In the story earlier, there is some controversy over its ability to be verified. Here are some notes from some bloggers who are sticklers for detail:

1. From Nick Jones at Christian-Intellect.blogspot.com: Most material from the story was taken from the writings of the 19th century scholar, Alfred Edersheim. Where there is evidence for a Tower of the Flock, there is NO written evidence for the swaddling clothes of the priests nor them laying the lambs in a manger for safe-keeping.
2. From Shawn Beaty in response to Nick’s blog: “Thank you for this article as well. Like you, I could not find any scholarly evidence to support the practice of the passover lamb being wrapped in swaddling. I have been to the tower of the flock and there is no way Christ was born in the tower like DeYoung alleges [NOT part of the story I quoted is a postulation that Christ was actually BORN in the tower of the flock]. Consequently [Alternatively] there is a threshing floor and a cave very close to there (within 100 yards). The cave has the Davidic symbol over the entrance. Above it there is the ruin of a late first-2nd century church building. It is also right next to the Roman Road that would have passed through the area. It can not be proved but it shows that there is a lot of circumstantial evidence to prove that Constantine’s mother was looking for a great place to build the church of the Nativity [a few miles away] and [was not actually looking for] the actual birth place of Christ. But I remind us all, no site is Holy! God is!”
3. A shepherd/goatherd gave testimony that sheep don’t need swaddling. In fact, they stand up pretty quickly and take care of themselves. Humans are swaddled; sheep are not.

As we can see, we must be careful about what we count as fact. Just because it’s in a book doesn’t make it Gospel. My thanks to Robin for looking it up. My reckoning is that if God wants us to know such details, then He will reveal them as He has so many important facts, i.e. the Dead Sea Scrolls, the excavation of the underground Jerusalem that is going on even today!

What we CAN count on is the biblical account of Christ’s birth. It’s miraculous all by itself!