O little town of Bethlehem, where art thou?

photo credit: http://mynerja.com

Is it possible that the Bethlehem celebrated by Christians as the birthplace of Jesus is actually a village in Galilee and not just outside of Jerusalem as commonly believed?
Aviram Oshri, an Israel Antiquities Authority archaeologist, thinks so. Here are some of the arguments he makes:

• The village was inhabited by Jews in the first century, while the city of Bethlehem was uninhabited in the first century
• Mary’s travel to the village of Bethlehem would have been easier to make (7km) than her journal to Bethlehem City (150km)
• Christians did not pay attention to the City of Bethlehem until the fourth century, when Constantine made Christianity the Roman Empire’s official religion

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