Changes

:Honestly, I've never considered the exact date to be of much importance. I've just assumed that it was around the time of what is now the calendar change, and figured that was close enough. I am not aware of any new information available to us now, which they didn't have when they changed the calendar.

:Honestly, I've never considered the exact date to be of much importance. I've just assumed that it was around the time of what is now the calendar change, and figured that was close enough. I am not aware of any new information available to us now, which they didn't have when they changed the calendar.

:Jesus was executed at about 33 years of age, so based on the time Pilate was governor, Jesus must have been born between 7 B.C. and 3 A.D. It also seems that that Pilate was somewhat established at the time of Jesus' execution, so he must have been in office for at least a few years by then. (Pilate's tradition of releasing one criminal each year was well established at this point.)  That has always seemed close enough to me. --[[User:DavidB4|<font color="ForestGreen">DavidB4</font>]] ^{([[User talk:DavidB4|TALK]])} 22:39, 3 May 2020 (EDT)

:Jesus was executed at about 33 years of age, so based on the time Pilate was governor, Jesus must have been born between 7 B.C. and 3 A.D. It also seems that that Pilate was somewhat established at the time of Jesus' execution, so he must have been in office for at least a few years by then. (Pilate's tradition of releasing one criminal each year was well established at this point.)  That has always seemed close enough to me. --[[User:DavidB4|<font color="ForestGreen">DavidB4</font>]] ^{([[User talk:DavidB4|TALK]])} 22:39, 3 May 2020 (EDT)

::The gospels say Herod was king at the time Jesus was born. Herod died shortly after a lunar eclipse, according to Josephus. This is usually thought to be the partial lunar eclipse of March 13, 4 BC. That's where the 4 BC birth date for Jesus comes from. There were total lunar eclipse on January 10, 1 BC and December 29, 1 BC. Two scholars debate the issue [https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/people-cultures-in-the-bible/jesus-historical-jesus/herods-death-jesus-birth-and-a-lunar-eclipse/ here]. The traditional 2 BC birth year is from Luke 3:1,23 as explained above. [[User:PeterKa|PeterKa]] ([[User talk:PeterKa|talk]]) 23:23, 3 May 2020 (EDT)

::The gospels say Herod was king at the time Jesus was born. Herod died shortly after a lunar eclipse, according to Josephus. This is usually thought to be the partial lunar eclipse of March 13, 4 BC. That's where the 4 BC birth date for Jesus comes from. There were total lunar eclipses on January 10, 1 BC and December 29, 1 BC. Herod Antipas, Herod's son and the guy who executed John the Baptist, became king in 4 BC according to his coinage. Two scholars debate the issue [https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/people-cultures-in-the-bible/jesus-historical-jesus/herods-death-jesus-birth-and-a-lunar-eclipse/ here]. The traditional 2 BC birth year is from Luke 3:1,23 as explained above. My view is that Herod died in 4 BC, but the gospel writers might have confused father and son. So Luke's 2 BC date for the birth of Jesus is plausible. [[User:PeterKa|PeterKa]] ([[User talk:PeterKa|talk]]) 23:41, 3 May 2020 (EDT)