tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-759178030677978044.post4438017943007527207..comments2024-02-19T07:24:42.397-08:00Comments on Anglican Curmudgeon: Other Evidence for the Date of the NativityA. S. Haleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05108498446058643166noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-759178030677978044.post-28320248755198763072009-12-23T08:45:02.079-08:002009-12-23T08:45:02.079-08:00Peter Ould, thank you for pointing us to your disc...Peter Ould, thank you for pointing us to <a href="http://www.peter-ould.net/2007/12/22/dating-christs-birth" rel="nofollow">your discussion of the subject</a>. I recommend that everyone read it for an understanding of the chronology based on the cycles of Zechariah's service in the temple -- the additional <a href="http://www.herealittletherealittle.net/index.cfm?page_name=Calendar-Jesus-Birthday" rel="nofollow">calendar to which you link</a> is especially useful. Interestingly, the analysis you give results in Christ's being born in the same month (September) in 3 BC as in 5 BC. The dates, however, differ slightly because Nisan 1 (the start of the Temple priestly courses) fell on a different calendar date in 3 BC.<br /><br />You also refer to the shepherds in the fields the night of His birth, and say while there would have been no lambs, there would be other reasons for the shepherds to be outside with their flocks. Again you are right -- it is still the current practice in Palestine in autumn to let the sheep into the harvested fields to eat the stubble, and to let their manure fertilize them for the next season. The herdsmen are necessary to protect the flocks from predators through the night.A. S. Haleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05108498446058643166noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-759178030677978044.post-28285846790481995782009-12-23T07:36:01.386-08:002009-12-23T07:36:01.386-08:00Fascinating Stuff.
I wrote a post two years ago t...Fascinating Stuff.<br /><br />I wrote a post two years ago taking another track, namely that of looking at the dates in the Luke narrative. You can find it here - http://www.peter-ould.net/2007/12/22/dating-christs-birth. I wonder (since you are leading us towards a different date) whether the underlying principles of calculating Zechariah's dates of service in the temple might be of use to you?Peter Ohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06653736283239812968noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-759178030677978044.post-48681322475888774082009-12-23T00:37:53.635-08:002009-12-23T00:37:53.635-08:00Thank you, Martial Artist. Considering that the ea...Thank you, Martial Artist. Considering that the early Christian authors cited had many more manuscripts about the events of the first century available to them than we do today, I take their unanimity on the date of Christ's birth as evidence that it was once common knowledge among the faithful, and not a matter for doubt or debate, as it certainly is today.<br /><br />You are correct that the earliest Greek manuscripts of the New Testament do not have any punctuation (or even spaces to separate words). The comma to which you refer is the addition of the NET translators to the English version, and is not present (or needed) in the Greek text. (One of the beauties of the NET is that it is always under revision, and you may leave comments such as yours on their site for the translators to consider when they revisit that particular book of the Bible.) At any rate, Luke 2:2 has to be read in conjunction with Acts 5:37, since they were written by the same author.A. S. Haleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05108498446058643166noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-759178030677978044.post-78109995206995377152009-12-22T21:56:38.787-08:002009-12-22T21:56:38.787-08:00Dear Mr. Haley,
Thank you for this, apparently ex...Dear Mr. Haley,<br /><br />Thank you for this, apparently exhaustive, review and comparison of early Christian sources for the dating of the Nativity. Having seen the program "Star of Bethlehem" on EWTN, I was not aware of the broad agreement between the dating arrived at among the early Christian chronologists. It is really quite remarkable agreement, particularly given the variation in the temporal origins and their dependence on the particular dates at which Rome came to rule the particular region in which each chronologist lived.<br /><br />As a secondary question, it is my impression that there is no punctuation in the Koine Greek of the Gospels? If this impression is correct the comma in the translation which results in Luke 2:2 ("… the first registration, taken when Quirinius …" is actually misleading, tending, as it does, to leave the reader with the impression that there was only one census ordered by Caesar Autustus at a time when Quirinius was governor. Absent the comma, the sentence suggests that there was (or may have been) more than one census ordered by Augustus and taken in "Syria" under Quirinius. <br /><br />I eagerly await your third article.<br /><br />Pax et bonum,<br />Keith TöpferMartial Artisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11679584221923893460noreply@blogger.com