as uncounted others have done since, in
that region and elsewhere. We cannot reasonably regard this circumstance
as evidence of extreme destitution; doubtless it entailed inconvenience,
but it gives us no assurance of great distress or suffering.[219] It was
while she was in this situation that Mary the Virgin gave birth to her
firstborn, the Son of the Highest, the Only Begotten of the Eternal
Father, Jesus the Christ.

But few details of attendant circumstances are furnished us. We are not
told how soon the birth occurred after the arrival of Mary and her
husband at Bethlehem. It may have been the purpose of the evangelist who
made the record to touch upon matters of purely human interest as
lightly as was consistent with the narration of fact, in order that the
central truth might neither be hidden nor overshadowed by unimportant
incident. We read in Holy Writ this only of the actual birth: "And so it
was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she
should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and
wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; became there
was no room for them at the inn."[220]

In vivid contrast with the simplicity and brevity of the scriptural
account and of its paucity of incidental details, is the mass of
circumstance supplied by the imagination of men, much of which is wholly
unsupported by authoritative record and in many respects is plainly
inconsistent and untrue. It is the part of prudence and wisdom to
segregate and keep distinctly separate the authenticated statements of
fact, in so momentous a matter, from the fanciful commentaries of
historians, theologians, and writers of fiction, as also from the
emotional rhapsodies of poets and artistic extravaganzas wrought by
chisel or brush.

From the period of its beginning, Bethlehem had been the home of people
engaged mostly in pastoral and agricultural pursuits. It is quite in
line with what is known of the town and its environs to find at the
season of Messiah's birth, which was in the springtime of the year, that
flocks were in the field both night and day under the watchful care of
their keepers. Unto certain of these humble shepherds came the first
proclamation that the Savior had been born. Thus runs the simple record:
"And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field,
keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord
came upon them, and the glory