Where was Jesus Christ going? Today we talk about the potential routes that Jesus walked and even look into interesting events like Jesus’s time in Bethlehem, archaeological findings in Nazareth, archaeological discoveries in Galilee, Jacob’s Well, and many more exciting topics…WELCOME TO RELIGION CAMP🏕️✝️☪️✡️🕉️☦️ Religion Camp Merch: https://religion-camp.com🏕️ Get Today In History Email Here (Free): https://camp.beehiiv.com/🎟️ 🎫 Comedy Tour Tickets Here: https://markgagnonlive.comTimestamps0:00 Intro1:01 Importance of Understanding Others Religions3:45 Jesus’s Time In Bethlehem9:01 The Flight to Egypt13:38 Challenges of Traveling to Egypt15:37 Archeological Findings In Nazareth21:20 Jesus’s baptism + Time In The Wilderness27:57 Travel To Galilee + Archeological Discoveries In Galilee32:09 Archeological Sites In Tyre and Sidon36:06 Jacobs Well39:41 The Good Samaritan40:43 The Town of Bethany43:59 Did Jesus Come To America?44:55 Drop Your Suggestions In The Comments!!!
Chapter 1: Where did Jesus travel during his life?
We're jumping in, the Father Almighty. Jesus Christ. He among you who is without sin, let him cast the first stone. Theodosius, who specifically mentions a church marking the spot where Jesus was believed to have been baptized. The Gospel of Matthew. And this provides our only historical account of one of the most mysterious journeys in religious history ever.
This is the flight of Jesus and his family to Egypt. the ruins of Caesarea Philippi. There are excavations that have been done recently that have uncovered the remains of a great temple dedicated to Pan. It was here in the shadow of this pagan religious center that Peter made his famous declaration about the identity of Christ. It's Jacob's well. This is the actual place that Christ was.
So we're going through everything and where he went in his travels back in the day. This episode's got everything. So let's jump in. What's up, people, and welcome back to Religion Camp. Welcome to my tent.
Chapter 2: What is the significance of Jesus's time in Bethlehem?
My name is Mark Gagnon, and this is the show where we explore the most interesting, fascinating, controversial stories from every religion from around the world from all time ever in the universe. Thank you for joining me. I truly appreciate it. I'm joined by my friend Christos on the ones and twos, on the dials over there on the sticks. How are you, Christos? Doing well.
All right, enough, enough, enough. I just wanted to say thank you to everybody that checked out the videos on Sikhism and the Ark of the Covenant. Just really cool feedback, both from Sikh people, but also folks not of that faith background. This one dude, who is this? EFGABCD. That's a trash username. He said he was homeless for two days in the UK and went to a Gurudwara.
I always mess up how to pronounce it. I'm going to say it how I think it should be said. Gurdwara in in Manchester, and they gave him food for free for a couple days without charging him any money. So it just goes to show that these good folks are out there. And then the Ark of the Covenant episode, just all sorts of people giving great feedback. Again, why do I do this show?
Why am I so interested in religion? I, one, was raised very religious in the Catholic faith, one true holy Catholic and apostolic church. Sorry, everybody. But also, I think it is the greatest way, in my opinion, to connect with people and culture. I'm fascinated by people. I'm to truly understand a people, an ethnic group, or even a nation without understanding the God that they worship. Right?
I mean, most of my Muslim friends, like the ones that practice diligently Islam, is the most important thing in their life. So without knowing anything about Allah or the Prophet, how can you be like, oh yeah, I know. I know what my Muslim friends are about.
And once you contextualize the culture and the people through, you know, the way they orient themselves through the religion and what they were told dogmatically or culturally growing up, then you can really get a sense for who they are. So today is going to be no different because we have a very fascinating topic. We are jumping in
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Chapter 3: What do we know about the Flight to Egypt?
to the legend, the OG, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, Jesus Christ, the prophet in Islam, the savior in Christianity, and, you know, just a legend to everyone else, and where he went in his travels back in the day. You probably know, like, all right, Jesus, you know, born in Bethlehem, went to Nazareth, popped into, you know, going around different places in Judea, right?
That's probably what you heard in Sunday school. But the story goes much deeper, things that I didn't even realize. So we're going through everything, including even some modern cutting edge archaeology, ancient texts, and a healthy dose of conspiracy. So this episode's got everything. So let's jump in.
We're going all the way to Bethlehem, and it's recorded in the Gospel of Luke, and it begins at the Roman census. So there you have it on the screen. You got Bethlehem right there at the bottom, and that is where it all starts for our boy. So this happens under the governorship of Quirinius in Syria, but it presents an interesting story.
historical puzzle off rip as Luke's timing appears to conflict with Matthew's account, placing Jesus' birth during Herod the Great's reign, which ended between 5 BC and 1 AD. And the intersection of this Roman administrative history and the biblical narrative gives our first glimpse into just the massive complexity of piecing together ancient historical events with the records that we still have.
