Date of birth of Jesus

The date of birth of Jesus is not stated in the gospels or in any historical reference, but most theologians assume a date of birth between 6 BC and 1 BC. The historical evidence is too incomplete to allow a definitive dating,Doggett. (2000). "Calendars" (Ch. 12), in P. Kenneth Seidelmann (Ed.) Explanatory supplement to the astronomical almanac. Sausalito, CA: University Science Books. . p579: "Although scholars generally believe that Christ was born some years before AD 1, the historical evidence is too sketchy to allow a definitive dating". but the date is estimated through two different approaches—one by analyzing references to known historical events mentioned in the nativity accounts in the Gospels of Luke and Matthew, and the second by working backward from the estimation of the start of the ministry of Jesus.Paul L. Maier "The Date of the Nativity and Chronology of Jesus" in Chronos, kairos, Christos: Nativity and chronological studies by Jerry Vardaman, Edwin M. Yamauchi 1989 pp. 113–129New Testament History by Richard L. Niswonger 1992 pp. 121–124
==Estimation via the Nativity accounts==
The nativity accounts in the New Testament gospels of Matthew and Luke do not mention a date or time of year for the birth of Jesus, and Karl Rahner states that the gospels do not, in general, provide enough details of dates to satisfy the demands of modern historians.Encyclopedia of theology: a concise Sacramentum Mundi by Karl Rahner 2004 p. 731 Many modern scholars do not see the Luke and Matthew nativity stories as historically factual,Marcus Borg, "The Meaning of the Birth Stories" in Marcus Borg, N T Wright, The Meaning of Jesus: Two Visions (Harper One, 1999) page 179: "I (and most mainline scholars) do not see these stories as historically factual."Funk, Robert W. and the Jesus Seminar. The Acts of Jesus: The Search for the Authentic Deeds of Jesus. HarperSanFrancisco. 1998 page 499: “There is very little in the two infancy narratives that reflects historical reminiscence.” and for this reason, they do not consider them a reliable method for determining Jesus' date of birth.Sanders, E. P. The historical figure of Jesus. Penguin, 1993, pages 85–88 Karl Rahner states that the authors of the gospels generally focused on theological elements rather than historical chronologies.Encyclopedia of theology: a concise Sacramentum Mundi by Karl Rahner 2004 page 731
Both Luke and Matthew associate Jesus' birth with the time of Herod the Great. Matthew 2:1 states that "Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king". He also implies that Jesus could have been as much as two years old at the time of the visit of the Magi, because Herod ordered the murder of all boys up to the age of two years, "in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi". Matthew 2:16 Most scholars agree that Herod died in 4 BC, although a case has also been made that Herod died only in 1 BC.
Luke 1:5 mentions the reign of Herod shortly before the birth of Jesus, but places the birth during the Census of Quirinius, which only took place ten years later in AD 6 as described by the Jewish historian Josephus. He, in his Antiquities of the Jews (c. AD 93), indicates that Cyrenius/Quirinius' governorship of Syria began in AD 6, and Josephus mentions a census sometime between AD 6–7.Flavius Josephus. The Antiquities of the Jews, Book 18, Chapters 1–2. Josephus indicates that the census under Cyrenius (i.e., Quirinius) occurred in the 37th year after Octavian's (i.e., Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus') victory over Marc Antony at Actium, which secular historical records date to 2 September 31 BC. Therefore 31 BC + 37 years = AD 6–7.
