Luke 2:1-5 The Census
1 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.
2 (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)
3 And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.
4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David
5 To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.
This posting will be about the census. Critics of the Bible will cite that there wasn't a census in the year that Jesus was born. Well, there are evidences concerning other census in the Roman Empire, and there are evidences that THIS census, did, in fact, exist. Records indicate that a census was taken every 14 years according to Roman law.
Quoting, the text, “Justin Martyr and Tertullian (second century A.D.) stated that the record of this census was in the archives in Rome” ("Handbook of Biblical Chronology," Princeton University Press, 1964)....
and a papyrus found in 1905
http://www.kchanson.com/ANCDOCS/greek/
census.html
which records the Roman census decree for the then Roman-ruled Egypt. The decree states,Gaius Vibius Maximus, the Prefect of Egypt , declares:
The census by household having begun, it is essential that all those who are away from their nomes be summoned to return to their own hearths so that they may perform the customary business of registration and apply themselves to the cultivation which concerns them. Knowing, however, that some of the people from the countryside are required by our city, I desire all those who think they have a satisfactory reason for remaining here to register themselves before . . . Festus, the Cavalry Commander , whom I have appointed for this purpose, from whom those who have shown their presence to be necessary shall receive signed permits in accordance with this edict up to the 30th of the present month E . . . (Translation by K. C. Hanson)
I bring it to your attention that this was a “customary” act, not a “one-time” action of requiring people to “return to their own hearths”.
Some critics would debate that Cyrenius was not governor of Syria at the appropriate time...
“Jerry Vardaman has discovered the name of Quirinius on a coin in micrographic letters, placing him as proconsul of Syria and Cilicia frm 11 B.C. until after the death of Herod.”("Archaeology and the New Testament," McRay, 1991, Baker Book House, page 154)
(Years in red, footnotes in blue)
“The censuses to which Luke refers, both in his Gospel and in Acts 5:37, have been illuminated....There is a form in the British Museum dated by George Milligan and Adolf Deissman to A.D. 104.12 Although we have nothing as yet from the years 90 and 76, there is one from 62. 13 Another is dated by Milligan to 48, 14 and yet another dates to 34. 15 A fifth census form, although it contains no date, is considered by its editor to have been produced in 20 16 Acts 5:37 and Josephus in Antiquities refer to another in the year 6, to which year B. P Grenfell 17 and A.S. Hunt date Oxyrhychus papyrus 256. 18 Finally, Gertulian records a census when Sentius Saturninus (9-6 B.C.) was governor of Syria, which would have been in the year 9 B.C. according to the fourteen-year cycle established by the dated papyri. 19...
however a census begun in Syria in 9 B.C. may have taken a long time to be completed in Palestine.” ("Archaeology and the New Testament," McRay, 1991, Baker Book House, page 154, 155)
Notes:
12 British Museum P Lond 904—Frederick G. Kendon and H. Idris Bell, Greek Papyri in the British Museum (London: British Museum, 1907) 3.125, plate 30; George Milligan, Greek Papyri (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1910) 72-73:Adolf Deissmann, Light from the Ancient East, trans. Lionel R. M Strachan (New York” George H. Doran. 1927), 270 n. 7
13 B. P. Grenfell, A.S. Hunt, et al., Oxyrhynchus Papyri (London:Egypt Exploration Fund, 1898), 2.207
14 Ibid., 2.255, Milligan, greek Papyri, 44
15 James H. Moulton and George Milligan, The Vocabulary of the Greek Testament (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1952), 59-60
16 Grenfell et al., Oxyrhynchus Papyri, 2.254; Moulton and Milligan, Vocabulary, 60.
17 Josephus antiquities 18.2.1 (26).
18 Moulton and Milligan, Vocabulary, 60.
19 Tertullian, Adversus marcionem 4.19
Additional sites for notes and support
http://www.tektonics.org/af/censuscheck.html
http://www.angelfire.com/nt/theology/16jesus.html
for a discussion on the reign of Quirinius (Luke 2) http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/
justinmartyr-firstapology.html
2 (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)
3 And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.
4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David
5 To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.
This posting will be about the census. Critics of the Bible will cite that there wasn't a census in the year that Jesus was born. Well, there are evidences concerning other census in the Roman Empire, and there are evidences that THIS census, did, in fact, exist. Records indicate that a census was taken every 14 years according to Roman law.