Bethlehem, for the record, I think it's important to point out, holds a profound significance in ancient Jewish tradition. So the prophet Micah, maybe you've heard of him, he referred to it as being, quote, small among the clans of Judah, yet marked it as the prophesied birthplace of a future ruler. Just saying.
So this small town about six miles south of Jerusalem already kind of like earned its place in Jewish history as the birthplace of King David, right? So that's pretty important.
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Chapter 4: What archaeological findings exist in Nazareth?
I mean, the Bible does this, the Torah, and many other ancient texts where there's all sorts of prophecies where the scholars and prophets of old will kind of call the shot, point to the future and say, this is going to happen. So, of course, if King David is from Bethlehem, you can imagine Jesus being the new David of the bloodline of David will then also be from the same place.
And Micah says it's going to be the birthplace of a future ruler, which has to improve, like, property value, right? Yeah. If you're moving into a district, you have to fight tooth and nail to get into a good district in New York City. Imagine you're moving to a district, the real estate agent's like, yeah, technically the next king will be born in this area. So just keep that in mind.
You basically put yourself in the lottery for... Untold power, maybe even being the savior of the universe. I'm just saying. You think that the real estate agent would pepper that in. It's like open floor plan, HOAs, super, super easy, and your kid could be Jesus. So I'm just saying if I was back in the day, that's what I'd be doing. Make that into an HGTV show. Stat.
Anyway, archaeological evidence from the late 1st century BC and even into the early 1st century AD shows us a settled agricultural community, folks out there just farming, having some cattle. And although the exact size during the period of this area of Bethlehem is still kind of up for scholarly discussion, some debate, if you will.
The most tangible historical marker that we have today is the Church of the Nativity. This was constructed 326 AD under Emperor Constantine and his mother Helena. The church, one of the oldest continuously operating Christian churches in the entire world, was built to mark the traditional site of Jesus' birth.
While the structure itself kind of post-dates the actual events by about three centuries, the representation of the location in early Christian tradition about the birthplace is considered credible enough to warrant some type of imperial patronage.
The Gospel of Luke tells us that when Mary and Joseph arrived, they found, quote, no place for them at the inn, as you probably heard in a couple songs. Luke 2, chapter 2, verse 7. You can check it out there. This detail has, again, sparked considerable debate about the nature of accommodation and what the Airbnb situation was like in the first century Bethlehem.
Archaeologists from modern times that have gone back have gone through, and in this period, there's evidence that your typical Judean home often had space for guests, usually upper rooms or some type of attached facility. And the word translated as inn, It comes from Kataluma in Greek. How's my pronunciation, Christos?
Not bad.
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Chapter 5: What are the discoveries in Galilee?
So this is also a pivotal moment in history because this is a time of intense messianic expectation amongst the Jewish population and the high priests of the area. There's tons of prophetic traditions converging on Bethlehem as this sight of religious significance. So what route would you have taken to Bethlehem during this pivotal moment? Well, that's where we go to the Gospel of Matthew.
And this provides our only historical account of one of the most mysterious journeys in religious history ever. This is the flight of Jesus and his family to Egypt. So according to Matthew chapter 2, verses 13 to 15, an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream, warning him to flee with Mary and Jesus to escape King Herod's wrath.
What followed was a journey that would later be remembered as one of the seven sorrows of Mary within Catholic tradition. Although the historical details remain unknown.
unfortunately pretty sparse so let's examine what we actually know about the political climate that spurred this hasty departure all right so you got harrod the great this guy which my opinion not so great kind of a misnomer i mean if you have to put great in your name you're probably a piece of shit hot take alexander the great i mean i guess it depends how you ask right
If you ask the people of, I don't know, Alexandria that he slaughtered, I guess he did a lot of conversion and kind of like let them do their thing. All right, regardless, you get my point. So, Herod the Great, this, you know, again, this is from contemporary historical sources that confirm this, was notorious for his paranoid brutality. So many of these despots and dictators become so paranoid.
I mean, Stalin infamously was like the most paranoid dude in the world. Matter of fact, Stalin dies... Because he tests his men. He's inside his chambers and there are guards on the outside of his room and he's testing them. And he basically is like, you know, doing these tests where he'll like yell for help and they'll come in and then he'll punish them for trying to help. And then eventually...
Bro has a heart attack. He's yelling inside his room. He's like calling for help. And the guards go, we're not going in there because we've been punished before. So you get what you get. But he was so paranoid. He was like, I don't want anyone coming in my room ever under any circumstance. And that's ultimately what killed him. So Herod, similarly, equally is paranoid.
