“Jesus
Christ our Promised Seed” Wierwille V. P. 1982, American Christian Press, pp.
200-204 (Chapter Sixteen, “The Birth of Jesus Christ”) says:
The expression “all the world” in Luke 2:1 is the
figure of speech "synecdoche", in which “all the world” is put for a
part of it and emphasizes here the immensity of the Roman Empire, area over
which Caesar asserted authority [Footnote: The decree even affected areas
beyond the provincial limits of the empire, showing that it was indeed a
wide-ranging registration. According to Luke 2:4 the order was in effect even
in Judea, which was not a province at this time but a client kingdom of Rome.
Judea had its own king, Herod the Great]. The
word “taxed” is from the Greek “apographo” meaning “to register.” Rather than a
taxation, this decree was for an enrollment or registration.
Historically, there is evidence that a registration
was conducted throughout the Roman Empire and
its subject states in 3 B.C. Although registrations were usually conducted in
the Roman Empire for tax purposes, this registration was for an official
declaration of political allegiance to Caesar Augustus [Footnote: In an
inscription dated at 3 B. C. from Asia Minor there is a reference to the
conducting of an official declaration of allegiance to Caesar by all in that
area. See Nepthali Lewis and Meyer Reinhold, eds. Roman Civilization, 2 vols.
(NY: Harper Torchbooks), 2:34-35. According to native sources, in 3 B. C. Roman
authorities came to Armenia
to set up images of Caesar Augustus in the temples of the area. Moreover, these
same sources state that it was the registration mentioned in Luke, which
brought them there (Armenian historian Moses of Khorene, History of the
Armenians, 2:26). Finally, in Josephus it is recorded that “all the people of
the Jews gave assurance of their good-will to Caesar, and to the king’s
government” (Antiquities 17.2.4) within two years before Herod’s death, Herod
probably dying early in 1 B. C. See Martin, Birth of Christ Recalculated, pp. 89-105]
The purpose of this mandated registration was to record an official declaration
of allegiance from all of his subjects to present to Caesar Augustus in
celebration of his Silver Jubilee (25th anniversary – 27 B. C. to 2
B. C.) of supreme power. Which coincided with the seven hundred fiftieth
anniversary of the founding of Rome,
and Caesar Augustus’ sixtieth birthday. The oath of allegiance was a part of
the preparation for this festive time and set the stage for the 25 anniversary
celebration in 2 B. C. In honor of the occasion, the Senate of Rome bestowed
upon Caesar Augustus the supreme title of "Pater Patriae", “Father of
the Country.”
A logical time of the year for such a registration
to take place was September because the weather was mild for travel, the crops
were harvested, and one Judean civil year was closing and another beginning
[Footnote: William M. Ramsay, Was Christ Born at Bethlehem? (1898; reprinted., Minneapolis: James Family
Publishing Co., 1978), pp. 192-193.]
Luke
2:2:
(And
this taxing [enrollment, registration] was first made when Cyrenius was
governor [Greek: "hegemon", leader, chief, commander] of Syria.)
The second verse of Luke 2 has long
been a target of skeptics who criticize Luke’s accuracy as a historian. Historically,
the following outline of Quirinius’ (which is the preferred and more common
spelling of “Cyrenius”. Cyrenius is Greek for the Latin Quirinius or Quirinus,
his full name was Publius Sulpicius Quirinus) life is known: in 12 B.C. he was
a consul in Rome; sometime between 12 B.C. and 1 A. D. he conducted the
Homanadensian War in Asia Minor; in 2/3 A. D. he was an advisor to Gaius Caesar
in Armenia; and in 6 A. D. he was sent by Caesar to be the governor of Syria
[Footnote: Finegan, Handbook of Biblical Chronology, p. 235-236]. The 6 A. D.
date for Quirinius’ governorship of Syria is historically very clear.
