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Keyword: bethlehem

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  • The Magi and the Star

    12/21/2009 3:31:25 PM PST · by NYer · 17 replies · 915+ views
    Catholic World Report ^ | December 21, 2009 | Michael J. Miller
    AnalysisMany balk at this element of the Nativity story, but historical and astronomical evidence tends to corroborate it. By Michael J. MillerDuring a 2007 BBC radio interview, the archbishop of Canterbury deconstructed elements of the Nativity story. “Stars simply don’t behave like that,” Rowan Williams said. Asked about the existence of three wise men, he replied, “It works quite well as legend.”But years ago Father Walter Brandmüller, president of the Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences, published an essay applying the historical-critical method to the question of the Nativity story. (The essay is reprinted without cumbersome footnotes in Light and Shadows: Church...
  • The Christmas Star

    The Christmas Star By Dr. Hugh Ross For centuries scholars and laymen alike have speculated on the nature of the star that led the wise men from the east to seek out the Messiah that had come to the Jews. The only reliable account of this event is found in Matthew 2 of the Bible. Three controversial questions arise out of a study of this text: 1. Were the wise men led by astrology? Some people have used the story of the advent of Jesus Christ, specifically the Matthew 2 portion, to suggest that astrology might be okay, at least...
  • The Christmas Star

    For centuries scholars and laymen alike have speculated on the nature of the star that led the wise men from the east to seek out the Messiah that had come to the Jews. The only reliable account of this event is found in Matthew 2 of the Bible. Three controversial questions arise out of a study of this text...
  • UN Org.: Rachel's Tomb is a Mosque

    10/30/2010 2:35:58 PM PDT · by Eleutheria5 · 32 replies
    Arutz 7 ^ | 30/10/10 | Maayana Miskin
    The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) voted recently to officially declare Rachel's Tomb to be a mosque. UNESCO director Irena Bokova had previously stated “concern” at Israel's decision to treat the tomb as a heritage site. The vote called for Rachel's Tomb and the Tomb of the Patriarchs – the burial site of the other Biblical Patriarchs and Matriarchs – to be removed from Israel's National Heritage list. The Palestinian Authority has claimed that Rachel's Tomb is holy to Muslims as the site of a mosque called the Bilal Bin Rabah Mosque. The PA demands control over...
  • Some Milestones in Israel "Palestine" timeline

    06/30/2010 12:25:15 PM PDT · by PRePublic · 6 replies
    Some Milestones in Israel-Palestine1834 - 1886 - 1920 - 1922 - 1929 - 1938 - 1941 - 1948 - 1950s-1960s - 1970 1972 - 1973 - 1975 - 1976 - 1982 - 1987 - 1994 - 2000 - 2001 - 2005 - 2006 - 2007 - 2008 - 2010 1834 First recorded attack on native Jews in Israel by Muslims, is the one in June 1834, Safed (the Plunder), the massacres and mass rapes went on for 33 days, (an inciter, Muhammed Damoor, a self-proclaimed prophet, ‘prophesied’ the attack for which he agitated). It was repeated in 1838. 1886 First...
  • Muslim Coupled Jailed For Church Sex (+ see examples of Islamists' desecration of holy-places)

    06/17/2010 7:14:33 AM PDT · by Milagros · 16 replies · 649+ views
    peacefmonline ^ | June 17 - 2010
    Muslim Coupled Jailed For Church Sex A Ugandan court has sent a Muslim couple to jail on charges of insulting the Christian religion by allegedly having sex in a church in Entebbe
  • "Epiphany: From Bethlehem to Baptism and Beyond" (Sermon on Matthew 2:1-12; Luke 3:21-22)

    01/10/2010 1:21:17 PM PST · by Charles Henrickson · 1 replies · 154+ views
    stmatthewbt.org ^ | January 10, 2010 | The Rev. Charles Henrickson
    “Epiphany: From Bethlehem to Baptism and Beyond” (Matthew 2:1-12; Luke 3:21-22)The Feast of the Epiphany of Our Lord always falls on January 6, which this year was this past Wednesday. And the reading for Epiphany Day proper is always the visit of the wise men, to Bethlehem, when Jesus was a baby. Then for the First Sunday after the Epiphany, which is today, the reading is the account of the Baptism of Our Lord, in the Jordan, when Jesus was about age 30. Well, because of the weather, we had to cancel our Epiphany service on Wednesday, and so today,...
  • PA Arab Politicians Wreck Greek Orthodox Holiday

