In case anyone's interested, I'm ready to discuss the Bethlehem myth according to Luke, now.
Luke's got the same problem Matthew has: Jesus lives in Nazareth, but needs to be born in Bethlehem. Since Luke's not trying to mirror OT heroes like Matthew is, he comes up with a completely different solution.
Luke 2:1-5
[
1] And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.
[
2] (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)
[
3] And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.
[
4] And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David)
[
5] To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.
Whoa, Mama -- let's count the historical problems in these five verses alone.
- The Romans were pretty meticulous record-keepers, yet no record of any such decree from Agustus exists.
- The Roman records on Cyrenius are pretty solid, however -- he became governor of Syria around the end of AD 6. But Jesus was born when Herod was King (Luke 1:5) which couldn't have been after 4 BC. New math?
- The world should be taxed? The entire Roman empire, all at once? Romans didn't do it that way -- taxes were collected province by province, for reasons which should be blindingly obvious: trying to do the whole thing at once would've overwhelmed the Roman bureacracy and brought the whole government to a screeching halt.
- Judaea became a Roman province around AD 6, Iudaea, but that province did not include Galilee -- if there was such a census or tax, Joseph, a Galilean, was not subject to it. He made the trip for nothing.
- Each to their own city? Did Augustus actually expect every single subject and citizen of the empire to drop everything and make the trip for this? never mind the government; the empire itself would fall apart!
- Since when does any census or taxation require a person to go back to the place of your birth? The census, especially for purposes of taxation, isn't about where you're from, but about where you are. It's a completely unnecessary literary ploy to get Joseph and his family on the road.
- Luke has to return to Bethlehem because he is a descendant of David. Luke 3:23-38 names 41 generations from David to Joseph -- 41! Think of how many heirs and descendants would be produced over 41 generations -- now multiply that number when you consider that David himself had several wives, concubines, and mistresses that we know of through the Bible. How many people with a Davidic claim would be descending on O little town of Bethlehem? Thousands? Tens of thousands? Kind of explains why there was no room at the inn, doesn't it?
- Nazareth is about 100 miles or so from Bethlehem --not only is that 100 miles through scorching desert (making daytime travel unsafe and unwise) and pitch-black night (making nighttime travel unsafe and unwise), but to get there, you'd have to travel through Samaria -- making any travel for a Jew unsafe and unwise. Joseph not only made this trek (about 7-10 days on foot or donkey) for no reason (see point 4) but thought it was a good idea to bring his 9-month pregnant wife along! Smooth move, Joseph.
- As if points 4 and 8 don't qualify Joseph for the "Bonehead of the Century" award, let's not forget that the Roman census did not include women -- only men. If Joseph had no reason to go to Bethlehem, then Mary had even less reason to go.
So really, the only way any of this can be true is if the entire Roman Empire had gone completely insane, and Joseph was the biggest idiot to ever walk the Earth.
Sorry, I choose not to belive either of those, let alone both.
