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When was Christ born?
American Presbyterian Church ^

Posted on 12/04/2008 7:15:40 AM PST by meandog

In holiday season many Christians have been merrily, joyously, and some perhaps even seriously, solemnly, and reverently, celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. However, one wonders how many gave any significant thought to the issue of when was Christ born. If they had they would quickly have discovered that despite all thy mythology and legend that surrounds this holiday season, we really do not know when Christ was born. We know neither the year, nor the month, nor the day. For that matter we don’t know the time of day either. God in his wisdom has chosen not to reveal to us anything concerning the exact date of this momentous event so long foretold by the prophets and awaited by the faithful. That should teach us something about the wisdom of even having such a holiday season when God in his wisdom has denied us the information that is absolutely necessary as a foundation for it. The purpose of this article is not to develop that thought, but to establish what the Scriptures do teach about the timing of Christ’s birth, about the date of the incarnation.

Let us begin by examining the sacred record of Christ’s birth as recorded in the Scriptures. While the Scriptures give us no definitive dates, there are a number of clues that point as to the time of year that Christ must have been born. Luke’s account of the nativity of our Lord is the most detailed and almost all these clues are found in his gospel. We will develop a number of these clues and see where they lead us…

(Excerpt) Read more at americanpresbyterianchurch.org ...


TOPICS: General Discusssion; History
KEYWORDS: christ; emmanuel; jesus; king
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Though, this is thought-provoking, it might not be so scientifically done. Despite what is presented in the excerpt about taxation period most of the Roman taxes were collected around the New Year (Roman Calendar). Therefore, Jesus could have been born sometime in December
1 posted on 12/04/2008 7:15:41 AM PST by meandog
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To: meandog

On Christmas Day. By definition.


2 posted on 12/04/2008 7:16:04 AM PST by BibChr ("...behold, they have rejected the word of the LORD, so what wisdom is in them?" [Jer. 8:9])
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To: BibChr

Around the end of September, beginning of October.


3 posted on 12/04/2008 7:16:43 AM PST by Perdogg (01-20-2013 Obama's last day - If we survive)
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To: meandog

To me the only thing that matters is THAT He was born.


4 posted on 12/04/2008 7:17:25 AM PST by pgkdan
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To: meandog

Which brings me to one of my hobby horses:

We already agree that our calendar is wrong, off by anywhere from 2 to 16 years, depending on who’s doing the reckoning, and further in error because of the absence of a year zero.

The more fundamental point is that God did not intend us to mark His years by the birth of Jesus.

If He had intended this we would have a Biblical fixing of the date.

Further, the day of Jesus’ birth is unremarkable as all men are born.

However, very few return from the dead, that event is remarkable, and it is the defining moment of Christianity, the very moment of proof that his sacrifice was not in vain. And the Bible gives a precise reference for when this happened!

Clearly this was the date the calendar was supposed to start!

For extra points, this makes our calendar off by anywhere from 17 to 30 years. That makes this something like Holy Year 1991 to Holy Year 1978, giving us anywhere from 9 to 22 years to get our affairs in order before the real end of the millennium...


5 posted on 12/04/2008 7:19:38 AM PST by null and void (Hey 0bama? There will be a pop quiz every day for the next four years...miss a question, people die.)
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To: Perdogg
No, that's when I was born. Totally different.
6 posted on 12/04/2008 7:20:50 AM PST by BibChr ("...behold, they have rejected the word of the LORD, so what wisdom is in them?" [Jer. 8:9])
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To: meandog
When was Christ born?

A few years before Strom Thurmond.

7 posted on 12/04/2008 7:22:13 AM PST by Tax-chick ("And the LORD alone will be exalted in that day." (Is. 2)
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To: Perdogg
Around the end of September, beginning of October.

That is my understanding as well.

8 posted on 12/04/2008 7:22:20 AM PST by Jibaholic ("Those people who are not ruled by God will be ruled by tyrants." --William Penn)
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To: meandog

I’ll read it all later but seems a leap to assume that the conception of John was within one month of the announcement. I can see it now, Z coming back and writing it all out for his wife and she says, “hey old man, you want what? Get out of here.” It would take him at least a month to talk her into sex. Then even with divine assistance, a couple of months isn’t unusual for getting those juices started. Just saying. In the “manner of women?” I read more into that than the author.


9 posted on 12/04/2008 7:22:26 AM PST by Mercat (God doesn't call me to be successful. God calls me to be faithful. Mother Teresa)
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To: Perdogg

> Around the end of September, beginning of October.

I share this opinion.

I base it on counting backwards 33 1/2 years from His crucifiction.

However, this means Jesus was probably CONCEIVED near the end of December.

When does life begin?
:)


10 posted on 12/04/2008 7:23:21 AM PST by Westbrook (Having more children does not divide your love, it multiplies it.)
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To: meandog

Probably late spring early summer.


11 posted on 12/04/2008 7:23:57 AM PST by svcw (Great selection of Christmas gift baskets: http://baskettastic.com/)
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To: BibChr

http://users.aristotle.net/~bhuie/birthday.htm


12 posted on 12/04/2008 7:24:53 AM PST by Perdogg (01-20-2013 Obama's last day - If we survive)
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To: Westbrook

When does life begin?
__________________________
5:00 PM


13 posted on 12/04/2008 7:26:07 AM PST by soupcon
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To: null and void

Which millenium would that be?


14 posted on 12/04/2008 7:26:18 AM PST by MyTwoCopperCoins
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To: pgkdan
To me the only thing that matters is THAT He was born.

Amen!

15 posted on 12/04/2008 7:28:00 AM PST by al_c (Avoid the consequences of erudite vernacular utilized irrespective of necessity)
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To: Westbrook
However, this means Jesus was probably CONCEIVED near the end of December.

Good point...but I also believe that it is impossible to dispute the opinion of the early Church as to exactly when he was born. Astronomical records point to a winter sky (perhaps Halley's comet) for the "star" and, besides, even if he were indeed born in late autumn wouldn't it reason that the Maji would have arrived in Bethlehem sometime in December?

16 posted on 12/04/2008 7:28:43 AM PST by meandog (Wasilla warrior in 2012!)
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To: Westbrook

The Church celebrates the Annunciation on March 25. This is when Jesus came to earth.

We should celebrate that.


17 posted on 12/04/2008 7:28:43 AM PST by SoothingDave
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To: meandog

April 6th


18 posted on 12/04/2008 7:34:04 AM PST by Goreknowshowtocheat
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To: meandog

it is really only important that he was born, but, for trivia folks: 11 September 3 BC at about 7pm

When one collates the Biblical references avaiable, it lists some very, very specific signs in the sky concerning the Moon’s location in Virgo, etc, etc which actually pins it to within an hour, bracketed by Herod’s death tied to a lunar eclipse, etc, etc. The information available in the Bible gets quite explicit. Just need some advanced, computer based astronomy and there you are.


19 posted on 12/04/2008 7:34:49 AM PST by rigelkentaurus
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To: rigelkentaurus

He was born on the Festival of Trumpets. After 40 days, Mary’s purification and the Jesus’ dedication was on Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), and of course his cruxification was on Passover. Interesting how some many key factets of his life work on key Jewish calendar holidays.

Must be coincidences? hmmm


20 posted on 12/04/2008 7:39:49 AM PST by rigelkentaurus
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