Day: December 21, 2025
Israeli diaspora minister says Australia should have seen ‘writing on the wall’ before terror attack
Israel’s Amichai Chikli said Australian officials overlooked rising antisemitism and extremist rhetoric ahead of the Bondi Beach Hanukkah attack, criticizing the focus on gun laws.
What food safety experts say they won’t order when dining out at restaurants
Experts warn that foods like salads and sprouts carry serious foodborne illness risks — and several attorneys who have litigated major outbreaks say they avoid them.
You’ve got the Christmas story wrong: Lee Strobel tells Glenn Beck the ONE Greek word that shatters our classic narrative
Back in 2005, “The Case for Christ” author and Christian apologist Lee Strobel published a book called “The Case for Christmas: A Journalist Investigates the Identity of the Child in the Manger.”
In September this year, 20 years after its original publication, Strobel released an updated version of his Christmas book to include the latest scholarship, research, archaeological findings, and scientific insights that have emerged since.
On this episode of “The Glenn Beck Program,” Glenn interviews Strobel about these fascinating new findings that change the way we read the Christmas story.
According to the most widely accepted narrative, Mary and Joseph came to Bethlehem for the census, arrived at an inn, but were turned away by the innkeeper for lack of space, forcing Mary to give birth to Jesus in a separate stable or barn among animals, where she laid him in a manger.
But Strobel says there’s one Greek word that changes this narrative entirely, and that word is “kataluma.”
In the ancient manuscripts of the gospel of Luke, “kataluma” is the word used to describe the place where Mary and Joseph were turned away, but it doesn’t mean inn, according to most scholars.
It actually translates to “guest room.”
A typical house in first-century Bethlehem, Strobel explains, had “one large room broken down into two parts.”
“The larger part was a living area — that’s where people would live, eat, sleep — and then there was a couple of steps down to a smaller area where the animals were brought at night,” he explains.
However, because animals were often seen as beloved pets, sometimes they were allowed to come up into the main living area. A manger (a feeding trough) was therefore a common item in both the upper and lower spaces of the house.
Wealthier families also had a “kataluma” — a guest room — in their homes, used for hosting traveling family and friends.
The original scriptures say that Mary and Joseph were turned away from the “kataluma” because it was occupied. This means that the couple likely didn’t seek shelter at an inn at all but rather at a relative’s home.
It makes sense that the “kataluma” would have been full at this time because of all the people traveling into Bethlehem for the census. Mary and Joseph, Strobel explains, were likely told by their relatives that they could just stay and birth the baby in the main living area.
“And yes, there is a manger there. And yes, some of the animals may have come up the stairs because of the commotion,” he says, reiterating that animals and mangers were common in a home’s main living space.
“There probably was no inn,” he concludes.
But an imprecise translation for “kataluma” isn’t the only evidence for this new narrative.
Strobel explains that Luke uses the word “kataluma” only one other time in the book, and it clearly refers to a separate room in a family home. But he uses a different word — “pandocheion” — to refer to a traditional inn in the parable of the Good Samaritan.
“If he wanted to use the word ‘inn,’ he would have used ‘pandocheion,’ but he didn’t. He used ‘kataluma,’” he says.
Further, “in first-century Jewish culture, the value of hospitality was so high that it would have been impossible for an innkeeper to turn away a pregnant Jewish woman,” Strobel tells Glenn.
“It would have destroyed his business. … And we don’t even know there were any inns in Bethlehem. It was a small town — 500 people. It wasn’t on a main crossroads. There may or may not have even been an inn there in the first place,” he adds.
The revelation that Jesus was most likely born in a home rather than in a dirty barn “changes everything,” Glenn says.
But there are even more details that the traditional Christmas story gets wrong about Jesus’ birth, according to Strobel.
According to the standard narrative, Mary is on the verge of giving birth when she and Joseph arrive in Bethlehem, but this urgency, Strobel says, comes from “a book of fiction that was written in 200 A.D.”
The scriptures only tell us “that while they were in Bethlehem, she gave birth. Doesn’t say they’re in Bethlehem five minutes or five days or five months,” he explains.
To hear more incredible revelations from Strobel’s investigations into the authentic Christmas story, watch the video above.
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PBB Celebrity Collab 2.0: Miguel Vergara wins gift of immunity
Miguel Vergara has saved himself from the next nomination after winning the gift of immunity challenge. On Sunday”s episode of “Pinoy Big Brother: Celebrity Collab Edition 2.0”, Vergara, Lella Ford, and Rave Victoria were the last three housemates in the final test in which they needed to stand on eight wooden planks while holding a large gift box.
Go: DOF to lead investment push after OSAPIEA abolition
Finance Secretary Frederick Go said he will continue spearheading the Marcos administration”s investment promotion efforts despite the impending abolition of his former office, the Office of the Special Assistant to the President for Investment and Economic Affairs (OSAPIEA).
Cabral surveyed ravine before jumping to her death — DILG
Former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Undersecretary Catalina Cabral surveyed the ravine in Tuba, Benguet, which may indicate the “seriousness of the intent” to jump to her death, Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Jonvic Remulla said on Sunday.
Cambodia says Thai border clashes displace over half a million
PHNOM PENH – More than half a million people in Cambodia have been displaced by two weeks of deadly border clashes with neighbouring Thailand, Phnom Penh said Sunday, ahead of regional talks aimed at easing tensions. The renewed fighting between the Southeast Asian neighbours this month, including with tanks, drones and artillery, has killed at least 22 people in Thailand and 19 in Cambodia, officials said.
BRP Emilio Jacinto conducts maritime patrol, test fire off Zambales
The Philippine Navy”s Northern Luzon Naval Command (NLNC) last week conducted a maritime patrol and test fire of its 76 mm OTO Melara gun in the vicinity of Los Frailes Island, Zambales.
Concessionary beep ™ card issuance to pause from Dec. 22 to Jan. 4, 2026
There will be a suspension in the issuance of concessionary beep ™ cards in train stations from Dec. 22, 2025 to Jan. 4, 2026 to give way for a system maintenance.
Australian PM Albanese gets booed during Bondi Beach vigil honoring Hanukkah attack victims
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese faced boos at a vigil for Bondi Beach shooting victims Sunday, as some 10,000 mourners gathered to honor those killed.
