Getting into the Christmas spirit I looked at a couple studies done that try to show the date of Christ's birth. What's really interesting is trying to define what exactly is the Star of Bethlehem. There is a good chance that it wasn't just a star, but rather
a conjunction of stars a planets. If we assume that Christ was born in 3 BC, this starts to make sense as there were nine of these types of conjunctions from 3 BC - 2BC. When trying to solidify Herod and Augustus' ruling dates, there are many difficulties.
Let's assume that this helpful study, which looks at the works of Josephus, Tertullian, and others, is at least close. This means that the census Joseph and Mary had to get to took place at the end of August, and then Jesus was born a few weeks later probably at the start of September 3 BC. You may be asking, "Then what is all this December 25th snickerbappin' all abouts?!" Well, aside from pagan calendar connotations, its most likely the night when Jupiter shone particularly bright over Jerusalem in 2 BC and when the Magi arrived with their gifts. Of course, giving any actual dates is risky, its easier just to say it happened within this or that six month time frame. But at least we are close.
What's more is all the cool implication's this has for the historicity of Christ's life, that he would have started teaching in 29 AD and been crucified a couple years later. This Christmas I asseverate we include the coolness of Jupiter into our celebration, that way at least we could be more confused about the already ambiguous holiday!
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