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Bible Encyclopedias
Nativity, Church of the
Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
or at Bethlehem. Of this antique memorial of our Saviour's birth we extract a general account from one of the latest authorities (Conder, Tent Work, 1:282 sq.):
"The tradition which indicates the grotto in the old basilica at Bethlehem as the site of the stable where Christ was born, is the most venerable of its kind in existence, the place being noticed by Justin Martyr in the 2d century. It is almost the only site which we can trace earlier than the tine of Constantine, and the tradition seems to me credible, because, throughout this part of Palestine, there are innumerable instances of stables cut in rock, resembling the Bethlehem grotto. Such stables I have planned and measured at Tekoa, 'Aziz, .and other places south of Bethlehem, and the mangers existing in them leave no doubt as to their use and character.
"The credibility of this tradition thus appears to be far greater than that attaching to the later discoveries, by which the enthusiastic Helena and the politic Constantine settled the scenes of other Christian events; and the rude grotto with its rocky manger may, it seems to me, be accepted even by the most sceptical of modern explorers."
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