Transcript Has History Disproved Christmas?

Has History Disproved Christmas?
Has History Disproved Christmas?
MATTHEW'S STORY
LUKE'S STORY

1:1-17 Genealogy


1:18-23 Joseph finds out


1:24-25 Joseph marries Mary



1:25b Jesus born

2:1-12 Magi


2:13-15 Flee to Egypt

2:16-18 Herod kills babies



2:19-23 JM&J go to Nazareth
after Herod dies.



1:1-25 John's birth foretold
1:26-38 Jesus' birth foretold
1:39-56 Mary visits Elizabeth
1:57-80 Birth of John
2:1-5 Census
2:6-7 Birth of Jesus
2:8-20 Shepherds and Angels
2:21 Circumcision of Jesus
2:22-38 Presentation at the
Temple
2:39-40 JM&J go to Nazareth
Has History Disproved Christmas?
CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER

Luke 1

Matthew 1:18-25

Luke 2:1-21

Matthew 2:1-12

Luke 2:22-39

Matthew 2:13-23

Luke 2:40-52
Has History Disproved Christmas?
COMMON FEATURES

Mary and Joseph engaged

Jesus conceived by the Holy Spirit

Angels announce it

Jesus born in Bethlehem

Herod

Move to Nazareth
Has History Disproved Christmas?
MATTHEW'S
PRIORITIES

Jesus as the True Israel




LUKE'S
PRIORITIES

Joseph's POV
Jesus as the one who
comes out of Egypt
Jesus as the one who
receives the riches of the
nations
Opposed by the existing
Israel
Jesus as the includer of the
excluded
 Mary's POV


Shepherds
Focus on the Temple

Zechariah

Simeon, Anna
Has History Disproved Christmas?
“THE CENSUS PROBLEM”
1.There was no known empire-wide census under
Augustus
2.No Roman census would have required Joseph to
go to Bethlehem to register
3.Israel under Herod wasn't part of the Roman
Empire
4.Josephus wrote that the first Roman census was
under Quirinius in AD6, and that caused a revolt
5.Quirinius wasn't governor of Syria until 10 years
after Herod died.
Has History Disproved Christmas?
TIMELINE
36BC Herod the Great becomes King of Israel, with
Roman support
4BC Herod the Great dies. Israel is split up into
Roman provinces.
AD6 Quirinius becomes governor of Syria after
Herod's son, Archaelus, is sacked by Rome.
AD6 Large census in Judea leads to rioting.
AD525 Dionysius Exiguus invents the AD/BC dating
system. He guesses when Jesus was born based
on dates of Roman Emperors.
Has History Disproved Christmas?
DEALING WITH THE PROBLEMS
1) The Romans liked doing censuses because they
liked taxing people. We know there was ongoing
census activity across the Roman Empire at the
time of Herod.
3) We also know that vassal kings (like Herod) did
censuses too when Rome told them to. There's
even evidence that Jews under Herod were paying
Roman taxes (and hence had been censused).
Has History Disproved Christmas?
DEALING WITH THE PROBLEMS
Luke is generally a very reliable historian. If there was
a census for Roman taxation and at Roman
command under Herod, it makes sense that...
2 & 4) If Herod did a census (before 4BC), he might
have done it Jewish-style rather than Roman-style.
A Jewish-style census could well involve going to
ancestral towns, especially if Joseph owned land in
Bethlehem as he might well do if descended from
David. A Jewish-style census wouldn't have caused
riots like the Roman-style one in AD6 and so is less
likely to be mentioned by Josephus.
Has History Disproved Christmas?
PROBLEMS FOR THE PROBLEMS
There's other evidence that the census is an
otherwise unknown one before 4BC.



No other period would have required going from Nazareth
to Bethlehem – they were in different provinces after 4BC
Luke clearly knows about the 6AD census and the
rebellion – he mentions it in Acts 5:37. This is a different
census...
We only have one person outside the Bible writing about
this period in Israel, Josephus, and he's focusing on how
the Romans ended up destroying Israel. He has no reason
to mention a peaceful census.
Has History Disproved Christmas?
SO WHAT ABOUT QUIRINIUS?
Luke 2:2 This was the first census that took place
whilea Quirinius was governor of Syria. (NIV 2010)
Footnote - “Or this census took place before...”
The word in question is πρωτος - dictionaries define
it as “first, before, greatest”. So it could be talking
about the census BEFORE the one where Quirinius
was governor of Syria (the one in AD6 which
caused all the trouble).
Has History Disproved Christmas?
SO WHAT ABOUT QUIRINIUS?
Alternatively, the verse literally reads
“this was the first census of Quirinius, governor of
Syria.”
Q may well have been asked to administer the
census by Herod, even though he wasn't governor
of Syria yet, in the same way we might talk about
“President George W Bush” for something he did as
a young man.
Has History Disproved Christmas?
CONCLUSIONS
Evidence from historians of the time and archaeology is
necessarily incomplete. We shouldn't expect them to tell us
everything.
The events described in the Bible fit with each other, and
don't directly contradict what else we know of the period.
Some details (e.g. Herod's character) fit very well with what
we know of the period.
If God became man at Christmas, we'd expect there to be
miracles, angels and so on, so they don't cause a problem.
Therefore history has not disproved Christmas.