My atheist friend scoffs at such flexibility. Through a variety of other time indicators, we can be relatively confident that the one called Messiah was born in either late 5 or early 4 B.C. The earliest Jesus could have been born, therefore, is 6 B.C. Now Matthew tells us that Herod killed Bethlehem’s babies two years old and under. ![]() Unfortunately, poor Dionysius missed the real B.C./A.D. At that time, Pope John the First asked a monk named Dionysius to prepare a standardized calendar for the western Church. means ‘before Christ.’ But our modern calendar which splits time between B.C. It might sound strange to suggest that Jesus Christ was born no later than 4 B.C. From other details supplied by Josephus, we can pinpoint Herod the Great’s demise as occurring between March 29th and April 4th in 4 B.C. This feast took place on April 11th, in the same year, 4 B.C. Josephus also tells us that Herod expired just before Passover. This occurred on March 12th or 13th in 4 B.C. Josephus records an eclipse of the moon just before Herod passed on. Herod’s death can be fixed with certainty. The Gospels tell us that his birth was shortly before Herod the Great died. ![]() Now it logically follows that if Jesus Christ lived (need it be said?), he must have been born. as the historicity of Julius Caesar” ( NT Documents, 119). ![]() Bruce put it, “The historicity of Christ is as. But the evidence that Jesus Christ invaded history is not just shut up to the testimony of the New Testament–as irrefutable as that might be! The very enemies of Christianity claimed that he lived–and that he performed miracles! Early Jewish documents such as the Mishnah and even Josephus–as well as first-century Gentile historians–such as Thallus, Serapion, and Tacitus–all testify that the one called Christ lived in Palestine and died under Pontius Pilate. His religious fervor, in fact, would put many evangelists to shame. Now my atheist friend had incredible faith–blind faith, I might add. He also insisted that Jesus Christ never existed! This fellow was hard core. But not just a run-of-the-mill atheist, you understand. Sometime ago, I struck up a conversation with a man who claimed that God did not exist.
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