The Quest for the Authentic Shepherds’ Field (Bethlehem)
Two Churches, One YMCA
The First Noel the angel did say
Was to certain poor shepherds
in fields as they lay;
In fields as they lay, keeping their sheep.
– The First Noel
We begin this week’s edition of the Peripatetic Historian with couplets from a beloved Christmas carol.
The First Noel originated in England, and was first published in 1823. Based on the New Testament Gospel of Luke, the song describes the appearance of a heavenly host, angels who announced the birth of Jesus to a group of Bethlehem shepherds. It is a well-known scene, an integral part of Christmas pageants and plays.
The song suggests that the shepherds were local lads, tending their flocks a short hike from the future Church of the Nativity. This raises an interesting question: where were the shepherds when the angels lit up the heavens with their joyful news?
Controversy dogs the Christian past like a hungry St. Bernard; it should come as no surprise that the location of the “Shepherds’ Field” is contested. Three sites in the Bethlehem suburbs — two churches and a YMCA — claim to be the true Shepherds’ Field, ground zero for the angelic apparition.