He ruled both Syria and
Judea after the year 6 A. D. when Archelaus was deposed as king of Judea. Both scripture and Josephus indicate this was well
after Jesus’ birth and Herod’s death [Mt. 2:1,16,22; Josephus Antiquities
17.8.1-4, 17.13.1-5;18.1.1-6.] Yet Luke 2:2 seems to say that Quirinius
governed Syria
when Jesus was born. We must bear in mind that it is very probable that because
this registration was a special part of the Silver Jubilee celebration, and for
the express purpose of declaring Augustus "Pater Patriae", that
Quirinius was appointed as a special legate to oversee this enrollment.
[Footnote: With this historical point
understood, an apparent difficulty in the writing of a second-century church
father, Tertullian, becomes clear. The difficulty is that Tertullian states
Saturninus was the governor of Syria
at this time, which is corroborated by secular sources. Tertullian points out,
“But there is historical proof that at this very time a census had been taken
in Judaea by Sentius Saturninus.” Alexander
Roberts and James Donaldson, eds. The Ante-Nicene fathers, 10 vols.
(reprinted.; Grand Rapids:
Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1978), “Tertullian Against Marcion,” 3:4.19. The Greek word
"hegemon", sometimes translated in English as “governor,” is actually
indefinite regarding the exact title of the office, so both Saturninus and
Quirinius could loosely be referred to as "hegemon", leaders, chiefs,
or commanders, and yet fulfill different functions. Tertullian, a lawyer of the
second century, had no trouble reconciling the statement of Luke 2:2 that
Quirinius was "hegemon" of Syria with Saturninus’ governorship of
Syria, because he would have understood Quirinius’ position in Syria as a
special assignment. Because of the special assignment of Quirinius, Luke refers
to him as the "hegemon" during the registration. Schurer mentions
other scholars who have accepted the position that Quirinius was a special legate
to carry out this census. See Emil Schurer, The History of the Jewish People in
the Age of Jesus Christ, 2 vols. Geza Vermes, Fergus Millar, and Matthew Black,
eds. (1885; rev. ed., Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1973), 1:424; and Martin,
Birth of Christ Recalculated, p. 119-120].
The reason for including verse 2 in
the narrative in Luke now becomes apparent. This verse serves to help pinpoint
the exact year of Christ’s birth; but more important, it precludes any
possibility on the part of the reader to confuse this empire-wide Silver
Jubilee registration of 3 B. C. with a later registration and taxing in 6/7 A.
D. which is generally better known to historians, but was not empire-wide
(recorded in Acts 5:37, written by the same inspired writer, Luke). Thus the
word “first” has been a problem to historians [Schurer, History of the Jewish
People, 1:421-422], but now it can be seen that it is essential in order to
distinguish between the two registrations both under Quirinius’ supervision,
differentiating the latter and better known registration of 6/7 A. D. from the
one occurring when Jesus Christ was born in 3 B. C. Therefore Luke 2:2 would
more clearly read: “This first registration took place when Quirinius was on
special assignment in Syria”
In
p. 28 we have the Footnote with 16 Early sources Dating Christ’s Birth at about
3 B. C.:
“No
Christian church father dates the birth of Christ before 4 B.C., and only the
first one dates it around before the Passover of April 4 B.C., to 3 B.C.”
Irenaeus (180 A. D.), Cassiodorus Senator (490-585 AD),
Clement of Alexandria (194 AD), Tertullian (194 AD), Julius Africanus (170-240
AD), Hippolytus of Rome (170-236), Origen (185-253 AD), Eusebius of Caesarea
(325 AD). To that names we can add: Orosius, Chrysostom, Jerome, The Paschal
Chronicle, Hippolytus of Thebes, Photius (the Patriarch of Constantinople),
Zonaras, and Bar Hebraeus (who cited Syrian, Armenian, and Greek sources), all
of whom accepted a 3/2 B.C. date for Christ’s birth. See Martin, Birth of
Christ Recalculated, p. 5; Jack Finegan, Handbook of Biblical Chronology
(Princeton University Press, 1964), pp. 222-230.
Tasters of the Word (YouTube), videos recientes: "Astronomía y Nacimiento de Jesucristo: Once de Septiembre Año Tres A.C.", "Estudio sobre Sanidades" (en 20 episodios), "Jesus Christ, Son or God?" and "We've the Power to Heal":http://www.youtube.com/1fertra