Chapter One
The Date of Christ's Birth In Luke 2:10-11 the angel of the Lord announced to the
shepherds in the fields, "Do not be afraid for I bring you
good news of great joy which shall be for all people that
today a Savior, who is Christ the Lord, was born in the city
of David. And this will be a sign to you: you will find a baby
wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." The announcement
is familiar to all Christians. The Bible portrays that the
eternal Christ became incarnate beginning with His birth in
Bethlehem of Judah. It is therefore fitting to begin this study
of the chronology of the life of Christ at His birth.
The Year of Christ's Birth
The earliest Christians were not as much concerned
about the date as the fact of the birth of Christ. Chronological
notes, such as "In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius"
(Luke 3:1) marking the commencement of John the Baptist's
ministry, were sufficient.
In A.D. 525 Pope John I asked Dionysius, a Scythian
monk, to prepare a standard calendar for the Western
Church. Dionysius modified the Alexandrian system of dating,
which used as its base the reign of Diocletian, for he did
not want the years of history to be reckoned from the life of a
persecutor of the church, but from the incarnation of Christ.
The commencement of the Christian era was January 1, 754
A.U.C. (anno urbis conditae = from the foundation of the
city [of Rome]) and Christ's birth was thought to have been
on December 25th immediately preceding. So 754 A.U.C.
became A.D. 1 in the calendar of Dionysius.
The years before this date are denoted by B.C. (before
Christ) and after by A.D. (anno Domini = in the year of the
Lord) with no zero between 1 B.C. and A.D. 1. However,
later research indicated that the latest year for Herod's
death was 750 A.U.C. and Christ's birth, according to
Matthew, occurred before Herod's death. Hence, today it
is generally recognized that the birth of Christ did not occur
in A.D. 1 but some time before that.
As to how soon before A.D. 1 Christ was born, there is
great divergence of opinion. Olmstead dates it 20 B.C. and
more recently Ogg dates it as early as 11 B.C. On the other
hand Filmer would probably date it somewhere between 3
and 1 B.C. Hence there is a span of up to nineteen years.
In the broadest terms Luke 2:1 states that Christ was
born in the reign of Caesar Augustus (who reigned from
March 15, 44 B.C. to August 19, A.D. 14). Since this is so
broad, one needs to narrow the limits. In the attempt to
arrive at a more specific date, it is essential to establish two
concrete limits, the termini a quo (the earliest limiting point
in time) and ad quem (the final limiting point in time). With
respect to this, the terminus ad quem is the death of Herod
the Great, and the terminus a quo is the census of Quirinius
(Cyrenius).
TERMINUS AD QUEM: THE DEATH OF HEROD THE GREAT
According to Matthew 2:1 and Luke 1:5, Christ's birth
came before Herod's death. Herod was proclaimed king of
the Jews by the Roman Senate in late 40 B.C. by nomination
of Antony and Octavian and with the help of the Roman
army he gained the possession of his domain in 37 B.C. He
reigned for thirty-seven years from the time he was made
king or thirty-four years from the time of his possession of
the land.
According to Josephus, an eclipse of the moon occurred
shortly before Herod's death. It is the only eclipse ever
mentioned by Josephus and this occurred on March 12/13, 4
B.C. After his death there was the celebration of the
Passover, the first day of which would have occurred on
April 11, 4 B.C. Hence, his death occurred sometime between
March 12th and April 11th. Since the thirty-fourth
year of his reign would have begun on Nisan 1, 4 B.C. (March
29, 4 B.C.), his death would have occurred some time
between March 29 and April 11, 4 B .C. Therefore, for
these reasons, Christ could not have been born later than
March/April of 4 B.C.
TERMINUS A QUO: THE CENSUS OF QUIRINIUS
According to Luke 2:1-5 a census was taken just before
Christ's birth. Thus, Christ could not have been born before
the census. The purpose of a census was to provide statistical
data for the levy of taxes in the provinces. This census
mentioned by Luke is one of the thorny problems of the New
Testament and the major portion of this chapter will be
concerned with it. Schürer states that Luke cannot be historically
accurate because: (1) nothing is known in history of a
general census in the time of Augustus; (2) in a Roman
census Joseph would not have had to travel to Bethlehem,
but would have registered in the principal town of his residence,
and Mary would not have had to register at all; (3)
no Roman census would have been made in Palestine during
Herod's reign; (4) Josephus records nothing of a Roman
census in Palestine in the time of Herod-rather the census
of A.D. 6-7 was something new among the Jews; and (5) a
census held under Quirinius could not have occurred during
Herod's reign for Quirinius was not governor until after
Herod's death. As weighty as these objections may seem,
they can be answered.
(Continues.)
