Where was the manger?
The opinion that says that the manger in which Jesus was born was located in a cave (rather than in a barn or in a room adjoining the inn) is an old one and it is supported by the geographical features of Bethlehem: to this day there are caves throughout the hills of Bethlehem. In his Dialogue with Trypho, the church father Justin Martyr wrote about 150 A.D. “But when the child was born in Bethlehem, since Joseph could not find a lodging in that village, he took up his quarters in certain cave near the village; and while they were there Mary brought forth the Christ and placed him in a manger.” (78).
