Perhaps the best entry point to a realistic understanding of Christian origins is to ask the question, Where were Jesus's parents living immediatly prior to Jesus's birth? I find these days a surprising number of people struggle to give any answer to this question. Nearly everyone knows that Jesus is supposed to have been born in Bethlehem. And many will also know the story that he was born in a manger in a stable, because there was no room at the inn. And that Jesus's parents were staying in an inn because they had come up from Nazareth in Gallilee. So many get to the answer that Jesus's parents lived in Nazareth and hence "Jesus of Nazareth".
The first extraordinary thing to note about these extraordinary events is that two of the four Gospels, the so called good news about Jesus Christ is that two of the Gospels don mention them at all. The second is that the two Gospels, Matthew and Luke that do describe them are complelty contradictory in their accounts. Both Gospels want Jesus to be born in Bethlehem, King David's city, but for him to be known as Jesus of Nazareth. In Luke Matthew Jesus's parents live in
Now it happened that at this time Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be made of the whole inhabited world. This census -- the first -- took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria,and everyone went to be registered, each to his own town. So Joseph set out from the town of Nazareth in Galilee for Judaea, to David's town cal ed Bethlehem,since he was of David's House and line,in order to be registered together with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. fn1