In Jesus's Footsteps 
跟随基督的脚步

Nativity Church

圣诞教堂是位于伯利恒的一座大教堂。该教堂最初是由君士坦丁大帝及其母亲海伦娜建于公元327年，其所在位置现今仍在传统上被认为是标志着拿撒勒人耶稣诞生地的洞穴遗址。

圣诞教堂最初建成于公元339年，在公元六世纪由于撒玛利亚人起义造成的火灾中被烧毁。直到公元565年，拜占庭皇帝查士丁尼新建了一座大教堂并恢复了其原来的建筑基调。

圣诞教堂是首个被联合国教科文组织（UNESCO）列入世界遗产名单的遗址，同时，这座大教堂也被联合国教科文组织评为世界濒危遗产。

位于圣诞教堂之下众所周知的洞穴圣迹，直到如今都被认为就是拿撒勒人耶稣诞生的地方。

据称在公元135年，哈德良曾将这建于圣迹洞穴上的基督教遗址变为希腊掌管美丽与欲望之神阿多尼斯的敬拜场所。

圣诞教堂的以为神父杰罗姆，在其死于公元420年之前曾记录该圣迹洞穴被异教徒奉为神圣之地以敬拜希腊神阿多尼斯，这些异教徒为了消除对基督耶稣的记忆，在那里种植了一片看似可爱而具有宗教意义的小树林。

虽然一些现代学者质疑这种说法，认为阿多尼斯-塔模斯崇拜起源于神殿，然而却是由基督徒接续了这种崇拜方式并将其应用在了对耶稣的敬拜中，耶稣诞生地的古迹亦得到了基督教护教者贾斯汀·马特（约100–公元165年）的证实，他在《与特黎丰的对话》中写到，这个神圣的家庭（译注：耶稣的家庭）曾在镇外的一个山洞避难。

约瑟曾将住所安在村子附近的一个洞穴中；就是在那个洞穴中，玛利亚生下了基督耶稣并将其放在马槽里，来自阿拉伯的三位博士在此处找到了耶稣。（第lxxviii章）。

The Church of the Nativity is a basilica located in Bethlehem.

The church was originally commissioned in 327 AD by Constantine and his mother Helena over the site that is still traditionally considered to be located over the cave that marks the birthplace of Jesus of Nazareth.

The Church of the Nativity site's original basilica was completed in 339 AD and destroyed by fire during the Samaritan Revolts in the sixth century AD. A new basilica was built 565 AD by Justinian, the Byzantine Emperor, restoring the architectural tone of the original. 

The site of the Church of the Nativity has had numerous additions since this second construction, including its prominent bell towers. Due to its cultural and geographical history, the site holds a prominent religious significance to those of both the Christian and Muslim faiths.

The site of the Church of the Nativity is a World Heritage Site, and was the first to be listed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).The site is also on UNESCO's List of World Heritage Sites in Danger

The holy site, known as the Grotto, that the Church of the Nativity sits atop, is today associated with the cave in which the birth of Jesus of Nazareth is said to have occurred. In 135 AD, Hadrian is said to have had the Christian site above the Grotto converted into a worship place for Adonis, the Greek god of beauty and desire. 

A father with the Church of the Nativity, Jerome, noted before his death in 420 AD that the holy cave was at one point consecrated by the heathen to the worship of Adonis, and that a pleasant sacred grove was planted there in order to wipe out the memory of Jesus. 

Although some modern scholars dispute this argument and insist that the cult of Adonis-Tammuz originated the shrine and that it was the Christians who took it over, substituting the worship of Jesus, the antiquity of the association of the site with the birth of Jesus is attested by the Christian apologist Justin Martyr (c. 100 – 165 AD), who noted in his Dialogue with Trypho that the Holy Family had taken refuge in a cave outside of town:

Joseph took up his quarters in a certain cave near the village; and while they were there Mary brought forth the Christ and placed Him in a manger, and here the Magi who came from Arabia found Him. (Chapter LXXVIII).

Additionally, the Greek philosopher Origen of Alexandria (185 AD - circa. 254 AD) wrote:

In Bethlehem the cave is pointed out where He was born, and the manger in the cave where He was wrapped in swaddling clothes. And the rumor is in those places, and among foreigners of the Faith, that indeed Jesus was born in this cave who is worshipped and reverenced by the Christians. (Contra Celsum, book I, chapter LI).