The Jewish historian Josephus documents how Herod executed several of his own sons and his beloved wife, Miriam, leading Emperor Augustus to reportedly quip that it was, quote, better to be Herod's pig than his son. This is a pointed reference, as you can imagine, to Herod's observance of Jewish dietary laws while showing basically no restraint to murdering his own boys.
And this context, I think, is important because it lends credibility to Matthew's account of the family's urgent flight from Herod's jurisdiction. So the presence of Jewish communities in Egypt during this period is well documented, particularly in Alexandria and the Nile Delta region.
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Chapter 6: What is Jacob's Well and its significance?
Archaeological evidence and a lot of contemporary writings confirm substantial Jewish settlements in this area at this time, making Egypt a logical refuge for a Jewish family to seek safety. However, it's also important to note that the biblical account doesn't specify which Egyptian community may have hosted the holy family or how long they stayed.
or really any other major details matthew simply states quote he stayed there until the death of herod what's up guys we're gonna take a quick break because i have great news religion camp has merch that's right we have amazing t-shirts like this one you see here and this one we got hats all sorts of very interesting designs not only for christianity the one i was raised in but for all religions hinduism sikhism islam judaism
Mormonism. I actually don't know if we have a Mormonism shirt, but maybe we can work on that if we got any, you know, Latter-day Saints trying to cop. Anyway, you can catch it all here at this link. We'll also have it in the description as well as the comments. Get that right now. And peace be with you. Alrighty, don't skip forward, guys, because I am on the road.
Chapter 7: What is the story of the Good Samaritan?
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Dates are in the description, also in probably the comments of this episode. Go see me on the road. Come hang out. I'll be hanging out with everyone after the show. Come shake my hand. Call me an idiot. Whatever you want to do, I will be there. Additionally, I will be doing... my one hour of standup comedy. I'm very proud of this hour. I'm really excited to share it with you guys.
And it would mean the world if everyone could come on out. And what do you wear to a show on the road? That's a great question. You can go to campgoods.co. That's right. We got merch. We got camp merch. We got hats, hoodies, t-shirts. A lot of stuff is out of stock. Things have been selling like hotcakes, but we're going to be restocking everything in all the sizes.
So you can go there right now, get all the merch, get all the coolest clothing in the podcast. game. We're going to be updating that site regularly. And if you come out to a show, I'd love to see you sporting some of the threads that we got up online. I'll see you guys there. Let's get back to the show.
Chapter 8: Did Jesus ever come to America?
While traditional routes between Judea and Egypt existed, including the ancient Via Maris, aka the Way of the Sea, and that connected Egypt with a lot of the Northern territories, we cannot definitively state which path the family took.
The Via Maris, well-documented in archaeological records and all that stuff, would have provided a possible route, but claiming any specific itinerary goes far beyond any type of historical or biblical evidence. What we do know from the archaeological findings is that this period saw a ton of travel and trade between
Judea and Egypt making a journey challenging, but completely feasible and possible even in that time. Matthew frames this journey as the fulfillment of a prophecy from the book of Hosea for chapter 11, verse one, quote, out of Egypt, I called my son.
This scriptural connection would have had a deep significance for Matthew's obviously Jewish audience, deliberately paralleling the Exodus narrative. And archaeological evidence from this period shows continued cultural and religious connections between Jewish communities in Judea and Egypt, suggesting that this kind of connection
you know, parallel, this biblical parallel, you could say, would have resonated with a lot of the readers of that time. The historical reality of the Jewish refugees seeking safety in Egypt during political upheavals is also really well documented, right? I mean, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph were not the only ones. So though we have no specific archaeological evidence of Jesus' family among them,
So, yeah, I mean, if we could pull up a map again, I'd actually be curious to see how far that is. So this is Galilee right there. We have Nazareth. And then you got to go all the way down Jerusalem, Bethlehem. And then Egypt is right down there. I mean, that's a bit of a hike, if I do say so myself. Right. Especially back in the day. No AC, no bodega. Just had to hoof it.
So now we get to Nazareth. This is a funny place. It's actually hilarious. There's a verse in the Bible where they're talking about Jesus of Nazareth. And the guys are looking at each other and they're like, what good has ever come out of Nazareth? Like, it's just like, it's hilarious. It's like being like Jesus of Toledo. You're like the saviors from Toledo, Ohio. You're like, yeah, of course.
Why not? So in 2009, an archaeologist by the name of Yardena Alexandre made a discovery that transformed our understanding of Nazareth in this first century. So under a modern convent, her team uncovered what the Israel Antiquities Authority confirmed as a first century house. And this wasn't some grand structure. We're not talking about some mansion with all sorts of rooms and stuff.
This is just a modest dwelling. with a small room, a little courtyard, cut into the limestone bedrock. While we can't definitively say Jesus visited this specific house, it gives us a glimpse into the kind of home that he likely would have known with his mother and father. So as Alexandra herself noted, this may well have been a place that Jesus and his contemporaries were familiar with.
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