Today's Church of the Nativity remains the one built by Justinian in the 6th century AD. First-time visitors are sometimes startled, even disappointed, by its fortress-like appearance (right), which results from a 12th century AD Crusader reconstruction to make it more defensible. Defying its status as one of Christendom's holiest shrines, it seems dilapidated and battered, not at all beautiful. Still, for a building that has survived destruction by a mad caliph (1009), earthquake (1834) fire (1869) and a Israeli army siege (2002) against suspected Palestinian militants who had taken refuge there, its dignity remains intact.

The church has only one entrance (left) and it shows several changes. The moldings of the entrances of the 6th century AD church are still visible, and the central door shows signs that it was twice made smaller by the Crusaders. First, they inserted a doorway with a pointed arch. Later they walled up the upper part; then they reduced it even farther, to the present small size, to keep riders on camels and horses from entering and to prevent looting. It is now only four-feet high, and it is known as the "Door of Humility" because visitors entering the church are forced to bow in reverence.

Immediately inside the "Door of Humility" is the church's narrow narthex, originally a single long porch with three doors leading into the main part of the church. A single low doorway now gives access to the wide nave (photo below left), which survives intact from the church of Justinian, although the roof is 15th century, with 19th century restorations. Thirty of the 44 Corinthian columns carry paintings of saints, 20 of which are identified by inscriptions, although lighting conditions make them hard to see (note particularly Cathal of Ireland, Canute of Denmark, Norway and England and Olaf of Norway). One column painting has the date 1130 AD. The columns, which were originally gilded, are of polished red limestone quarried near Bethlehem, most of them reused from the original 4th century AD basilica. (Photo from BiblePlaces.com)

Trap doors in the floor reveal part of the mosaic floor (below) from the original church built in the 4th century AD by the emperor Constantine, now 2 feet below the present floor level. The geometric forms are a reminder of the early Judeo-Christian tradition of refraining from the use of human figures, a literal interpretation of the Second Commandment ban on carved or "graven images."

The irregular gray patches on the white walls above the columns seen in the photo of the interior are surviving sections of the mosaics applied to the walls in the 12th century AD (one inscription gives the date as 1169) by Greek artists from Constantinople (modern Istanbul). The mosaics depicted (according to a description by a man who saw them intact in 1494): the genealogy of Christ according to Luke and the early provincial councils convened to settle doctrinal issues and heresies held in the cities of Ancyra, Antioch, Sardis, Laodicea and Carthage; the genealogy of Christ according to Matthew; and the church councils of Nicaea, Constantinople, Ephesus and Chalcadon. Other subjects included a Tree of Jesse (now gone), Doubting Thomas, the Ascension and the Triumphal entry into Jerusalem (right).

The square mosaic tiles were arranged to reflect the light from the windows into the opposite aisles, and it is the destruction of most of these mosaics that, in part, makes the church seem so gloomy; another contributing factor was the 6th century AD looting by the Ottoman Turks of the white marble that once lined the walls; it was used for construction on the Haram esh-Sharif (Temple Mount) in Jerusalem.

From the nave, steps lead up to the altar area at the point where the arms of the church's cruciform floor plan intersect. Directly ahead, in front of the altar, is the iconostasis, or icon screen which, in keeping with Greek Orthodox tradition, separates the congregation from the altar, much like the Holy of Holies in the Jerusalem Temple. The iconostasis, though, opens to the people at the reading of the Gospel. In Orthodox belief icons, or images are not simple pieces of art; they are windows through which the worshiper finds true communion with God and all those who have labored for the Christian faith.

To the left (north) of the altar area are two Armenian altars, one of the virgin Mary and one of the Magi; to the right (south) is the Altar of the Circumcision which, like the high altar behind the iconostasis, belongs to the Greek Orthodox.

To either side of the the main altar, a semi-circular stairway (below) leads down to the Grotto of the Nativity.

 

At the bottom of the stairs is the 40-foot-long, 10-foot-wide Grotto of the Nativity with the Altar of the Birth of Christ (left) and, three steps lower down, the altars of the Manger and the Magi (right). Here the vestments are red; but the colors change in accordance with the liturgical calendar.

