were mary and joseph turned away from an inn in bethlehem 2,000 years ago? and the miracle of the virgin birth. is that intended as the literal truth in matthew and luke? the gospels give us one description of the birth of jesus. do archaeology and history give us another? joining us to answer these questions areu.s. open, the aute brand new "jesus of nazareth cunning of the and jeffrey sheler author of the brand new "is the bible truth?" if. for such a small if i live to a hundred. if social security isn't enough. if my heart gets broken. if she says yes. we believe if should never hold you back. if should be managed with a plan that builds on what you already have. together we can create a personal safety net, a launching pad, for all those brilliant ifs in the middle of life. you can call on our expertise and get guarantees for the if in life. after all, we're metlife. >>> tell us what you think happened at bethlehem, jeffrey she'ller. >> well when we read two gospels, only two of the four gospels even talk about the birth of jesus and when we read matthe

it's a fortress today in bethlehem because you cannot go into bethlehem anymore. it's not safe. arabs are in bethlehem. they've thrown out the christian arabs. there are only muslim arabs there. and it's a very unsafe environment for jews. so in any case, this is -- and all those holy places, the temple mound, all these places are being claimed by arabs that this is their -- these are their holy sites and the evil is compounded by the fact that unesco, the united nations economic social cultural organization supports these claims. of course, i don't have to tell you about the united nations. okay. so it takes a house of representatives resolution no. 1734 with over 30 cosponsors to attempt to stop the revisionist history by opposing unilateral declaration by the arabs of a pa state because the arabs are saying we can't negotiate with you. we're not going to -- we don't recognize you. we're not going to declare a state so we'll do it unilaterally and brazil, argentina and uruguay have already declared recognition. 1917, the belford declaration establishing palestine is a natural

one, that jesus was born in bethlehem. to a virgin named mary.whose husband, joseph, was of the lineage of david. and this according to the writers of those two gospels was in fulfillment of the hebrew prophesies. so despite very clear and seemingly troubling contradictions in some of the details the more important thing is, i think, the points on which they disagree. >> on the physical -- on the physical details was it an inn or was it a two-story house? >> an inn or a two-story house. that's an interesting question. there certainly is a theory now that it was a two-story house. that the word that is oftentimes translated "inn" is a word that really should be translated "house" and that the couple were not turned away by a mean, old innkeeper but rather were let into the guest room of a typical two-story palestinian house. >> or was it the guest room was filled and they were told that they could rest with and sleep with the animals who were, where downstairs? >> the first story, the first floor is typically a place where the animals were kept. c

in bethlehem, pennsylvania, peeps come down. this one weighs 100 pounds.n eastover, alabama a giant fleet. in key west a drag queen in a ruby slipper is dropped. interesting. >> looks like the warriors are ending 2010 on a very strong note. >> a rare matinee game back in carolina. nobody is going to take the warriors seriously until they can win on a semi regular basis at least out on the road and they did it against the bob cats in a matinee. curry back with charlotte in his -- where he went to college at davidson. homecoming goes well as you will see. curry going to the bucket. dropping in two of his 24 on the day. the warriors were able to move it pretty well against the bob cats. as you will see right here and it'll actually turn into another two pointer. thanks to david lee who was eight points, eight rebounds good today. bob cats themselves able to move it. but that will wind up as a turn over, curry with a quick pass to the streaky ellis who led everyone with 25 points. but the warriors after several problems in the late minute of this game wind up

he is taking part in the service of the church of the nativity in bethlehem.and in a sign of solidarity, some muslims say they will be attending a christmas services. meanwhile at the vatican, the head of the roman catholic church parade for peaceful orthodox coptic christmas. >> the goodness of god that appeared in jesus christ will strengthen the faith, the hope, and charity every ever won, and will give comfort to communities that are suffering. >> comfort is something this family needs, as the coptic celebrations are overshadowed by their loss. >> the president of egypt has been holding talks with israeli prime minister on reviving mideast peace negotiations. the two leaders met. the peace process has been stalled since october after israel resumed building jewish settlements in the occupied west bank. also on the agenda, that it of the israeli soldier who has been held by the palestinian group hamas since 2006. hungary says it is ready to change its controversial new media law if brussels finds that it breaks the eu rules. speaking and the test -- speakin

. >> this was the vision at the bethlehem missionary baptist church to recruit mentors for youngsterschmond. it's part of a larger program to stem the cycle of violence in the city. tonight's kickoff by adults and youth groups was meant to coincide with events around martin luther king day. eight-year-old jason hill memorized the civil right's leader's speech. >> they not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. >> there were testimonials from mentors and those who benefited. >> the biggest part we can have and share with the youth is to genuinely, genuinely give 'em our heart. >> having a mentor will show us how to be very young ladies and better in school and having somebody to come to to talkto. >> my mentors always let me know i could depend on them. >> we honor the dream of dr. martin luther king jr. we connect vision, field young people with dream-filled adults. >> plenty of dream-filled mentors stood up to volunteer, then they filled out commit cards. vic lee, abc 7 news. >> it's 4:44. coming up postal rates are going up but it may not be such

for t westernhurch, this mkshe vis of the se men to the infant jesus in bethlehem.rn orthodox associate the holiday with the baptism of jesus as an adult. also on january 6th, armenian orthodox churches celebrated christmas. many other orthodox christians celebrated it on january 7th. >>> that's our program for now. i'm bob abernethy. there's much more on our website. you can comment on all of our stories and share them. audio and video podcasts are so availabl and you can follow us on facebook and twitter and watch us on smart phones and iphones with the new "religion & ethics newsweekly" mobile web app. join us at pbs.org. as we leave you, music from the parc chretien free methodist church in port-au-prince. ♪ ♪ ♪ >>> major funding is provided by the lily in dowment and private family foundation dedicated to its founder's interests in religion, community development and education. additional funding by mutual of america, designing customized individual retirement group. that's why we're your retirement company, and the corporation for public broadcasting.

. >> this was the vision at the bethlehem missionary baptist church to recruit mentors for youngsters in richmond. it's part of a larger program to stem the cycle of violence in the city. tonight's kickoff was meant to coincide with events around martin luther king day. eight-year-old jason hill memorized the inspirational speech. >> i have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. >> the biggest part we can have and share with the youth is to genuinely, genuinely give 'em our heart. >> having a mentor will show us to be better young ladies and better in school and having somebody to come to to talk to. >> my mentors always let me know i can depend on them. >> we honor the dream of dr. martin luther king jr. we connect vision filling young people with dream-filled adults. >> plenty of dream-filled mentors stood up to volunteer and filled out commitment cards. >> if you're unemployed, there may be a way you can get a free cellphone. >> postal rates are going up but it may not be