FUENGIROLA, Spain – It’s a rather ordinary place, this cozy beachside bar & grill – as nondescript as the Galilee beach where Jesus found his first disciples.

The owners greet neighbors by first names and a kiss. Mothers park baby strollers at Formica tables topped with burgers and beer, olive oil and grilled swordfish. Old men shout at a telly lit with the day’s fútbol match.

But like a historic Bethlehem stable, The Bulldog café has proved a perfectly familiar setting to host the grandly unfamiliar in southern Spain – a public Bible...