05 Apr '12 08:00>1 edit
Originally posted by RJHindsThe discrepancy is this -
Yes, if you do not wish to point them out. How can anyone reply to imaginary
discrepancies?
The Gospel of Matthew puts Jesus birth within the life of Herod the Great, Herod died in 4BC. The Gospel of Luke puts the birth of Jesus within the time of a census, the only record of a census is the Census of Quirinius, this happened in 6AD. There is a 10 year gap between the two.
You, to reconcile the obvious problem 'speculated' (or assumed) there was a census sometime in 6BC. The problem with this is that there is no record of a census in Judea at this time, absolutely none. Also, in 6BC, Judea was not under direct Roman rule, the notion that they would be carrying out a census for tax purposes whilst King Herod was still in charge is tenuous. Add to this the claim from
Luke that this census required people to travel to their 'ancestral' home and it gets even more fanciful.
There is no evidence for a 6BC census, even if there was one, a census requiring people to travel the length and breadth of the country would have caused so much up upheavel and social unrest that someone might have mentioned it.