The Bible is a collection of sacred scriptures which are said to be a record of the relationship between God and his subjects. In the New Testament, the second part of the Biblical text, the Gospel of Luke tells the story of how Mary and Joseph travelled from Nazareth to Bethlehem. Here, Mary is said to have fallen pregnant with Jesus – in what was one of the most influential moments of Christian history.
Over the years, the Bible has come under scrutiny, with many asking for proof this story actually took place.
However, Amazon Prime’s “Jesus: The Great Debate” revealed actual evidence to support Luke’s claims.
The 1970 documentary uncovered documents showing that people like Joseph had been ordered back to the city of their birth – Bethlehem – by Caesar Augustus – leader of the Roman Empire.
Lee Strobel, author of “The Case for Christ” told viewers how the document urged people to return to Bethlehem for tax reasons.
He said: “The truth is that modern archaeology has illuminated this issue in such a way that we can have great confidence that Luke was essentially accurate.
“In fact, we have an ancient document that’s dated 104 AD that confirms that people who were living away from their provinces needed to return home for the census.
“We also have another document dated 48 AD that confirms entire families were involved in this.
“And so we have documents which talk about the same kind of census that Luke records in the New Testament.”
The documentary also revealed a controversial claim.
It detailed ancient letters written by a bishop almost 2,000 years ago that referred to Jesus as God himself.
The revelation is controversial due to most Christians accepting Jesus to be the voice of God.
According to the official Catechism of the Catholic Church: “Jesus means in Hebrew: ‘God saves.’
“At the Annunciation, the angel Gabriel gave him the name Jesus as his proper name, which expresses both his identity and his mission.
“Since God alone can forgive sins, it is God who, in Jesus, his eternal Son made man, “will save his people from their sins”.
“In Jesus, God recapitulates all of his history of salvation on behalf of men.”