    01/06/2010 6:16:36 AM PST · by alj770 · 6 replies · 371+ views
    Israel National News ^ | 01/06/2010 | Hana Levi Julian
    IsraelNN.com) As Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilios III arrived in the Palestinian Authority-controlled city of Bethlehem on Wednesday to celebrate the sect’s observance of Christmas, undercurrents of hate and rage smoldered beneath the surface among some of his so-called followers. Prominent members of the church refused to welcome the patriarch as he made the traditional pilgrimage from Jerusalem to Bethlehem. A split is beginning to develop among clergy in Jerusalem’s Greek Orthodox Church, fueled by a dispute led by one of the PA Arab contingents. Among the protest leaders was Deputy PA Tourism Minister Marwan Toubasi, who had seized the opportunity...
  • The Christmas Story

    12/25/2009 5:39:08 AM PST · by Patriot1259 · 1 replies · 162+ views
    TheCypressTimes.com ^ | 12/25/2009 | Luke
    1Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth. 2This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3And everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city.
  • Bethlehem's exodus: Christians flee Muslim pressure

    12/23/2009 3:14:52 AM PST · by Scanian · 199+ views
    NY Post ^ | December 23, 2009 | BENNY AVNI
    The pilgrims will be there as midnight Mass at the Church of the Nativity is again broadcast live around the world this Christmas Eve -- but the town of Bethlehem is fast losing its last few year-round Christian residents. Christians are fleeing the town of Christ's birth, and the much-reported hardship that Israel inflicts on residents of the West Bank town has little to do with it. It's the same reality across the Arab world: rising Islamism pushes non-Muslims away. Islamists frown on real-estate ownership by non-Muslims -- Christian, Jew or anything else. And though the secular Palestinian Authority still...
  • Bethlehem's exodus: Christians flee Muslim pressure

    12/23/2009 3:14:53 AM PST · by Scanian · 9 replies · 532+ views
    NY Post ^ | December 23, 2009 | BENNY AVNI
    The pilgrims will be there as midnight Mass at the Church of the Nativity is again broadcast live around the world this Christmas Eve -- but the town of Bethlehem is fast losing its last few year-round Christian residents. Christians are fleeing the town of Christ's birth, and the much-reported hardship that Israel inflicts on residents of the West Bank town has little to do with it. It's the same reality across the Arab world: rising Islamism pushes non-Muslims away. Islamists frown on real-estate ownership by non-Muslims -- Christian, Jew or anything else. And though the secular Palestinian Authority still...
  • THE MARVEL OF CHRISTMAS

    12/21/2009 8:20:54 AM PST · by freedomyes · 4 replies · 351+ views
    TownHall ^ | Dec 21 | J. Grant Swank, Jr.
    Christmas is heaven's marvel. It is beyond us and yet with us. The birth of God! It took place in Bethlehem. The theologians refer to this marvel as the "incarnation." This is truly the marvelous paradox in our midst: God had no beginning, yet Bethlehem is his start. God is the author of life, yet he comes to life in a castoff barn. God, the creator of all, is created in Mary's womb. The Eternal One becomes earth-bound. The Invisible becomes visible. The Immortal becomes mortal. The Immeasurable becomes measurable. The Timeless and Spatially Limitless One becomes logged into this...
  • If Palestinians Get Their Way, Say Goodbye to the Church of the Nativity

    12/20/2009 1:19:17 PM PST · by Shellybenoit · 5 replies · 480+ views
    A message to observant Christians, you should know that if there ever is a Palestinian State you can say goodbye to holy sites Church of the Nativity and the Church of the Ascension. Christian holy sites and populations are endangered whenever Palestinians gain control. Christian towns and churches, including the sacred Church of the Nativity, have been used as bases for Palestinian snipers and launching-sites for terrorist attacks. Many historically Christian towns that came under Palestinian control through Oslo — Bethlehem being only the most famous example — quickly lost their Christian majority as those citizens steadily fled Muslim oppression...
  • Christians to have free access to Bethlehem during Christmas

