Comments on: Biblical Nazareth: my observations

By: Rachel Heller

Rachel Heller — Sat, 03 Jun 2017 08:30:11 +0000

In reply to carolkubota. Fortunately, Nazareth Village is near the center of modern-day Nazareth, so it's easy to do both. The thing is: neither is "real". Most Christian sites in Israel are just guesses as to where particular biblical events happened. And in many cases the guess happened centuries later, when the Crusaders arrived.

By: carolkubota

carolkubota — Tue, 30 May 2017 14:23:31 +0000

Great story. I would tend to agree with you. I would like to visit the “real” city. Not a scene recreated by actors and very religious people. The lives of the people living there now would be much more interesting.

By: Rachel Heller

Rachel Heller — Sun, 28 May 2017 20:25:42 +0000

In reply to Suzanne Fluhr. I tend to avoid confrontation like the plague, so I just walked out.

By: Suzanne Fluhr

Suzanne Fluhr — Sun, 28 May 2017 20:24:07 +0000

In reply to Rachel Heller. Too bad no one called him out on his proselytizing.

By: Rachel Heller

Rachel Heller — Sat, 27 May 2017 10:03:31 +0000

In reply to Anita and Richard @ No Particular Place To Go. To be fair, the bible-thumping sermonizer was a visitor, not someone employed by Nazareth Village. But the arrogance of launching into a sermon when the whole group wasn't from his church? Astounding!

By: Rachel Heller

Rachel Heller — Fri, 26 May 2017 20:31:15 +0000

In reply to Patti Morrow. Yes, that's absolutely true: most of the sites were "designated" in the Middle Ages. Nevertheless, they're interesting BECAUSE they're considered so central to the story; it's historically significant because the people who came later made it so.

By: Patti Morrow

Patti Morrow — Fri, 26 May 2017 18:34:41 +0000

Traveling through Israel was a great experience but I found a lot of the tours had a mixed bag of biblical, secular, tradition and other elements in it. In reality, the Crusades destroyed what might have been actually historical/biblical sites by building ornate churches in what “may” have been religious sites and that’s where Christians go, thinking they are at a pinpointed site, when they may actually just be in the area. Still, it’s an amazing place to visit with so much history behind it.

By: Anita and Richard @ No Particular Place To Go

Anita and Richard @ No Particular Place To Go — Fri, 26 May 2017 07:03:29 +0000

How disappointing to visit Nazareth and see, not a village with a rich history and artifacts, but a religious theme park complete costume-clad actors, a rolling stone and a bible thumping sermon of “believer” vs. “nonbeliever.” What a waste of money, time and effort. The smug sermon embracing the theme of “them vs. us” would have seen me walking out too. The Elbabour Spice Shop sounds like it would be much more to my liking. Anita

By: Rachel Heller

Rachel Heller — Wed, 24 May 2017 11:40:43 +0000

In reply to travelnwrite. OMG, that's hilarious! Even if you're not religious, I'd highly recommend visiting Jerusalem and Bethlehem. Nazareth not so much.

By: travelnwrite

travelnwrite — Wed, 24 May 2017 03:58:00 +0000

That sort of sums up our experiences in visiting Jerusalem and Bethlehem as part of tours. A group member was invited to read a passage from the Bible at one stop and in the cubbyhole of a space near the Manger in Bethlehem the tour leader asked if the group wanted to sing a song! And yes, it turned out a member of the group — cruise tour, not Christian pilgrimage — asked to sing “Oh Little Town of Bethlehem” . . .that was it! We were outta there. Still not sure I have a desire to return.