Tabor City tribune. (Tabor City, N.C.) 1946-1991, 1955-12-21

l''N1ltANs II y ~ lldl ~" IL uON u
10 a single year. We must turn.
to the Gospel according to Saint
Luke, and to the story of the
great taratIon.
PART III
What appears at first to be
4 definite clue in the second
sentence must be examined close
ly. The statement is that this
taxing was first made when
Cyrcnius was governor of Syria. a."
There is an implication here that
the particular taxing in question,
when Joseph and Mary went to
Bethlehem. was not the first one.
Now. Publicus SulpicuS Quirumu :
was Il consul in II Be, but the
date OF his becoming governor
of Syria is usually given rs )
or 6 AID. and. as We shall soon
see. 4 date so late for the birth
OF Jesus is quite impossible.
In a new translation Q9iO
THE New Testament in English"
by Monsignor Ronald 4. Knox
there is a discussion Of this dis
lutni verse. There is here an
'mbiguity in the Greek. and some
have thought the sense to be
This was the register which was
made before Quirumus was gov
orno" Of Syria This gives an
excellent sense: st. Luke would
he explaining that this was not
a." wcll-known census of the
ycrr : AID. which led to an in
surr"c.;on (Ac.s 5:3O. but an
earlier one. But the facts Uf
Quirinus' career are not fully
recorded.
In Greece. time was countc@
by Olvmpiads. Each fourth yea
the Olympic games we're held
md tie starting point chosen
for the reckoning was July :
80 &c, the traditional date OF
the battle fought between city
states ut GORGEOUS, in the days
WHEN there were several clans
or tribes in Greece.
In Earthquakes Flavius jose
81 nus. the great Jewish historian
relates that HCrod the Great
went 10 Rome and, by appro-
pirate gifts, secured the King
ship for himself" on the 1Sitf
Oympiad. when Caius DUmitius
Calvinus was consul the second
time. and Caius Asinius PolliC
the first time" Converted 70 our
reckoning. this must Rave bCC/
between July |, 40 3. C., and
July ]. 40 &c.
Again in "AntiquitTesT ok
xiv. Gu. xvi, Sec: ~. we finc
that Herod conquered Jerusalem
and was there confirmed as kim
con the 1S5th Olympiad. on the
third month tSeptember?). OF
the solcmnity Of the fast CIon
Kippur0. when Marcus Agripp.
and Caninus Gallus were :onsul
at Rome
Ire man we know as Cacs1
AUGUSTUS was born Caius DC
tavius. 1t was in q Be. that IN
as proclaimed Caesar Augustus
W the Roman Senate. At tn
: naval battle Of Actium. in Sen
= tcmbcr. 81 BIC, Octavianus dc
I fcatcd The forces of Antony an
{ Cleopatra and became master o
a., the entire Roman world.
u In his "Antiquities" (Bk. X
$ Oh. Y. Sec. ~, Josephus say
II that this fell in "the seventh yea
J. of the reign Cat Jerusalcm) G
Hcrod." Heroi, then, must hav
taken Jerusalem in 80 BIC, G
g possibly in the following yea
elm a later passage tBk. xvii, G
Il Vi. Sec. ~. we find that Hero
y fell i'll when he was about
II years Of age: little later les
'c 81. we read. "Now it happene
ID that during the high priesthoo
Il Of Matthias, there was anoth'
"a person made high priest for
'f single day. that very day whiC
the Jews observe as a feast (tE
IS Purim?) and that very nigl
Ig there was an eclipse of Il
IS Moon"
he In the following section Of u
Is work Of Josephus, we read, "B'
Sc now Herod's distemper great
re increased upon him." Finally
(Bk. XVII, Oh. viii, Sec.