The babe in the manger: 6 BC
Nothing is known of the life of Jesus other than what is recorded in the fourGospels, written down some fifty to eighty years after his death. No trace of him survives in any contemporary historical record. Nevertheless the Gospels, based on a continuous oral tradition deriving from those who knew him, contain more detail than can be assembled about anyone else of comparable obscurity in his own time.
The evidence of the Gospels suggests that Jesus is born in about 6 BC - revealing an initial error in thechronologyof the Christian era.
Luke is the only evangelist to tell the story of Mary and Joseph travelling south from their home in Nazareth to Bethlehem. The reason for the journey is that the Roman emperor has ordered a census of the population, and Joseph - descended in the story from KingDavid - must register in his ancestral home near Jerusalem. In Luke's account the birth takes place in a stable, because there is no room in the inn. Local shepherds, alerted by an angel, come to the stable to marvel at the child.
Joseph and Mary then take the infant to Jerusalem, to be presented in the Temple, before returning to Nazareth where Jesus has a peaceful childhood.
Matthew, the only other evangelist to deal with the birth and infancy of Jesus, tells an entirely different and much more troubled story. Three wise men of the east, orMagi, follow a star which leads them to Bethlehem. Unfortunately they tellHerod, king of Palestine, that they are on their way to see the newly born King of the Jews. To eliminate his rival, Herod orders the massacre of all the male children in Bethlehem under the age of two.
An angel warns Joseph, telling him to escape with his family to Egypt. After Herod's death another angel tells them that it is safe to return home. There is some evidence of a census in 6 BC and Herod dies in 4 BC. So the two separate accounts, put together, imply a birth date of around 6 BC.
Nothing is known of the life of Jesus other than what is recorded in the fourGospels, written down some fifty to eighty years after his death. No trace of him survives in any contemporary historical record. Nevertheless the Gospels, based on a continuous oral tradition deriving from those who knew him, contain more detail than can be assembled about anyone else of comparable obscurity in his own time.
The evidence of the Gospels suggests that Jesus is born in about 6 BC - revealing an initial error in thechronologyof the Christian era.
Luke is the only evangelist to tell the story of Mary and Joseph travelling south from their home in Nazareth to Bethlehem. The reason for the journey is that the Roman emperor has ordered a census of the population, and Joseph - descended in the story from KingDavid - must register in his ancestral home near Jerusalem. In Luke's account the birth takes place in a stable, because there is no room in the inn. Local shepherds, alerted by an angel, come to the stable to marvel at the child.
Joseph and Mary then take the infant to Jerusalem, to be presented in the Temple, before returning to Nazareth where Jesus has a peaceful childhood.
Matthew, the only other evangelist to deal with the birth and infancy of Jesus, tells an entirely different and much more troubled story. Three wise men of the east, orMagi, follow a star which leads them to Bethlehem. Unfortunately they tellHerod, king of Palestine, that they are on their way to see the newly born King of the Jews. To eliminate his rival, Herod orders the massacre of all the male children in Bethlehem under the age of two.
An angel warns Joseph, telling him to escape with his family to Egypt. After Herod's death another angel tells them that it is safe to return home. There is some evidence of a census in 6 BC and Herod dies in 4 BC. So the two separate accounts, put together, imply a birth date of around 6 BC.
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