“The Census of Quirinius was a census of Judea taken by Publius Sulpicius Quirinius, governor of Roman Syria, upon the imposition of direct Roman rule in 6 AD.[1]

The Gospel of Luke uses it to date the birth of Jesus, whereas the Gospel of Matthew places Jesus’ birth 5-11 years earlier in the time of Herod the Great (who died between 5 BC and 1 AD).

Luke appears to have conflated Quirinius’s census with the death of Herod [2]. Most bible scholars acknowledge that this is incorrect.[13]

Scholars point out that there was no census of the entire Roman Empire under Augustus and the Romans did not directly tax client kingdoms. Further, no Roman census required that people travel from their own homes to those of their ancestors.

Additionally, a census of Judea would not have affected Joseph and his family, who lived in Galilee which was not part of Judea.

Luke seems to have incorporated the census as a plot device to temporarily move Joseph and Mary from “their own city” (Luke 2:39) of Nazareth, to the expected birthplace of the messiah; Bethlehem. After Jesus is circumcised on the eighth day, they return their home in Nazareth and stay there.

The author of Matthew had the reverse problem; he records Joseph and Mary as originally living in Bethlehem. When Jesus is a toddler they migrate to Egypt for a few years, and only move into Nazareth when they come back from Egypt as their hometown, Bethlehem, was unsafe. [3][14]”

The authors of Matthew and Luke offer two independent solutions for reconciling two widely known facts: (1) the Messiah was to come from Bethlehem, (2) Jesus came from Nazareth.

Matthew and Luke were probably unaware of each other, and each edited stories together, intending for his book to be the definitive volume on the life of Jesus. To contort and force them into a unified frankensteinian nativity (1) is not credible (2) destroys the unique message/story each author intended to communicate.

Dr. Matt Baker is the founder of UsefulCharts and the creator of its educational wall charts. Matt holds a Ph.D Religion and a B.A. in Theology. In his personal life Matt is a practicing member of Reformed Judiasim.