From the WSJ Opinion Archives
HOUSES OF WORSHIP
Caught in the Crossfire
The Church of Nativity: Site of Christ's birth, and now a refuge for Palestinian fighters.
During Holy Week and Easter the stone streets of Bethlehem are usually thronged with pilgrims. But now they are deserted, trafficked only by furtive residents and rumbling Israeli tanks. Helicopters circle over Manger Square, and several-dozen Palestinian fighters and civilians have taken refuge in the Church of the Nativity. It is a mournful and heart-rending sight.
The Church of the Nativity is the oldest Christian church in the Holy Land still in use as a regular place of worship for Greek Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox and Roman Catholics. Indeed, it is one of the holiest shrines in Christendom. Two years ago Pope John Paul II made a pilgrimage to the church, and many will recall the TV scene as he slowly descended to the crypt, knelt before the silver star marking Jesus' birthplace and silently offered his prayers.
From the beginning, the city of Bethlehem was sacred to Christians as the place where Mary gave birth to Jesus. In the Gospel of Matthew, when King Herod asked where Christ was to be born, he was told: "In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: 'And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will govern my people Israel.' " Few Christians can hear the story of Joseph going up "into Judea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem" without wanting to see the scene of the wondrous thing that had happened there.
How the place of Jesus' birth itself was identified is not known to us. As early as the second century there are reports that Christians had begun to visit the "cave" in Bethlehem where Christ was said to have been born. It is possible that local memories reaching back to the beginning of Christianity guided pilgrims. This seems to have been the case in Jerusalem, and archaeologists are fairly certain that the tomb of Christ was beneath the present Church of the Holy Sepulchre, as tradition attests. There archaeology confirmed tradition. But in the case of Bethlehem, the only guide is tradition.
By the third century, tradition had established where Christ was born and, as it happened, where a church would be constructed. The first great period of building in the church's history began during the reign of Constantine, the Roman emperor who embraced Christianity in the early fourth century. Under the patronage of his mother, who had a fondness for Bethlehem, a magnificent church was built over the traditional site in 330. Much of the original structure survives to this day.
The building itself was designed as a memorial shrine and only later adapted to accommodate congregational worship. Over the cave was constructed an octagonal building with a large central hole in the roof directly over the site, thereby joining earth and heaven. The basilica has four rows of columns and five aisles.
The church was elaborately rebuilt during the reign of Justinian (527-565) and had the good fortune of being spared when Christian Palestine was invaded by the Persians in 614. There is a mosaic in the church depicting the wise men from the east, in Persian garb, paying homage to Christ. According to legend, the Persians spared the church when they saw the mosaic. During the Crusader period the church was again renovated, and it has been in use ever since.
On the columns inside there are graffiti written in different languages over many centuries by pilgrims. Arabic script stands alongside early German script, and there are, improbably, paintings of St. Canute the Dane and St. Olaf the Norwegian. One column has a painting of two pilgrims from the time of the Crusades.
What one senses in visiting this church is that it is sacred not only for what it commemorates and celebrates but also for what it has become. The church itself, its history and memories, are precious and holy. Into its stones are woven the prayers of Christian pilgrims for centuries as well as the lives of countless generations of Arab Christians who have been baptized, confirmed and married in its sanctuary.
To those who are holed up within its walls, it is a refuge; to the Israelis, an obstacle. But for Christians world-wide, it is an irreplaceable part of Christian memory. It not only marks the place where Christ was born but offers a living sign of faith and devotion reaching deep into the Christian past.
Mr. Wilken is a professor of Christian history at the University of Virginia.
