The Three Puzzles
[Puzzle 1: The Census]
Luke said that Quirinius was governing Syria during the reign of Herod the Great when the census was
taken. The problem was that Herod died in 4 B.C., and Quirinius did not start ruling until 6 A.D..
Possibilities are that there was more than one Quirinius, which is logical because lots of people have
the same Roman names. The problem however does not question the idea that there was a census taken.Many say that Nazareth never existed during the time Jesus spent his childhood there.
The name, Nazareth, first shows up in Jewish literature in a poem from the seventeenth century.
Archaeological evidence has not found the city, but it however points to the existence of Nazareth.
PROOFS:
1) Relocation of priests because they were no longer needed due the fact that the temple was destroyed; one of the priests was registered moved to Nazareth.
2) Archaeological digs uncovered tombs in the area of Nazareth, which could be the boundaries of Nazareth because Jewish law burials needed to take place outside the town.There is a problem debating whether or not this gruesome murder even took place. There are no
writings or archaeological support. 1) Bethlehem was probably small, and there were not too many babies that age.
2) Herod was killed a lot of people.
3) There was not means of mass media so it would take long for word to spread for
a minor village.
[Puzzle 2: The Existence of Nazareth]
PROOFS:
1) Relocation of priests because they were no longer needed due the fact that the temple was destroyed; one of the priests was registered moved to Nazareth.
2) Archaeological digs uncovered tombs in the area of Nazareth, which could be the boundaries of Nazareth because Jewish law burials needed to take place outside the town.
[Puzzle 3: Slaughter at Bethlehem]
There are things that need to be taken into account: