The Year Jesus was Born
Tertullian,
(born about 160 A.D.) stated that Augustus began to rule 41 years
before the birth of Jesus and died 15 years after that event. Augustus'
died on August 19, 14 A.D., placing Jesus' birth at 2. B.C. Tertullian
also notes that Jesus was born 28 years after the death of Cleopatra in
30 B.C., which is 2 B.C.
Iraneus,
born about a century after Jesus, also notes that the Lord was born in
the 41st year of the reign of Augustus. Since Augustus began his reign
in the autumn of 43 B.C., this also substantiates Jesus birth in 2 B.C.
Eusebius
(264-340 A.D.), the "Father of Church History," ascribes it to the 42nd
year of the reign of Augustus and the 28th from the subjection of Egypt
on the death of Anthony and Cleopatra. The 42nd year of Augustus ran
from the autumn of 2 B.C. to the autumn of 1 B.C. The subjugation of Egypt into the Roman Empire
occurred in the autumn of 30 B.C. The 28th year extended from the
autumn of 3 B.C. to the autumn of 2 B.C. the only date that would meet
both of these constraints is the autumn of 2 B.C.
Newton, concluded the 62 weeks of Daniel’s prophecy related to the First Coming of Christ. From 436 B.C. Newton
counts 434 years (62 x 7 = 434) to arrive at the birth of Christ in the
year 2 B.C. From September 436 BC which was the year of the Julian
Period 4278. Count now from this year threescore and two weeks of
years, that is 434 years, and the reckoning will end in September in
the year of the Julian Period 4712 which is 2 B.C,
the year in which Christ was born, according to Clemens Alexandrinus,
Irenĉus, Eusebius, Epiphanius, Jerome, Orosius, Cassiodorus, and other
antients; and this was the general opinion, until much later when
Dionysius Exiguus invented the vulgar account, in which Christ's birth
is placed two years later. Newton also derived the year 2 BC from exact
calculation of the Gestation period of the birth of John the Baptist,
who was born in 2 B.C. the same year as Jesus.
New Historical and Astronomical Evidence:
The year of Jesus’ birth was broadly accepted as 4 BC, primarily from
erroneous conclusions derived from Josephus’ recording of an eclipse,
assumed to be on March 13, 4 BC, “shortly before Herod died.” There are
a number of problems with this in addition to the fact that it was most
likely the eclipse that occurred on Jan. 9, 1 B.C. Considerable time
elapsed between Jesus’ birth and Herod’s death since the family fled to
Egypt to escape Herod’s edict and they didn’t return until after
Herod’s death. Furthermore, Herod died on January 14, 1 BC. This
evidence agrees with the ancient historians who all stated 2 B.C. was the year of Jesus birth.
In
view of the fact that the ancient historians, the prophecy of Daniel,
and modern scientific analysis, all concur that 2 B.C. is the year of
Jesus birth, how would anyone provide more convincing evidence? In
fact, I sincerely doubt it would be possible to compile any stronger
proof than that which we already have supporting 2 B.C. Furthermore,
why would anyone want better proof or go to the trouble of contesting
the word and wisdom of these great historians. … ybic … Oliver