My view is
I think if you do your research you will find that Luke was right in what he was inspired to write by God Himself ------if Luke is wrong then the Bible is a lie -----as the Scripture clearly says -----that God's Word who is Jesus ---is truth -----So it can't be truth and be inaccurate at the same time ---it is either truth or it is not ----
I say
Here lies the dilemma ----for every Article that is Written to Discredit God and His Word -----there are many Articles Written to Defend and clear up any Discredits made -----
Answers in Genesis Web Sight ---say this
For many people, the belief that the Bible contains contradictions and inaccuracies is an excuse for not believing.
This anecdote shows that, for many people, the belief that the Bible contains contradictions and inaccuracies is an excuse for not believing.
Many such people have not actually read the Bible for themselves. Still fewer have analyzed any of the alleged contradictions. It has been my experience that, after a little research, all the alleged contradictions and inaccuracies are explainable
I say ------I Totally agree with their statement here -------------
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Does Luke’s claim that Jesus was born in Bethlehem at the time of Quirinius’ census match the historical record?
Does Luke’s claim that Jesus was born in Bethlehem at the time of Quirinius’ census match the historical record? Is this an example of a contradiction/discrepancy in the Bible?
www.gotquestions.org
Quirinius’ census has been a point of controversy among biblical scholars and skeptics for centuries. History tells us that Caesar Augustus reigned over the
Roman Empire from 27 BC to AD 14 and ordered a census to be conducted during his tenure. Herod the Great reigned in Judea until 4 BC, so Jesus had to be born sometime in or before 4 BC. Luke gives us a few historical details to set the stage for the birth of Christ: “In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria)” (
Luke 2:1–2).
Luke’s mention of Quirinius (Cyrenius) as governor of Syria during the time of Caesar’s census appears to cause a problem as history records that Quirinius held that governorship between AD 6 and 7, at least ten years
after the birth of Jesus.
There are at least three possibilities for how we can interpret
Luke 2:2 concerning the census and Quirinius:
(1) Luke made a historical error regarding Quirinius’ census. Such a blunder would, of course, mean that Luke’s Gospel was not inspired by the Holy Spirit and would cast doubt on all the rest of Luke’s writings.
(2) The Greek word for “first” in
Luke 2:2 is a form of the word
protos and can be translated “before.” Thus
Luke 2:2 could actually be translated, “This was the census taken before Quirinius was governor of Syria.”
(3) Quirinius actually ruled Syria on two separate occasions, and there were actually two censuses taken. The “first census” mentioned in Luke 2:2 occurred during Quirinius’ first term as governor, and another during his second term.
The second census is mentioned in
Acts 5:37 and probably took place between AD 6 and 7 (Josephus links this census to an uprising led by Judas of Galilee). Luke was the author of both the
Gospel of Luke and the
book of Acts, and his goal was to write “an orderly account” (
Luke 1:3).
It seems that Luke did write a careful, orderly account: he mentions two censuses, and it was during the first one that Jesus was born. It would be unlikely for such a meticulous historian to make a blatant mistake in his timeline of events.
The Christian doctrine of the inerrancy of the Word of God (
2 Timothy 3:16;
2 Peter 1:20–21) leads us to reject explanation (1).
Most of the available evidence points to
explanation (3) as the best perspective on Quirinius and the census.
The Bible is true history, and its details are more trustworthy than the historical writings of the Romans and Josephus
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Another article on this ------
Luke 2:1 is the traditional starting point for the Christmas story of Jesus' birth: “In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world.” So how did a Roman census lead to the fulfillment of prophecy and one of the most beloved stories of all...
www.biblestudytools.com
What Is a Census?
In the simplest terms, taking a census is just officially counting people. Countries today conduct in-depth censuses, mostly for taxation purposes, and it wasn’t much different in Rome. So why was the census implemented in Rome at the time?
Caesar Augustus was fond of censuses. It took a lot of taxes to keep the enormous Roman army going, to build roads, and to finance military campaigns to continue conquering the known world. Caesar Augustus was also just generally a luxurious emperor. He recorded in his “
Res Gestae Divi Avgvsti” (“The Deeds of Divine Augustus”— quite a fancy name for a diary)
that he ordered widespread censuses of Rome at least three times in 28 B.C., 8 B.C., and 14 A.D.
More localized censuses also took place regularly in certain areas of the Roman Empire;
Judea faced at least three censuses around the time of the birth of Christ, in 8 B.C., 2 B.C., and 6 A.D.
The Romans were record keepers and empire builders. Censuses came with the territory.
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I say -------------And another Article on this ----
How can the Bible be correct in claiming that a census decreed by Rome's Caesar Augustus occurred at the time of Jesus' birth? Resolving alleged Bible difficulties.
christiananswers.net
To date, the only
census documented outside the Bible near this time under Quirinius is the one referred to by the historian Josephus (
Antiquities XVIII, 26 [ii.1], which he says took place in 6 A.D.
But notice that
Luke 2:2 says that the census taken around the time
Joseph and
Mary went down to
Bethlehem was the
first census taken while Quirinius was governor of
Syria. This implies that there was a later census--most likely the one referred to by Josephus--which Dr. Luke would have also certainly known about.
There is good reason to believe that Quirinius was actually twice in a position of command (the Greek expression hegemoneuo in Luke 2:2 which is often translated “governor” really just means “to be leading” or “in charge of”) over the province of Syria, which included Judea as a political subdivision.
The first time would have been when he was leading military action against the Homonadensians during the period between 12 and 2 B.C. His title may even have been “military governor.”
A Latin inscription discovered in 1764 adds weight to the idea that Quirinius was in a position of authority in Syria on two separate occasions. There was definitely a taxing during this time and therefore, quite possible, an associated census, the details of which may have been common knowledge in Luke's time, but are now lost to us.
Scholars have advanced a number of other altogether viable explanations which would allow
Luke's record (and therefore the Bible) to continue to be regarded as 100% trustworthy.
www.wondercafe2.ca
