Billy Graham in: Tricia Goyer Generation NeXt Parenting: A Savvy Parent's Guide to Getting it Right, Doubleday Religious Publishing Group, 23 June 2010, p. 313.

One response was given by the innkeeper when Mary and Joseph wanted to find a room where the Child could be born. The innkeeper was not hostile; he was not opposed to them, but his inn was crowded; his hands were full; his mind was preoccupied. This§ is the answer that millions are giving today. Like a Bethlehem innkeeper, they cannot find room for Christ. All the accommodations in their hearts are already taken up by other crowding interests. Their response is not atheism. It is not defiance. It is preoccupation and the feeling of being able to get on reasonably well without Christianity.

— Billy Graham on Bethlehem

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "One response was given by the innkeeper when Mary and Joseph wanted to find a room where the Child could be born. The innkeeper was not hostile; he was not opposed to them, but his inn was crowded; his hands were full; his mind was preoccupied. This§ is the answer that millions are giving today. Like a Bethlehem innkeeper, they cannot find room for Christ. All the accommodations in their hearts are already taken up by other crowding interests. Their response is not atheism. It is not defiance. It is preoccupation and the feeling of being able to get on reasonably well without Christianity." in the context of "Billy Graham in: Tricia Goyer Generation NeXt Parenting: A Savvy Parent's Guide to Getting it Right, Doubleday Religious Publishing Group, 23 June 2010, p. 313." to mean that wisdom is timeless.

Quote Image
Source: Wikiquote: "Bethlehem" (Quotes) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Billy Graham

About Billy Graham

William Franklin Graham, Jr. (November 7, 1918 - February 21, 2018), better known as Billy Graham, was an Evangelical Christian and an evangelist.