Most scholars believe Luke made an error in referring to the census.Nikos Kokkinos, 1998, in Chronos, kairos, Christos 2 by Ray Summers, Jerry Vardaman pages 121–126C.F. Evans, Tertullian's reference to Sentius Saturninus and the Lukan Census in the Journal of Theological Studies (1973) XXIV(1): 24–39 Raymond E. Brown notes that "most critical scholars acknowledge a confusion and misdating on Luke's part".Raymond E. Brown, An Adult Christ at Christmas: Essays on the Three Biblical Christmas Stories, (Liturgical Press, 1988), p. 17.For example, Dunn, James Douglas Grant (2003), Jesus Remembered, Eerdmans. p. 344. Similarly, Erich S. Gruen, "The expansion of the empire under Augustus", in The Cambridge ancient history Volume 10, p. 157.Geza Vermes, The Nativity, Penguin 2006, p. 96.W. D. Davies and E. P. Sanders, "Jesus from the Jewish point of view", in The Cambridge History of Judaism ed William Horbury, vol 3: the Early Roman Period, 1984Anthony Harvey, A Companion to the New Testament (Cambridge University Press 2004), p. 221.Meier, John P., A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus. Doubleday, 1991, v. 1, p. 213.Brown, Raymond E. The Birth of the Messiah: A Commentary on the Infancy Narratives in Matthew and Luke. London: G. Chapman, 1977, p. 554.A. N. Sherwin-White, pp. 166, 167.Fergus Millar repr. in As a result, most scholars generally accept a date of birth between 6 and 4 BC, the year in which Herod died. Tertullian believed, some two centuries later, that a number of censuses were performed throughout the Roman world under Saturninus at the same time.Nikos Kokkinos, 1998, in Chronos, kairos, Christos 2 by Ray Summers, Jerry Vardaman pp. 121–126The Life of Jesus of Nazareth by Rush Rhees 2007 Section 54 Some biblical scholars and commentators believe the two accounts can be harmonised,Frederick Fyvie Bruce, The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable? (1943; republished Eerdman, 2003), p. 87–88. arguing that the text in Luke can be read as "registration before Quirinius was governor of Syria", i.e. that Luke was actually referring to a completely different census. These arguments have been rejected by the mainstream as "exegetical acrobatics", in the words of Geza Vermes, springing from the assumption that the Bible is inerrant, and most scholars have concluded that Luke's account is an error.
==Working backwards from when Jesus began preaching==
Another approach to estimating the year of birth works backwards from when Jesus began preaching, based on the statement in Luke 3:23 that he was "about 30 years of age" at that time.The Cradle, the Cross, and the Crown: An Introduction to the New Testament by Andreas J. Köstenberger, L. Scott Kellum 2009 page 114 Jesus began to preach after being baptised by John the Baptist, and based on Luke’s gospel John only began baptising people in "the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar" (Luke 3:1–2), which scholars estimate would be in about AD 28–29.Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible 2000 Amsterdam University Press page 249The Bible Knowledge Background Commentary: Matthew-Luke, Volume 1 by Craig A. Evans 2003 pages 67–69 By working backwards from this, it would appear that Jesus was probably born no later than 1 BC.Christianity and the Roman Empire: background texts by Ralph Martin Novak 2001 pages 302–303 Another theory is that Herod's death was as late as after the January eclipse of 1 BC or even AD 1 after the Dec 1 BC eclipse.
This date is independently confirmed by John's reference in John 2:20 to the Temple being in its 46th year of construction during Passover when Jesus began his ministry, which corresponds to around 27–29 AD according to scholarly estimates.Jack V. Scarola, "A Chronology of the nativity Era" in Chronos, kairos, Christos 2 by Ray Summers, Jerry Vardaman 1998 pages 61–81
==Christmas celebration==
Despite the celebration of Christmas in December, neither Luke nor Matthew mentions a season for when Jesus was born. However, scholarly arguments regarding the realism of shepherds grazing their flock during the winter have taken place, both challenging a winter birth for Jesus as well as defending it by relying on the mildness of winters in ancient Israel and rabbinic rules regarding sheep near Bethlehem before February."New Testament History" by Richard L. Niswonger 1992 pp. 121–124Luke: an introduction and commentary by Leon Morris 1988 p. 93Stories of Jesus' Birth by Edwin D. Freed 2004 pp. 136–137
Alexander Murray of History Today says that the celebration of Christmas as the birth day of Jesus is based on a date of a pagan feast rather than historical analysis.Murray, Alexander, "Medieval Christmas", History Today, December 1986, 36 (12), pp. 31–39. Saturnalia, the Roman feast for Saturn, was associated with the winter solstice. Saturnalia was held on 17 December of the Julian calendar and later expanded with festivities through to 23 December. The holiday was celebrated with a sacrifice at the Temple of Saturn, in the Roman Forum, and a public banquet, followed by private gift-giving, continual partying, and a carnival atmosphere that overturned Roman social norms. It is likely that such a Christian feast was chosen for Christ's marked contrast and triumph over paganism; indeed, new converts who attempted to introduce pagan elements into the Christian celebrations were sharply rebuked.
