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sover , ( for which the earlier date allows barely a month , ) and it gives the other arguments for the later date a pre ponderating influence . Taking the spring of A- U . 751 for
the death of Herod , we need not place the birth of Christ before the spring of A . U . 7 ^ 2 ; and he would not then have completed his thirtieth year till after his baptism , supposing that to have occurred as above-stated .
Ones more , I see nothing in the Introductory Narrative to fix the time of Christ ' s birth to nine months after the Annunciation . Upon the hypothesis which I have advanced in the Appendix to the 2 d Edition of Unitarianism
the Doctrine of the Gospel , respecting the interpretation of ch . i . 26- —38 , it is clear from ch . i . 39 , 56 , that the birth of Christ could not have taken place till at least twelve months after the Annunciation : and even on the common
interpretation , it is in no way necessary to fix upon an earlier period . So that if Herod died so early as March , A . U . 750 , we need not place the birth of Christ before August in A . U . 751 , in which case he would be about thirty years and a half old at his baptism .
When I wrote the Appendix abovementioned , and the article in the Monthly Repository ( Jan . 1811 ) to which it refers , I adopted Lardner ' s opinion that St . Luke reckoned from the time when Tiberius assumed the
proconsular government , in connexion with Augustus , A . U . 764 or 765 . The supposition that such a mode of reckoning the commencement of his reign was at all in use , rests , however ,
on very uncertain data ; that it was not prevalent is certain ; and that Luke employed it , is therefore hig hly improbable .
H „ ( 1 ) ( 2 ) C *) ( 4 ) ( 5 ) Herod ' s Death - Mar . 750 ibid . Mar . 1 , 751 Feb . 751 Feb . 751 Birth of Christ - Mar . 751 Aug . 751 Feb . 25 , 751 April , 752 Aug . 75 £ Umst SO years old Mar . 781 Aug . 781 Feb . 25 , 781 April , 782 Aug . 782 15 th of Tiberius - Aug . 781 ibid . ibid . ibid . ibid . Baptist ' s ministry Sept . 781 ibid . ibid . ibid . May , - . 782 Baptism of Christ Feb . 782 ibid . Jan . 25 , 782 Feb . 782 Jf « b . 783 Frist ' s age - - 31 30 £ 31 , 30 30 J
Hence I think it clear , that the statements of Luke iii % 1 , 23 , present | ° chronolo gical objection whatever > l « c authenticity of tJhe introductory ^ ters of his Gospel .
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If Luke ' s 15 th year of Tiberius really began in A . U . 778 or T 79 , the baptism of Christ might be placed at the latest in February 780 . In that case he might have been born in $ k $
summer or autumn of 749 , eighteen or twenty months before the death of Herod ,, in the spring of 751 - , and this is the shortest period which the Jhtro ^ duct ion to Matthew will allow . But
if the baptism of Christ be placed in February 7 * 62 , ( and reckoning" the reign of Tiberius from the death ot Augustus it cannot be earlier , ) following the Introduction to Matthew , he must have been considerably above thirty-two years old at his baptism .
Following what I cannot but regard as the only legitimate reckoning of the reign of Tiberius , the ministry of the Baptist might have begun any time between August 19 , A . U . 781 and
August 19 , 782 . If it were i , n the spring or summer of 782 , then we must refer the baptism of Christ to February 783 . This would increase
the discrepancy between the Introduction to Matthew , and the dates of Luke ; but it would not invalidate the Introduction of his own Gospel . Taking the later date of Herod , we need not place the birth of Christ t > efore the middle of 752 ; and still he would be less than thirty-one at his baptism .
( See Table , col . 5 . ) The following table exhibits the leading modifications of the principal dates , according as we fix upon 760 or 751 for $ he death of Herod ; eaqh of which is sufficiently accordant with the dates of Luke ' s Gospel , and vindicates the Introduction from this chronological difficulty :
IL The question , of tU § . Census is more simple , and alike saXisfaetpry . What the historian tejJLls us inch . ii . 1—3 is , that Augustus issued < r decree for the enrolment of ^ ho whole lan < J
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Dr . Carpenter on the Introductory Chapters to Luke ' s Qqspeh 342
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 2, 1822, page 347, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2513/page/27/
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