).

Price, J. Randall; Price, J. Randall; House, H. Wayne; House, H. Wayne. Zondervan Handbook of Biblical Archaeology: A Book by Book Guide to Archaeological Discoveries Related to the Bible (p. 236). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

Price, J. Randall; Price, J. Randall; House, H. Wayne; House, H. Wayne. Zondervan Handbook of Biblical Archaeology: A Book by Book Guide to Archaeological Discoveries Related to the Bible (pp. 235-236). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

I believe the Nativity Story to be accurate and historical !

I was trying to find a Qurinus Inscription from Rome that details the Census and I think there was something that they found regarding the murdering of the Children but with Herod he would do something like this.


Who Were the Wise Men?
https://www.gty.org/library/sermons-library/2182/who-were-the-wise-men

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Dominic Shiells