The Census

The most difficult apparent historical contradiction having to do with the gospels concerns Luke's report about a census taken while Quirinius governed Syria (Luke 2:2).

"Now at this time Ceasar Augustus issued a decree for a census of the whole to be taken. This census - the first - took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria, and everyone went to his home town to be registered" (Luke 2:1-3).

The census caused Joseph and Mary to travel to Bethlehem just prior to Jesus' birth. Both Matthew and Luke agree that Jesus was born before the end of the reign of Herod the Great. It has been established with reasonable certainty that Herod's death took place in March or April of 4 BC.
(FiJ. BC 230ff.; and HoH.C 12-13) A census, not necessarily the first, was taken by Quirinius in AD 6. (FiJ.BC 234-36).

1) In Acts 5:37, Luke refers to the AD 6 census, indicating that he is conscious of where it fits in the chronology of the period. Luke calls this census 'the census', i.e., the well-known one of AD 6.

2) The Greek text of Luke 2:2 suggests a lesser known census prior to that if AD 6. The New American Standard Version translates Luke 2:2, "This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria." It is a faithful rendering of the sense of the Greek text which most literally reads: "This census, a first one, coming to pass when Quirinius is ruling, leading Syria." Since the Greek language often leaves out the word "is," it needs to be inserted and most naturally fits after the word "census." The sentence literally reads, "This census is a first one coming to pass when Quirinius is ruling Syria."
If there had been only the one very well-known census of AD 6 under Quirinius, Luke would have had said simply, "This is the census coming to pass when Quirinius..." We have no knowledge of any census taken after AD 6. Therefore, the grammar of Luke 2:3 seems most definitely to indicate Luke wants his readers to disregard the AD 6 census and think of an earlier, lesser known census of approximately 5 BC.

3) Josephus confirms that the rebellion of AD 6 was a response to an enrollment (census) probably carried out rather heavy-handedly. In contrast, the earlier Luke 2:2 census seems to have appealed to the custom of the Jews. At that time, about 5 BC, the Romans would have had two problems:

a) Herod ruled Judea, not Quirinius.
b) The people didn't like the Romans messing in their affairs.

From the standpoint of the Romans, the most diplomatic solution would be for Quirinius to negotiate a census carried out under Herod's auspices and according to the Jewish practice of registration by tribes. Thus Joseph and Mary traveled to Bethlehem, the city of Davis, and Joseph's "own city." The Romans' negotiating for this arrangement is indicated by the fact that they normally conducted censuses based on land ownership, not on hometowns. Occasionally, however, the Romans did make exceptions. An Egyptian papyrus of AD 104 indicates that the Egyptians were required to return to their home city for the Roman census in Egypt. (DeA. LAE 270-71)

But would Herod have been willing to acquiesce to such an arrangement? Most definitely, for Josephus records that he fell into disfavor with Ceasar Augustus, being demoted from "friend" to "subject." He would have needed to do whatever the Romans wanted him to do in order to regain Caesar's favor. Herod was close to death and having problems deciding on a successor. (He changed his will three times and killed three sons before deciding on Archelaus five days before his death.) The imminent death of Herod was further incentive for the Romans to have a census taken in preparation for a change of rulers.

4) In AD 6, Palestine was no longer under the rule of one king, but split up into several tetrarchies. Therefore, it would have been almost impossible for Joseph and Mary to be required to travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem as Luke reports unless it was prior to the death of Herod the Great. In order to travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem in AD 6, Joseph and Mary would have had to leave Galilee, governed by Herod Antipas and travel to Judea, now under direct control of the Roman government, which had just deposed Archelaus. But, as Wayne Brindle points out, the trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem "would have taken place only if there were one central authority over Palestine - such as only during the reign of Herod the Great." (BrW.CQ 27:51-52)

5) Luke 2:1 indicates that the census was in accordance with an empire-wide policy of registering all the people. This does not specify that all provinces were enrolled at the same time, only that Augustus was, as Hoehner states, "the first one in history to order a census or tax assessment of the whole provincial empire. This is further substantiated by the fact that Luke uses the present tense indicating that Augustus ordered census to be taken regularly rather than only one time." (HoH.C 15)

The renowned archaeologist, Sir William Ramsay, affirmed:
"The first enrollment in Syria was made in the year 8-7 B.C., but a consideration of the situation in Syria and Palestine about that time will show that the enrollment in Herod's kingdom was probably delayed for some time later. (RaW.WCB 174)

This would be the census of Luke 2:2 in about 6 or 5 BC, just before Herod's death.

6) Jesus was about thirty years old (Luke 3:23) when he began his ministry shortly after John the Baptist began his in "the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Ceasar" (Luke 3:1,2). Hoehner states: "Since the fifteenth year of Tiberius can be dated A.D. 27 to 29, it would mean that if Christ were born in A.D. 6, he would only have been twenty-one to twenty-three years old, not about thirty years old. (HoH.C 19)

Some argue that if a census had occurred in 6 or 5 BC, Josephus would have said something about it. But this is an argument from silence which is invalidated by the fact that probably the only reason Josephus mentions the AD 6 census is that it was highlighted by the tumultuous events of the disposition of Archelaus, the Romans takeover of all his material goods, and revolt of Judas of Galilee (also called "a Gualantine").