Within the grotto, the eye is immediately drawn to the Altar of the Birth of Christ (above left) with its 14-point silver star (above right) on a marble slab. The 14 points of the star are said to represent the fourteen generations from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the Babylonian Exile, and fourteen from the Exile to the birth of Christ (see the genealogy in Matthew 1). A Latin inscription around the opening reads: "Hic de Virgine Maria a Jesus Christus natus est" ("Here Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin Mary"). It is common to see pilgrims kneel to kiss the star. In 1847 the star was stolen, starting a dispute that led indirectly to the Crimean War of 1853.

Three steps lower down, on the right, is the Altar of the Magi commemorating the visit of the "Magi" and the Altar of the Manger, said to be where Mary placed the newborn Jesus. On Christmas Eve a wooden image of the baby Jesus is taken from the adjacent Church of St. Catherine and solemnly placed on the Altar of the Manger, where it remains until Epiphany, the Orthodox Christmas, on January 6th.

Additional background

Jesus birth date: not the year "0" ???

Before our present calendar, and until the 500s AD, events in Western civilization were dated A.U.C. (ab urbe condita, in Latin), "from the founding of the city" (i.e., Rome). Often they were also dated from the start of a given Roman emperor's reign, especially Diocletian (284-305 AD), a vicious persecutor of Christians. Ironically, Christians still used his reign as a anchor for their calendar over the next two centuries!

In the year 525, however, Pope John I wanted to determine the proper Sunday on which to celebrate Easter and he assigned the task of determining the date to Dionysius Exiguus (Denis the Little), a very learned monk-mathematician-astronomer from Scythia. Dionysius abandoned the previous calendar because he "did not wish to perpetuate the name of the Great Persecutor, but rather to number the years from the incarnation of Our Lord Jesus Christ."

However, in reworking the calendar to pivot on the nativity of Christ Dionysius Exiguus inadvertently committed what became history's greatest numerical error, one that is perpetuated even to this day. He dated the birth of Christ as 753 years after the founding of Rome, when in fact Herod the Great died 749 years after Rome's beginning. And since Herod, who died in the spring of 4 BC (according his newly revised calendar) was very much alive at the time of the visit of the Magi of Matthew's Gospel, Jesus had to have been born some months before Herod's death, some time between 6 and 4 BC. Thus, Jesus was literally born before his time (BC; "before Christ") and our present calendar is some 4 to 6 years behind!

The details of Jesus' birth are found only in the gospels of Matthew and Luke. Both agree on several basic matters:

• Mary and Joseph as the names of Jesus' parents and their designation as a couple engaged to be married.

• The claim that Joseph is a descendant of King David.

• The announcement by the angel of the conception of a son (in Matthew to Joseph; in Luke to Mary).

• The angel's message that the conception is by the Holy Spirit.

• A command to name the child Jesus.

• Mary is a virgin as the time of conception.

Aside from these, the accounts have significant differences, simply because each was written to a different audience: Matthew directed his to Jews, while Luke wrote to Gentiles.

Another Bethlehem???

According to both Matthew and Luke, Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Matthew specifies that it was in "Bethlehem in Judea," while Luke identifies it as "Bethlehem the town of David." Both meant the same town, located some 5 miles south-southwest of Jerusalem's walled Old City. The terms "in Judea" and "town of David" were added to distinguish the city from another Bethlehem (modern Beit Lehem) in the territory of Zebulon, about 8 miles northwest of Nazareth.

Some familiar terms from Luke's birth narrative defined...

Caesar - Greek kaisar; of Latin origin; meaning severed. The surname of Julius Caesar, which was adopted by his grand nephew Octavian. Afterwards it was part of the title for all successive Roman emperors.

Augustus - Greek augoustos, from Latin august, meaning venerable. The name given to Octavian as the first Roman emperor; thereafter the title conferred upon all Roman emperors.

Quirinius - Full name Publius Sulpicius Quirinius (Greek Cyrenius "warrior"); served as governor of Syria twice, first at the time of Jesus' birth and second, when Jesus was about 12 or 13 years old. Both times a census was held to determine taxation.