There is nothing in the New Testament that gives any indication that the Holy Family lived in poverty. Jesus Christ was born in a manger because there was no room for them at the inn, with the unusually large number of travelers during the census of Caesar Augustus.
I didn't even read past that flagrant misrepresentation on the author's part.
Thanks for making that point. I just realised that as aware as I like to believe myself, I’ve overlooked that point almost my entire life.
BINGO
They're finally admitting that the 'shining City on the Hill' = Sepphoris = The great Roman and Byzantine city of Lower Galilee was capital city and major Jewish center, in Jesus' back yard - and was, after being destroyed, being rebuilt as Jesus' was growing up.
Combined with the word that was misinterpreted as 'carpenter' is now considered to have been 'builder' or 'stone mason' - a big step up in professions...And Sepphoris was a city of shining white stone and marble - it's now opined the Joseph was not a poor carpenter but a well to do builder/mason...and Jesus would likely have been working alongside him.
Also, It was likely that Jesus spoke, not only Arabic, but Greek. - He was not raised in a little backwater of Galilee - (indeed, there is no archaeologic evidence that Nazareth, the town, existed in Jesus' time. (The reference to Jesus and a Nazorite, (Samson, of the long hair, was a Nazorite, way back in the Old Testament) refers to the marrying sect of Essenes in nearby Mt Carmel. )- but a bustling place of Roman-Greek culture and the hub of the trade routes from and to other countries. -
http://www.biblewalks.com/Sites/Sepphoris.html
Have Merry Christmas.
The fact that the Holy Family must have tried to get a room at an inn indicates that they had money to pay for a room.
After all, Joseph was a carpenter — he had a profession, and therefore, an income.