THE BIBLE

Hugo McCord

I. Luke’s Three Errors (?)

Critics have said that Luke made three errors in Luke 2:1-3:

1. “In those days Caesar Augustus ordered that a world census be taken” (Luke 1:1). Since the Roman and Greek historians do not mention a world census being ordered by the Roman emperor Caesar Augustus, reigning 43 years (29 B.C.-14 A.D.), some have said that Luke made a mistake.

However, archaeologist W. M. Ramsy has found, on a temple wall in Ankara in Turkey, a copy of Augustus’ words ordering the census (Joseph Free, ARCHAEOLOGY AND HISTORY, p. 285).

2. “This was the first enrollment made when Quirinius was governor of Syria” (Luke 2:2). However, history shows that Quirinius was the governor of Syria 6-11 A.D., several years later than the time Joseph and Mary went to Bethlehem to be enrolled in the census. An honest friend and lover of the Bible, Adam Clarke, a learned commentator, admits the difficulty, saying:

It is easily proved, and has been proved often, that [Quirinius] was not governor of Syria till ten or twelve years after the birth of our Lord, so it is impossible that the census mentioned by the evangelist could have been made in the presidency of [Quirinius] (THE NEW TESTAMENT OF OUR LORD AND SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST, p. 369).

And the esteemed lexicographer, Joseph Henry Thayer, also an honest friend and lover of the Bible, writes: “Luke in his Gospel ii.2 has made a mistake (A GREEK-ENGLISH LEXICON OF THE NEW TESTAMENT, p. 441).

It is sad that those honest Bible lovers died before the accuracy of Luke was vindicated. The archaeologist W. M. Ramsay found stones showing that Quirinius was the governor of Syria not only in 6-11 A.D., but also in 8-4 B.C., designating him the “military governor” during his first term, and the “civil governor” during his second term (Joseph Free, ibid.).

A study of two calendars helps solidify the fact that Quirinius was governor of Syria when Joseph and Mary arrived in Bethlehem. The Roman calendar was based on the founding of the city of Rome by Romulus and Remus: Anno Urbis Conditae, A.U.C., which in our calendar was 753 B.C.

In 532 A.D. Emperor Justinian asked a monk, Dionysius Exiguus, to make a calendar based on the birthyear of Christ. But Exiguus made a mistake. As he transferred the Roman calendar date of the death of Herod, in April of 749 A.U.C., to an A.D. (Anno Domini, “in the year of the Lord”) calendar, he placed Herod’s death in April of 4 B.C. But since 4 B.C. means four years before Christ was born, we have the nonsense that Herod tried to kill the baby Jesus four years before he was born. The result is that the Christian calendar we use is at least four years in error, having Christ born in the early part of B.C. 4 or, more likely, in 5 B.C.

If Jesus was born in 5 B.C., that would be during the time that Quirinius was the military governor of Syria, 8-4 B,C., which verifies Luke 2:2: “This was the first enrollment made when Quirinius was governor of Syria.”

3. “And all went to enrol themselves, every one to his own city.” Critics have said that the order for the Roman census did not require people to go to their own homes to register. However, W. M. Ramsay has seen an Egyptian papyrus verifying the return home law (Joseph Free, ibid.).

Thus all three of Luke’s alleged three errors are no more.

II. THE BOOK OF BOOKS

Three tributes to the Bible are refreshing:

This book contains the mind of God, the state of man, the way of salvation, the doom of sinners, and the happiness of believers. Its doctrines are holy, is precepts are binding, its histories are true, and its decisions immutable.

Read it to be wise, believe it to be safe, and practice it to be holy. It contains light to direct you, food to support you, and comfort to cheer you. It is the traveler’s map, the pilgrim’s staff, the pilot’s compass, the soldier’s sword, the Christian’s charter.

Here paradise is restored, heaven is opened, and the gates of hell disclosed. Christ is its grand object, our good its design, and the glory of God its end.

It should fill the memory, rule the heart, and guide the feet. Read it slowly, frequently, prayerfully. It is a mind of wealth, a paradise of glory, and a river of pleasure.

It is given you in life, will be open at the judgment, and be remembered forever. It involves the highest responsibility, rewards the greatest labor, and condemns all who trifle with its holy contents (Anonymous).

Another anonymous tribute is worth studying:

Many years ago I entered the wonderful temple of God’s revelation. I entered the portico of Genesis and walked down through the Old Testament Art Gallery where the pictures of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Joshua, Samuel, David, and Daniel hung on the wall. I entered the Music Room of the Psalms where the Spirit swept the keyboard of nature, and brought forth the dirge-like wail of the weeping prophet Jeremiah; to the grand, impassioned strains of Isaiah, until it seemed that every reed and harp in God’s organ of nature responded to the tuneful touch of David, the sweet singer of Israel. I entered the chapel of Ecclesiastes where the voice of the preacher was heard, and I passed into the conservatory of Sharon where the lily of the valley’s sweet-scented spices filled and perfumed my life. I entered the business room of the Proverbs and passed into the observatory room of the prophets where I saw many telescopes of various sizes, some pointing to far off events, but all concentrated upon the Bright Morning Star, which was soon to rise over the moon-lit hills of Judea, for our salvation. I entered the audience room of the King of Kings and caught a vision from the standpoint of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. I entered the Acts of the Apostles where the Holy Spirit was doing his office work in the forming of the early church. I passed into the Correspondence room where sat Paul, Peter, James, Jude, and John penning their epistles. I stepped into the Throne of Revelation, where all towered into glittering peaks. I got a vision of the King seated upon his throne in all His glory, and I cried:

All hail the power of Jesus’ name!

Let angels prostrate fall,

Bring forth the royal diadem

And crown Him Lord of all.

It is no wonder that Sir Walter Scott said there was only one Book!

MY BIBLE

(Henry van Dyke, 1853-1933)

Born in the East, and clothed in oriental form and imagery, the Bible walks whe ways of the world with familiar feet, and enters land after land to find its own everywhere. It has learned to speak in hundreds of languages to the heart of a man. It comes into the palace to tell the monarch that he is a servant of the Most High, and into the cottage to tell the peasant that he is a child of God. Children listen to its stories with wonder and delight, and wise men ponder them as parables of life.

It has a word of peace for the time of peril, a word of comfort for the day of calamity, a day of light for the hour of darkness. Its oracles are repeated in the assembly of the people, and its counsels are whispered in the ears of the lonely. The wise and the proud tremble at its warnings, but to the wounded and penitent it has a mother’s voice.

The wilderness and the solitary place have been made glad by it, and the fires of the hearth have lighted the reading of its well worn pages. It has woven itself into our deepest affections and devotion, memory and hope. It has put on the beautiful garments of its treasured speech, breathing frankincense and myrrh.

Above the cradle and beside the grave its great words come to us uncalled. They fill our prayers with power larger than we know, and the beauty of them lingers in our ear long after the sermons they have adorned have been forgotten. They return to us swiftly and quietly, like the birds flying from far away, like springs of water breaking forth from the mountain beside a long forgotten path. They grow richer as pearls do when worn near the heart. No man is poor or desolate who has this treasure for his own.

When the landscape darkens and when the trembling pilgrim comes to the valley named the shadow, he is not afraid to enter. He takes the rod and staff of Scripture in his hand, and says to friend and comrade, “Goodbye, we shall meet again,” and comforted by that support he goes toward the lonely pass as one who climbs through the darkness into light.

3-21-00