Index for Series: When Was Jesus Born?

Thanks for joining me over the past few weeks as I explored the question – When was Jesus born?. I hope it’s been a help to you!

If you’d like to read all the posts from beginning to end, here’s the list, with a summary of each:

• Series: When Was Jesus Born? – Introduction (and yes, we know that Jesus was not born in “year 0”!)
• The Due Date (Series: When Was Jesus Born?) – Does the Old Testament give us any clues about when Jesus would be born? In fact, does the time of Jesus’ birth actually give us more evidence that He was the promised Messiah?
• Jesus’ Birth Year – Herod and the Wise Men (Series: When Was Jesus Born?) – Was Jesus really born around 6 BC, as is popularly believed? Or is it possible that He really was born a few years later?
• Jesus’ Birth Year – When Quirinius was Governor? (Series: When Was Jesus Born?) – Was Quirinius really “governor” around the time of Jesus’ birth, as Luke seems to claim? And when exactly was this now famous “census” that brought Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem?
• The Day of Jesus’ Birth (Series: When Was Jesus Born?) – “Everybody knows” that the shepherds and sheep wouldn’t have been out in the fields in December. Or – do they? Is there evidence that a certain class of shepherds may actually have been in the hills outside of Bethlehem all year round? And is a December 25th date based on a pagan holiday?
• The Day of Jesus’ Birth part 2 (Series: When Was Jesus Born?) – When did the ancient Christians think that Jesus was born? Do their calculations give us any further clues?
• Who cares when Jesus was born? (Series: When Was Jesus Born?) – What does all this say about our celebration of Christmas in December? Should we celebrate at a different time? Or not at all?

You can certainly do your own study on the topic. Of course, I would encourage you to start with the Bible.

A lot of information online is copied misinformation written as fact. However, if you do a little hard work to find original sources, you can dig up some interesting facts.

Sources I’ve used include The New Evidence That Demands A Verdict, Calendar and Chronology, Jewish and Christian, The Chronology of the Old Testament, The Deeds of the Divine Augustus, The Mishnah, and the works of various Early Church Fathers.

Online articles that may be useful include Unbelievable? Is Luke’s Description of Quirinius Historically Inaccurate?, Popular Conservative Journalist Attacks Genesis and the Birth of Christ, Once More: Quirinius’s Census, Is Luke Wrong About the Time of Jesus’ Birth?