The Bible is right! Part 2

I am attempting a slightly different format and I want to clarify a few things. A [bracket] with a number symbolizes a footnote whereas a (#) with a number symbolizes a bibliographic reference. 1. WHAT YEAR WAS JESUS BORN? I have cited a contradiction between Matthew and Luke discussing what year Jesus was born. Obviously he could not have been born in the year 6 BCE and 6 CE. My opponent is incorrect in stating that I brought up a historical error. I brought up a clear contradiction between two authors which state that Jesus was born either before 4 BCE or after 4 BCE. An example of this type of contradiction is akin to say that one author stated that it was in the presidency of Ronald Reagan and the other stating that it is during the time when Bloomberg was governor of New York! Huh? Wrong dates! My opponent attempts to play semantics by stating that we don’t know for sure we are in 2012. When we say that we are in the year 2012, we mean that it is the method by which we use to keep time. In our keeping of time, we are in the year 2012. [1] So, how do we know for certain that Herod the King died in 4 BCE? Well, we can say that because Josephus recorded the execution of 42 people who attempted a revolt against Idumean. Josephus recorded an eclipse of the moon that occurred the night of this execution which allows for astronomical calculations which sets the date of the executions around March 13th, 4 BCE. Because Herod died a few days later, we can be confident that he died in the second half of March 4 BCE. To put one more nail in the coffin, we know that during the last years of Herod’s reign, the governors of Syria were C. Sentius Saturinius and Quintilius Varus. (1) Was Qurinius Governor Twice? My opponent wiggles out of the contradiction by arguing that “all Christian scholars, even Fundamentalists, agree that Cyrenius (sic) was governor twice. We know this as a fact. ” 1) Please bring up historical evidence for this; 2) Please cite SECULAR historians about this known “fact”; and 3) This doesn’t resolve the fact that we know for certain that the census happened in 6 CE. (2) 2. THE CHRONOLOGY OF THE NATIVITY My opponent is correct, perhaps I should have clarified what I meant by the contradiction here. In this round, I’ll clarify what I mean. Matthew and Luke give two contradictory chronologies[2] of the birth of Jesus. This cannot be reconciled. Matthew starts off on the wrong foot by placing the hometown in Bethlehem (Mt. 1:24-2:1) whereas Luke gives a long journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem (Luke 2). Luke records that after Jesus was born; Jesus was taken to the temple, circumcised, and then immediately returned to Nazareth (Luke 3). This whole process of becoming clean and circumcising Jesus takes only 40 days! (3) So to summarize, here is a chart (4): Matthew's Chronology Bethlehem - Egypt - Nazareth 1:24-2:1 2:13-16 2:21-23 Luke's Chronology Nazareth - Bethlehem - Jerusalem - Nazareth 1:26-27 2:1-4 2:22 2:39 3. HOW DID JUDAS DIE? I'm out of room to fully respond. [1] Just a sidebar note, several different religions and cultures do count time different. For example, in Jewish time, it is the year 5772 (. http://judaism.about.com... ) and in the Chinese year it is past the year 4000 (. http://en.wikipedia.org... ). [2] Note, I have changed from interlinership to chronology for purpose of clarification. Bibliography 1. Tobin, Paul. On Herod and Quirinius. The Rejection of Pascal's Wager: A Skeptic's Guide to Christianity. [Online] [Cited: June 2012, 16. ] . http://rejectionofpascalswager.net.... 2. Carrier, Richard. The Date of the Nativity in Luke. The Secular Web. [Online] 2011. [Cited: June 16, 2012. ] . http://www.infidels.org.... 3. Birth and the First Month of Life . Judaism 101. [Online] [Cited: June 2012, 15. ] See also the Nelson KJV Study Bible on Luke 2 and 3. . . http://www.jewfaq.org.... 4. Tobin, Paul. The "Return" to Nazareth. The Rejection of Pascal's Wager: A Skeptic's Gude to Christianity. [Online] [Cited: June 15, 2012. ]