Jesus' Birthplace

Jesus' Birthplace...

To find this starburst, said to mark Jesus' birthplace, enter the Nativity Church, walk to the area to the right of the altar and take the stone steps down to the underground grotto. There, you will find the place of Jesus' birth shown above.

Is this really Jesus' birthplace?

If the Nativity Church simply claimed that Jesus' birth place is somewhere within the 14,000 square yards that it covers, the claim would seem more credible. But the claim that the above starburst's circle, which is only about 5 inches in diameter and too small to fit a baby, is the exact place of Jesus' birth raises the next question:

How do they know that this is the exact place of Jesus' birth?

By the time Jesus ascended (see Jesus' Tomb), Mary's husband Joseph already had died. That left Mary as the lone surviving witness of Jesus' birth. Did Mary take Jesus' disciples back to Bethlehem, enter the barn where she had given birth to Jesus over 30 years prior, point to a spot on the ground and declare, "There, that's where Jesus came out of me"?

Who was the person whose birthplace is said to be above?

Unlike the founders of other religions who claimed to be prophets of God, Jesus actually claimed to be God Himself. Consider the theoretical possibilities of that claim:

If Jesus' claim is true, then He is God, or LORD.
If Jesus' claim is false but he sincerely believed it to be true, then he was a LUNATIC.
If his claim is false and he knew it was false - i.e., was insincere - then he was a LIAR.

There is no other logical possibility. In particular, Jesus couldn't have been just a wise sage because falsely claiming to be God isn't wise. Because Jesus claimed to be God (also see Luke 17:12-18), the only possibilities are that He is LORD or was a LUNATIC or a LIAR.

After investigating the evidences (e.g., Science & Bible, Golgotha, Jesus' Tomb, Why Jesus was Crucified) one needs to decide whether Jesus is the LORD to be worshipped, or a LUNATIC to be hospitalized, or a LIAR to be vilified. The one option that doesn't exist is to dismiss Him as some wise sage. By calling Himself God, He precluded that possibility.