Pope disputes the date of Jesus' birth

Posted on Friday, 23 November, 2012 | Comment icon

107 comments | News tip by: Still Waters

Image credit: Paulina Grabowiec

Pope Benedict has claimed that Jesus was actually born several years earlier than currently thought.

In a new book the Pope explains that the calendar we now use which was devised by 6th century monk Dionysius Exiguus is wrong on the basis that he made a mistake with his calculations. In the Gospel of Matthew it states that Jesus was born at the time when Herod the Great ruled in Judea, however Herod died in 4 A.D. Also in the Gospel of Luke it suggests that Jesus was born when Quirinius was governor of Syria in 6 A.D.

With so much conflicting information, the exact date of Jesus' birth has been a point of debate for theologians and scholars for centuries. Now that the head of the Catholic Church himself is leading the charge in questioning the established time-line, spiritual leaders and followers alike will no doubt be keen to reassess what they think they know of Biblical history.

Pope Benedict XVI has revealed in the third installment of his trilogy, dedicated to the life of Christ, that Jesus may have been born earlier than previously thought.

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Source: Telegraph

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#98 Posted by CS Lewis on 19 May, 2013, 17:33

my mistake: the above was in the other thread.

#99 Posted by Jor-el on 19 May, 2013, 18:25

The supposed advanced science for its time was wrong! Not only did it get the solar systems planetary formation it also got the age of the universe wrong. There are quite a number of scientific errors in the book, but all were accepted science in the 1920's. Be that as it may, the date it proposes is incorrect, since it directly contradicts not only the bible but known dates of the chronology of Jesus life. It is well known that Jesus was killed when he was 33 years old (on his way to his 34th year). If he was born in August 21, 7 B.C., that would put his death in the year 28 A.D.... [More]

#100 Posted by CS Lewis on 19 May, 2013, 18:40

& by Ernest P. Moyer

#101 Posted by Jor-el on 19 May, 2013, 19:06

From your links: The four in the indicate that was executed on a Friday afternoon on the 14th or 15th day of the Jewish month of Nisan, during the period from A.D.25 to A.D.36 when Pontius Pilate was procurator of So all that needs to be done is to find the Fridays that occurred in that interval. Such an investigation isolates 6 dates. From these, four can be eliminated from other chronological evidence, leaving the choice between two dates, April 7th in the year A.D.30 and April 3rd in A.D.33. Both correspond to the 14th day of Nisan in agreement with the gospel of John. Many inv... [More]

#102 Posted by docyabut2 on 19 May, 2013, 23:25

The Jewish historian recorded that in the year 6–7,[sup] [/sup] after the exile of (one of the sons and successors of ), Quirinius (in Greek, Κυρήνιος, sometimes transliterated Cyrenius), a , became governor ( ) of Syria, while an assistant named was assigned as the first governor ( ) of the newly-created . These governors were assigned to conduct a tax census for the in Syria and Iudaea [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Census_of_Quirinius"]http://en.wikipedia....us_of_Quirinius[/url] Herod Archelaus (23 BC – c. 18 AD) ... [More]

#103 Posted by Jor-el on 20 May, 2013, 0:25

Why would you think that? You are assuming two things here... 1. That the census referred to in Luke was the census under Quirinius of 6–7 A.D. It is not, since the census mentions the entire Roman world took part, not just Syria and Iudaea. 2. That the bible must have an error in its chronological narrative, it does not, Jesus was in fact born under Herod the Great, who contrary to popular perception died in 1 B.C. not 4 B.C., this is now admitted by a number of historians. As I said earlier, the census of Luke was not a census at all and is actually referred to by Josephus himsel... [More]

#104 Posted by CS Lewis on 20 May, 2013, 0:39

The original link of this thread, , affirms this:

#105 Posted by docyabut2 on 20 May, 2013, 1:10

Sorry did mean to say earlier

#106 Posted by docyabut2 on 20 May, 2013, 11:56

Herod Archelaus (23 BC – c. 18 AD) was the ethnarch of Samaria, Judea, and Idumea (biblical Edom) from 4 BC to 6 AD. He was the son of Herod the Great and Malthace the Samaritan, the brother of Herod Antipas, and the half-brother of Herod Philip I. Archelaus comes to power at the death of his father, Herod the Great, and the main development from the death of Herod through the important early reign of Archelaus is described by the Roman Historian Josephus in two passages, in Antiquities of the Jews, Book 17, Chapter 8, Section 4 and on into Chapter 9, and also in Wars of the Jews, Book ... [More]

#107 Posted by docyabut2 on 20 May, 2013, 14:25

Regarding the , although Herod the great was guilty of many brutal acts including the killing of his wife and two of his sons, no other source from the period refers to the massacre.[sup] [/sup]

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