198 LIEUT.-COLONEL G. MACKINLAY, THE DATE 



consistency and truthfulness of the Scripture record will be 

 demonstrated. 



But some may say — Is it not hopeless to expect to find the 

 exact date ? Did not Scaliger* write long ago, "Diem vero 

 definire unius Dei est, non liominis" — to determine the true 

 day of Christ's Birth belongs to God alone, not man. Are not 

 the best scholars still undecided about it ? And is not the 

 evidence somewliat contradictory ? Have we not heard in some 

 sermons that this date has not been revealed to us, possibly for 

 some wise purpose. Therefore, may it not be unprofitable, vain, 

 and even wrong to attempt to discover it ? 



To this it is replied, because Scaliger and others did not know 

 the exact date of the Nativity, that is no reason why we should 

 not find out if we can. We are nowhere told in the Scripture 

 that the date of Christ's Birth is hidden. On the contrary, two 

 direct historical statements are given us in the Gospel of St. 

 Luke, which enable us to find not only the year, but also the 

 season of the year, and several indirect statements in the Bible 

 also point to the same conclusion. There is also good historical 

 evidence apart from the Scriptures, witnessing to the same 

 result. 



It is true that in the past there were difficulties in determin- 

 ing this date, and some of the evidence appeared to be conflicting ; 

 but these difficulties have disappeared with the modern increase 

 in historical knowledge, which is founded on the examination 

 and study of original documents and inscriptions discovered 

 during recent years. 



We now proceed to find, from different sources, the limits 

 within which the Nativity must have fallen. 



The Yeak. 



(a) The Nativity was hetiveen 10 B.C. and 5 B.C. according to- 

 St. Luke and Josephus. 



We are told in Luke iii, 23 E.V., that Christ was " about 

 thirty years of age " when He began His Ministry. No date 

 before 10 B.C. would agree with this statement, even if the 

 earliest year historically possible is assumed for the beginning of 

 His Ministry. 



The Nativity could not have been later than 5 B.C. because it 

 must have been at least three and a half months before the 

 death of Herod, in order to allow time for the forty days of 



^ Chronology^ etc., vol. i, p. 93, Hales. 



