RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Beth Bethune-Baker
by a silver star in the floor of a niche. Opposite is the place, a marbled hollow, of the old " genuine " manger. A passage westward leads to the tomb and chapel of Jerome.
This subterranean room, according to tradition
continuous since Constantine, is accepted as the
place of Jesus's birth. A tradition
The Tradi- can be traced back to Justin Martyr
tional Place that Jesus was born in a cave, since
of Jesus's Joseph could find no accommodation Birth. in the village. But it has been disproved that the present chapel is a [natural] cave, while it must be noted that as early as 728 it was reported that the form of the cave was changed and an oblong room hewn out. The use of caves as adjuncts to inns or " shelters " is in Palestine a peculiarity of the country.
Five minutes southeast from the church of St. Mary is the so-called "Milk Grotto" of the Latins, in which Joseph, Mary, and the child are said to have concealed themselves from Herod's fury before the flight into Egypt. The white of the limestone is attributed to the fall of a drop of milk from Mary's breast. Ten minutes northeast from Beth Sahur (itself fifteen minutes east from Bethlehem) is .shown the "Grotto of the Shepherds," in which the angels are said to have announced to the shepherds the birth of the Holy Child. The underground chapel is reached by a passage between two ancient -olive-trees.
One of the fruits of modern missions is the honoring of Jesus in his birthplace, not by sanctuaries in stone, but by provision for the education of the young. Since 1860 there have been a number of Protestant and Roman Catholic schools and establishments, the founding of which has spurred the Greeks and Armenians to accomplish something for the instruction of children belonging to their communities. (H. Guthe.)
Bibliography: Robinson, Researches, vol. ii; T. Tobler, Bethlehem in Palastina, Bern, 1849; V. Guerin, Description de la Palestine, Judee, i, 120 sqq., Paris, 1869; Survey of Western Palestine, Memoirs, vol. iii, sheet xvii, London, 1883; P. Palmer, Das jetzige Bethlehem, in ZDPV. xvii (1894), 89 sqq.; Baedeker, Palestine and Syria, pp. 119- 127, New York, 1898; DB, i, 281; EB, i, 560-562. On the church consult M. de Vogue1, Les Eglises de la terre sainte, Paris, 1860; Quaresmius, Elucidatio terra; sancta, ii, 643 sqq., Antwerp, 1639, reissued Venice, 1880-82; G. Ebers and H. Guthe, Palastina in Bild und Wort, 2 vols., Leip. sic, 1883-84.
BETHLEHEMITES : The name of three religious orders. (1) An association of Bethleemitce, known only from Matthew Paris (Hist, ma]., 839), who states that they existed at Cambridge, England, about 1257 and wore the Dominican habit, with a red star, referring to Matt, ii, 9-10. (2) The Knights and Hospitalers of the Blessed Mary of Bethlehem (Religio militaris ac hospitalis beatce Marias Bethlemitance), founded by Pius II in 1459 to fight against the Turks. They wore a white habit with a red cross, were given the island of Lemnos as their seat, and did not survive the capture of the island by the Turks in the year of their foundation. (3) More important are the Bethlehem Brothers (Fratres Bethlemitce ; Spanish, Orden de -Belemitas) of Guatemala (Central America), founded
there about 1650 by Pierre de Bethencourt and after his death (1667) under the leadership of the brothers Rodrigo and Antonio de la Cruz. Originally entrusted only with the care of the hospital of Mary of Bethlehem in Guatemala, the order was confirmed by Innocent XI in 1687 and given a constitution and dress like that of the Capuchins. Clement XI in 1707 granted them the privileges of the mendicant orderr. A society of Sisters of Bethlehem was founded in Guatemala by Anna Maria del Galdo in 1668, and both the male and femalo branches spread in Mexico, Peru, and elsewhere. A secularization-decree of the Spanish Cortes in 1820 suppressed both branches.
O. ZoCKLERf.
Bibliography: Heirnbucher, Orden und Kongregationen, i, 497-498; G. Voigt, Enea Silvio . als Papst Pius, ii, 652, Berlin, 1863; Karl vom heiligen Aloys, Die katholische Kirche in ihrer gegenwartigen Ausbreitung, pp. 510- 511, Regensburg, 1885; Helyot, Ordres monastiques, iii, 347- 357, viii, 365 sqq. ; KL, ii, 540-544 (contains list of literature in Spanish).
BETHPHANY : A name sometimes given to the festival more commonly known as the Epiphany. It is a barbarous invention of the schoolmen, from the Hebrew beth, " house," and the Greek -phaneia, " manifestation," which forms the latter part of the word Epiphany; and was intended to emphasize the miracle (in the house) at Cana in Galilee, which is the third event commemorated by the festival of the Epiphany (q.v.).
BETHSAIDA. See Gatjlanitis.
BETHUNE, be-thun', GEORGE WASHINGTON : Reformed (Dutch) clergyman; b. in Greenwich, now a part of New York City, Mar. 18, 1805; d. at Florence, Italy, Apr. 27, 1862. He was graduated at Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pa., 1823; studied at Princeton Seminary 1823-25; served for a year as missionary among the negroes and sailors at Savannah, Ga.; was ordained Nov., 1827, and was pastor of Reformed (Dutch) churches at Rhinebeck (1827-30) and Utica (1830-34), N. Y., Philadelphia (First Church, 1834-37; Third Church, 1837-49), and Brooklyn (1851-59); was associate minister at the Twenty-first Street Church, New York, 1859-61. He was famed as a preacher and orator, as a poet, and as a wit. Of his numerous publications, perhaps that of most permanent value was his edition of Walton's Complete Angler (New York, 1847; new ed., 2 vols., 1880).
Bibliography: A. R. Van Nest, Memoirs of Rev. George W. Bethune, 2 vols., New York, 1880.
BETHUNE-BAKER, JAMES FRANKLIN: Church of England; b. at Birmingham Aug. 23, 1861. He was educated at Pembroke College, Cambridge (B.A., 1884), and was head master's assistant at King Edward's School, Birmingham, and assistant curate of St. George's, Edgbaston, from 1888 to 1890. In the following year he was elected fellow and dean of Pembroke College, and since 1905 has also been examining chaplain to the bishop of Rochester. He has been the editor of the Journal of Theological Studies since 1903, and has written The Influence of Christianity on War (Cambridge, 1888); The Sternness of Christ's Teaching (1889); The Meaning
Betkius Beyschlag