Poll: Was Christ born in a Stable or in a Cave?

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The Bible doesn’t say where Mary and Joseph stayed, but the Bible gives us a clue. It says that Mary layed Jesus in a Manger. Now a manger is a trough or a open box for live stock feeding. A manger or a feeding trough is found in a stable. So we now know that Jesus was born in a stable because of the clue manger. Now a stable in the time of Jesus were caves. See wood was hard to find in the desert and it would not have been used to house animals. So they used caves that were there by nature or they honed them and they called the caves stables and the manger or feeding trough was cut from the rock walls of the cave. So a stable and cave are the same thing, its just not what we know a stable is. To us a stable is made of wood like what most of our barns are made of.
 
rev_kevin said:
The Bible doesn’t say where Mary and Joseph stayed, but the Bible gives us a clue. It says that Mary layed Jesus in a Manger. Now a manger is a trough or a open box for live stock feeding. A manger or a feeding trough is found in a stable. So we now know that Jesus was born in a stable because of the clue manger. Now a stable in the time of Jesus were caves. See wood was hard to find in the desert and it would not have been used to house animals. So they used caves that were there by nature or they honed them and they called the caves stables and the manger or feeding trough was cut from the rock walls of the cave. So a stable and cave are the same thing, its just not what we know a stable is. To us a stable is made of wood like what most of our barns are made of.
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Nice reply, Kev.
 
SingleMomMonica said:
Was Christ born in a Staple or in a Cave?
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Yes.

I heard a good explanation on the radio a few days ago (CAL?) where they said that shallow caves would sometimes have a barn attached to the front to take advantage of the natural shelter afforded by the cave.
 
rev_kevin said:
Thank you it was part of my sermon on the birth of Jesus.
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Very cool.

There are so many things to reflect on at Christmas. I am in awe that The Word would empty himself and become one of us. I know this will seem a little weird, but I think about how vulnerable babies are; yet the Lord took on our frail human form.
 
bryan123459 said:
Very cool.

There are so many things to reflect on at Christmas. I am in awe that The Word would empty himself and become one of us. I know this will seem a little weird, but I think about how vulnerable babies are; yet the Lord took on our frail human form.
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Its not weird. He could have come here already grown up but instead he came here as like you said a vunerabel baby going through everything a baby goes through. The word became flesh and came into this world the same way we did, except how he was concieved. He felt the same things we felt, ate the same things we ate, he fully became one of us. He didn’t have to but he did. By doing this he was able to identify with us fully. I think thats pretty amazing.
 
bryan123459 said:
Very cool.

There are so many things to reflect on at Christmas. I am in awe that The Word would empty himself and become one of us. I know this will seem a little weird, but I think about how vulnerable babies are; yet the Lord took on our frail human form.
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That’s why He pick the perfect Mother to love and care for Him. Personally, if I were Him I would have chosen to be born in the era of diapers, baby wipes and toliet paper! LOL 🙂
 
Your poll should have included a choice for “neither” or “in a house”.

Only two Gospels mention the circumstances of Jesus’ birth, and only one of those (Luke) says he was born in a stable or cave (a place where animals were kept). Matthew makes no mention of where Jesus was born or that Mary and Joseph traveled anywhere before the birth. In Matthew, Jesus was presumably born at home in Bethlehem. And the census that Luke mentions did not occur during the time frame we allow for the nativity, and probably never occurred at all as Luke describes it. The indications are that Luke fudged some of the details of his story to make everything fit (Jesus as a Nazarean but born in the city of David).

So the “odds”, based on scripture, that Jesus was born in a stable of some sort are at best 50-50. I would have selected the third choice.

But it does make for a wonderful story and it doesn’'t affect the importance of it all.

Merry Christmas to all.
 
SingleMomMonica said:
Was Christ born in a Staple or in a Cave?
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My choice isn’t in the poll.

I would have chosen, “We don’t know.” The text simply doesn’t say. Only that He was laid in a manger - which was a feeding bowl usually made of stone. It doens’t require that animals were present (it simply could have been the available make-do bed) but I find it rather likely He was born were animals were kept. From what I understand, they were usually kept in the house - below where the people primarily lived or next to them, so “in a house” may have been the BEST (but again, not stated) response. But yes, that TOO could have been a cave, people often lived in them at the time.

I realize a LOT of Christians feel extremely uncomfortable admitting they just don’t know.

.
 
He was probably born at home in Nazareth. The writers of “Luke” and “Matthew” had to get him to Bethlehem for his birth…and they used two very different stories to do so.
 
How about a house which had as part of its structure an area where animals were kept at night, except when it was the time for birthing of animals? The word translated as “INN” as in no room in the inn simply meant guest room…it’s the same word used for “upper room” of last supper fame.

I see it this way…same days…weeks…or even months before Mary gave birth to Jesus she and Jospeh arrived at Bethlehem and stayed with one of Joseph’s family members. When Mary began to give birth there wasn’t enough room in the “upper room” so she was taken to either the common living area which might have had a manger in it…or a cave which the house was built around that served the same purpose…to keep animals in over night.

Still a quite humble birth…but not nearly as stark as some Christians picture it.
 
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