You've heard the story a thousand times: glorious angels, lowly shepherds, brightly shining star, three Wise Men, and wee babe in a manger. But have you ever wondered about everyone else in tiny Bethlehem on that marvel of nights? What did they think? What did they do? How would you have responded? In these funny and touching tales, you'll meet a stable boy, a serving girl, an honest spy, an astounding clerk, an empty innkeeper, a mighty ship of the desert, and many others as they share their amazing "Tales from Bethlehem."

Bethlehem's bucolic countryside and bustling suburbs reflect the town's rich history. Uncover the stories that shaped the town from its Dutch settlement to today. Nathaniel Adams, along with his wife, Rhogenia, opened a stagecoach inn and became the first postmaster in what is now Delmar. The opening of the Albany and Susquehanna Railroad broadened travel and freight transportation. The LaGrange family farmed the same land for over two centuries and exemplified the region's deep agricultural roots. Suburbs flourished in the region following World War II. Drawing from her articles that first appeared in Our Towne Bethlehem, town historian Susan E. Leath celebrates the enduring community spirit of Bethlehem with this fascinating collection of essays.

Jesus was born in Bethlehem, but why Bethlehem? Why should God purpose to become man somewhere so marginal, so insignificant? This book follows the unfolding story of Bethlehem through the Bible, from the death of Rachel to the birth of Jesus, uniquely combining four perspectives: a) the Bible as one developing story, b) the Bible as a Middle Eastern book, c) insights from contemporary Palestinians from Bethlehem, and d) what this means for mission. Suffering Rachel, refugee Rahab, vulnerable Ruth, overlooked David all have a connection with Bethlehem. If Bethlehem shelters refugees, then so must we. If Bethlehem welcomes strangers, so must we. If Bethlehem weeps at injustice, and takes a stand against empire, so must we. What we see in Bethlehem's story, we apply to our own stories. We enter into Bethlehem's story with as much cultural and geographical colour and flavour as we can muster in order to feel the crises, taste the dust, hear the lambs bleating on the hillside. And there we find the Christ-child, son of David, the Good Shepherd, Lion of Judah, Bread of Life, Lamb of God, fulfilling all the recurring themes, taking his inevitable place as rightful king.

John Shelby Spong, bestselling author and popular proponent of a modern, scholarly and authentic Christianity, argues that this last gospel to be written was misinterpreted by the framers of the fourth-century creeds to be a literal account of the life of Jesus when in fact it is a literary, interpretive retelling of the events in Jesus' life through the medium of fictional characters, from Nicodemus and Lazarus to the "Beloved Disciple." The Fourth Gospel was designed first to place Jesus into the context of the Jewish scriptures, then to place him into the worship patterns of the synagogue and finally to allow him to be viewed through the lens of a popular form of first-century Jewish mysticism. The result of this intriguing study is not only to recapture the original message of this gospel, but also to provide us today with a radical new dimension to the claim that in the humanity of Jesus the reality of God has been met and engaged.

On Monday, 8:15 a.m., August 6, 1945, the world changed forever. In the single largest act of destruction ever initiated by humans, a bomb with the equivalent force of 20,000 tons of TNT shattered Hiroshima, killing tens of thousands of civilians, people who had become used to the American war planes flying overhead, planes that were purposely not dropping bombs on their city, to the point where the rush to the bomb shelters had become lackadaisical, and the normal activities continued with little interruption – getting the children up and off to school, opening the many small retail stores for the daily customers, perhaps stopping at a local café for morning coffee or tea, perhaps joining in on the group exercise classes. This is the precise instant we entered the postmodern world, one where the easy truths of centuries no longer applied. Speculative Fiction projects real possibilities beyond the now shattered assumptions, moving through marginalized fictional landscapes – science fiction, fantasy, horror, weird fiction, supernatural fiction, superhero comics, graphic novels, and movies, utopian and dystopian fiction, apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, Cyber Punk, the New Wave, as well as related static, motion, and virtual arts, including everything from graphic novels to video games.