Quoting, the text, “Justin Martyr and Tertullian (second century A.D.) stated that the record of this census was in the archives in Rome” ("Handbook of Biblical Chronology," Princeton University Press, 1964)....
and a papyrus found in 1905
http://www.kchanson.com/ANCDOCS/greek/
census.html
which records the Roman census decree for the then Roman-ruled Egypt. The decree states,Gaius Vibius Maximus, the Prefect of Egypt , declares:
The census by household having begun, it is essential that all those who are away from their nomes be summoned to return to their own hearths so that they may perform the customary business of registration and apply themselves to the cultivation which concerns them. Knowing, however, that some of the people from the countryside are required by our city, I desire all those who think they have a satisfactory reason for remaining here to register themselves before . . . Festus, the Cavalry Commander , whom I have appointed for this purpose, from whom those who have shown their presence to be necessary shall receive signed permits in accordance with this edict up to the 30th of the present month E . . . (Translation by K. C. Hanson)
I bring it to your attention that this was a “customary” act, not a “one-time” action of requiring people to “return to their own hearths”.
Some critics would debate that Cyrenius was not governor of Syria at the appropriate time...
“Jerry Vardaman has discovered the name of Quirinius on a coin in micrographic letters, placing him as proconsul of Syria and Cilicia frm 11 B.C. until after the death of Herod.”("Archaeology and the New Testament," McRay, 1991, Baker Book House, page 154)
(Years in red, footnotes in blue)
“The censuses to which Luke refers, both in his Gospel and in Acts 5:37, have been illuminated....There is a form in the British Museum dated by George Milligan and Adolf Deissman to A.D. 104.12 Although we have nothing as yet from the years 90 and 76, there is one from 62. 13 Another is dated by Milligan to 48, 14 and yet another dates to 34. 15 A fifth census form, although it contains no date, is considered by its editor to have been produced in 20 16 Acts 5:37 and Josephus in Antiquities refer to another in the year 6, to which year B. P Grenfell 17 and A.S. Hunt date Oxyrhychus papyrus 256. 18 Finally, Gertulian records a census when Sentius Saturninus (9-6 B.C.) was governor of Syria, which would have been in the year 9 B.C. according to the fourteen-year cycle established by the dated papyri. 19...
however a census begun in Syria in 9 B.C. may have taken a long time to be completed in Palestine.” ("Archaeology and the New Testament," McRay, 1991, Baker Book House, page 154, 155)
Notes:
12 British Museum P Lond 904—Frederick G. Kendon and H. Idris Bell, Greek Papyri in the British Museum (London: British Museum, 1907) 3.125, plate 30; George Milligan, Greek Papyri (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1910) 72-73:Adolf Deissmann, Light from the Ancient East, trans. Lionel R. M Strachan (New York” George H. Doran. 1927), 270 n. 7
13 B. P. Grenfell, A.S. Hunt, et al., Oxyrhynchus Papyri (London:Egypt Exploration Fund, 1898), 2.207
14 Ibid., 2.255, Milligan, greek Papyri, 44
15 James H. Moulton and George Milligan, The Vocabulary of the Greek Testament (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1952), 59-60
16 Grenfell et al., Oxyrhynchus Papyri, 2.254; Moulton and Milligan, Vocabulary, 60.
17 Josephus antiquities 18.2.1 (26).
18 Moulton and Milligan, Vocabulary, 60.
19 Tertullian, Adversus marcionem 4.19
Additional sites for notes and support
http://www.tektonics.org/af/censuscheck.html
http://www.angelfire.com/nt/theology/16jesus.html
for a discussion on the reign of Quirinius (Luke 2) http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/
justinmartyr-firstapology.html
posted by ~serapha~ at 7:45 PM
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