It is not reasonable to think Luke would divert considerable attention to making sure every and all possible skeptical unbelievers have nothing to read which he doesn't back up with volumes of historical data.
Then the 24 chapters would expand to 24 volumes of perhaps 10,000 pages each.
He did tell us generally some facts to check as readers down through the age ...[text shortened]... ies of Tiberius, Pilate, Herod, Philip, Lysonias, Annas, Caiaphas, and Zachariah including son John?
'There is no record of Caesar Augustus' decree that "all the world should be enrolled" (Lk. 2:1). The Romans kept extremely detailed records of such events. Not only is Luke's census not in these records, it goes against all that we know of Roman economic history. Roman documents show that taxation was done by the various governors at the provincial level.'
Thanks Ghost. And other opinions will be noted by me, at least.
More than One Census Although on its face we seem to have a difficulty here, there are several pieces that we must consider before jumping to the conclusion that Luke and Josephus were speaking about the same event. Indeed, it seems that Caesar Augustus was the type of leader who ordered many censuses in his day. Records exist to show that Roman-controlled Egypt had begun a census as early as 10 B.C. and it was repeated every 14 years. And Augustus himself notes in his Res Gestae (The Deeds of Augustus) that he ordered three wide-spread censuses of Roman citizens, one in 28B.C., one in 8 B.C. and one in 14 A.D.2 In between there are several other censuses that happened locally across Rome. Luke's account corroborates the idea of multiple censuses for Judea when he writes "This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria." Certainly, the word "first" implies that more than one census happened.
[My bolding]
Read more at:
Is Luke Wrong About the Time of Jesus' Birth?
Myrrh
14 Feb '21 13:381 edit
Back to Top