About this edition:-over 100 fully linked footnotes-original Greek language support-fully linked table of contents-formatted especially for ebook format The issue of the dating and placing of Christ's birth within history has been an ongoing topic of debate for 2000 years. In the late 1800s William Ramsay, a liberal scholar, began his research into biblical history in an attempt to disprove the historicity of the main historical claims of the New Testament. Over time his meticulous research led him to conclude that the circumstances surrounding Christ were indeed historical events. In Was Christ Born In Bethlehem? Ramsay examines all of the biblical and extra biblical evidence for Bethlehem as Christ's birthplace and presents a very compelling argument for the time and place of Christ's birth as set out in Luke. Scholars, pastors, students and laypeople would all benefit greatly by this classic text.

“The work of the last fifteen years has created new interest in the writings of Luke. The relation of Luke’s Gospel to Mark’s Gospel and the Logia of Jesus has sharply defined his own critical methods and processes. The researches of Harnack, Hobart, and Ramsay have restored the credit of Luke with many critics who had been carried away by the criticism of Baur, and who looked askance upon the value of Luke as the historian of early Christianity. It has been like mining—digging now here, now there. The items in Luke’s books that were attacked have been taken up one by one. The work has been slow and piecemeal, of necessity. But it is now possible to gather together into a fairly complete picture the results. It is a positively amazing vindication of Luke. The force of the argument is cumulative and tremendous. One needs to have the patience to work through the details with candor and a willingness to see all the facts with no prejudice against Luke or against the supernatural origin of Christianity.” —From the Preface

This book shows how, in unearthing biblical cities, archaeology transformed nineteenth-century thinking on the truth of Christianity and its role in modern cities.