EVEN IN A DUBIOUS BIRTHPLACE
Beneath the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, a silver star marks the alleged precise spot where Christ was born. A stone slab nearby is supposed to mark the exact site of the manger wherein he lay. The Holy Land is littered with such shrines, divided up like African territories in the old colonialist days, between the different sects and denominations — the Greeks, the Armenians, the Copts, the Latins, etc. — and often a cause of rancor among them. Most of the shrines are doubtless fraudulent, some in dubious taste, and none to my liking. Yet one may note, as the visitors come and go, ranging from the devout to the inanely curious, that almost every face somehow lights up a little. Christ’s presence makes itself felt even in this dubious birthplace. Jesus Rediscovered, Malcolm Muggeridge (Tyndale, 1971), p.2.
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