    12/18/2009 10:23:59 AM PST · by NYer · 7 replies · 722+ views
    J Post ^ | December 14, 2009 | MATTHEW WAGNER
    Christian leaders representing a wide spectrum of sects were assured Monday morning by the commander of the IDF's Civil Administration Bethlehem Coordination and Liaison Office that Christian pilgrims would have free access to the birthplace of Jesus during the Christmas holiday. Priests, archbishops and friars representing Latin Catholic, Coptic, Greek Orthodox, Franciscan, Lutheran, Anglican, Syrian Orthodox, Ethiopian and Armenian Christian sects met with Lt.-Col. Eyad Sirhan, the Druse commander responsible for orchestrating pilgrimages by a diverse collection of Christian faithful. Some wore the black and white collar of the priest, others wore robes and traditional hats. Conversation was conducted in...
  • The Innkeeper's Tale

    12/18/2009 7:11:24 AM PST · by mshoffner · 238+ views
    Huntington Political Examiner ^ | 12/18/2009 | Mark Shoffner
    A memory of an innkeeper was published in the Nov. 22, 2006 edition of the local paper. Authored by Ralph Wilson of Joyful Heart Ministries. Finding it a unique take on the Christmas story, for the season, I have decided to add it to my column. For the rest of the writing period before Christmas, I will be doing articles on the holiday and its traditions. Please enjoy. They think I'm some kind of cruel, heartless landlord. Someone must have told them that. But they're wrong, just plain wrong, and it's time to set the record straight, once and for...
  • CHRISTMAS: SMALL COUNTS BIG

    12/14/2009 2:27:06 PM PST · by freedomyes · 2 replies · 264+ views
    jgrantswankjr ^ | Dec 14 09 | J. Grant Swank, Jr.
    After all, Christmas offers nothing but small.
  • Palestinians are Targeting Mother Rachel

    10/30/2009 1:26:42 PM PDT · by Shellybenoit · 235+ views
    Mann News/ The Lid ^ | 10/31/09 | The Lid
    Bethlehem – Ma’an News-Rachel’s Tomb lies behind Israel’s eight-meter concrete separation wall in a fortified enclave close to the center of Bethlehem. The wall criss-crosses Bethlehem, blocking the main road to Jerusalem, encircling a refugee camp and looming over the upscale Intercontinental hotel. Right-wing religious groups petitioned Israel’s highest court in 2004 to re-route the wall to include the tomb on the western side. To this day the site, formerly known as the location of the Bilal Bin Rabah Mosque, is accessible only from the Israeli side. A major strategy of the Palestinians in their goal of ultimately taking over...
  • Tried by Fire: Bethlehem’s Remnant

    10/22/2009 12:01:50 AM PDT · by chuck_the_tv_out · 7 replies · 441+ views
    CBN ^ | 21 Oct | Gary Lane
    BETHLEHEM - One of the untold stories of the Middle East is what is happening to the Christian population. Many are fleeing areas like the West Bank city of Bethlehem because Muslims are persecuting them. Bethlehem is the birthplace of Christ and was once a Christian city. But today Christians are only about 10 to 15 percent of the population. Some observers say if the mass exodus continues, within another generation it could become a city of Christian holy sites without any Christian residents. Justice Weiner believes that is happening. He has spent years investigating persecution and the exodus of...
  • Fatah Conference in Bethlehem: Will they renounce armed struggle?

    08/04/2009 3:11:15 AM PDT · by jerusalemjudy · 2 replies · 322+ views
    Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs ^ | August 4 2009 | Pinchas Inbari
    Many observers are watching to see to what extent Fatah's Sixth General Congress will advance or retard the prospects for re-launching the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians. In this regard, the crucial question is: Is Fatah going to waive its historical principle of "armed struggle" and devote itself to peace negotiations based on compromise? The two relevant documents to be discussed and approved by the Fatah Congress are the Political Program and Fatah's "Internal Order." The Political Program might be seen as reflecting progress in terms of accepting a political solution and rejecting violence - but it falls...
  • The Beleaguered Christians in Bethlehem

    06/27/2009 2:47:22 PM PDT · by Eleutheria5 · 10 replies · 329+ views
    Christian families have long been complaining of intimidation and land theft by Muslims, especially those working for the Palestinian Authority. Many Christians in Bethlehem and the nearby [Christian] towns of Bet Sahour and Bet Jalla have repeatedly complained that Muslims have been seizing their lands either by force or through forged documents. In recent years, not only has the number of Christians continued to dwindle, but Bethlehem and its surroundings also became hotbeds for Hamas and Islamic Jihad supporters and members. Moreover, several Christian women living in these areas have complained about verbal and sexual assaults by Muslim men. .....