December 25 may have been selected due to its proximity to the winter solstice, because of its theological significance. After the solstice, the days begin to lengthen with more sunlight, which Christians see as representing the Light of Christ entering the world. This mirrors the celebration of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist on June 24, near the summer solstice; John said of Jesus "He must increase, I must decrease." 
In the 1st and 2nd centuries, the Lord's Day (Sunday) was the earliest Christian celebration and included a number of theological themes. In the 2nd century, the Resurrection of Jesus became a separate feast as Easter and in the same century Epiphany began to be celebrated in the Churches of the East on 6 January.An introductory dictionary of theology and religious studies by Orlando O. Espín, James B. Nickoloff 2007 page 237 The festival of the Nativity which later turned into Christmas was a 4th-century feast in the Western Church notably in Rome and North Africa, although it is uncertain exactly where and when it was first celebrated.Christian worship in Reformed Churches past and present by Lukas Vischer 2002 pages 400–401
The earliest source stating 25 December as the date of birth of Jesus is likely by Hippolytus of Rome, written very early in the 3rd century, based on the assumption that the conception of Jesus took place at the Spring equinox which he placed on 25 March, and then added nine months – festivals on that date were then celebrated.Mercer Dictionary of the Bible by Watson E. Mills, Edgar V. McKnight and Roger A. Bullard 2001 page 142 25 March would also roughly be the date of his crucifixion, which ancient Christians would have seen as confirming the date of his birth, since there was a notion that the great prophets were conceived into the afterlife on the same date they were conceived into the world. John Chrysostom also argued for a 25 December date in the late 4th century, basing his argument on the assumption that the offering of incense in was the offering of incense by a high priest on Yom Kippur (early October), and, as above, counting fifteen months forward. However, this was very likely a retrospective justification of a choice already made rather than a genuine attempt to derive the correct birth date.Roger T. Beckwith (2001). Calendar and chronology, Jewish and Christian: biblical, intertestamental and patristic studies, p. 72
Lastly, 25 December might be a reference to the date of the Feast of the Dedication, which occurs on the 25 Kislev of the Jewish calendar. This would require that early Christians simply translated Kislev directly to December.
==In Islam==
In Islam, the Quran references a fruit branch which Mary shook as she gave birth. This fruit, the date, is known to ripen during the summer months. Though, this story is likely derived from a legend in the Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew."Oddbjørn Leirvik. 2010. Images of Jesus Christ in Islam, second edition. London: Continuum International Publishing Group, pp. 304, Pb, £19.99. ISBN-13: 9781441181602.." , 16(3), p. 343
==See also==
* Adoration of the shepherds
* Anno Domini
* Ante Christum Natum
* Baptism of Jesus
* Christ myth theory
* Chronology of Jesus
* Common Era
* Detailed Christian timeline
* Gospel harmony
* Historical Jesus
* Historicity of Jesus
* Jesus in Christianity
* Life of Jesus in the New Testament
* Timeline of the Bible
==References==
==Bibliography==
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==External links==
* Catholic Encyclopedia (1910): Chronology of the Life of Jesus Christ
== Sources ==
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Category:Chronology
Birth of Jesus
Category:Historiography of Jesus
Category:1st-century Christianity
Category:Nativity of Jesus