Mikel Del Rosario: Did Luke Get the Timing of the Christmas Story Wrong?

Each Christmas, I hear the story of Jesus’ birth read publicly from the Gospel of Luke. And it often seems like the timing of Jesus' birth and the census under some guy named Quirinius gets read pretty quickly, almost like it’s an unnecessary interjection no one really cares about. For most people, it probably is.

But here’s why I started to care about the Quirinius part: Skeptics often say that Luke must have messed up on the timing of the Christmas story. In this post, I'll explain one of the most common challenges to the historicity of the Bible. I'll also share the other side of the story---the one skeptical friends may not have considered.

But first, let's go to the primary source. Luke 2:1-6 is ground zero for this conversation.... Keep reading