This issue is an exceedingly complex one, which is why atheists and biblical skeptics like Jonathan MS Pearce and Richard Carrier have devoted a lot of enthusiastic and triumphalistic ink to it, thinking that it is an insuperable conundrum for Christians who believe in biblical infallibility or inerrancy (one of the quintessential “biblical contradictions” in their eyes). Christians have proposed various solutions to it, but, frankly, no one pretends that they are “easy” or easily understood solutions.
Any plausible Christian answer to the “problem”, moreover, requires considerable reading and patience to even be properly understood, let alone accepted. This is not a matter given to quick summary. For all these reasons, I have chosen not to address the issue, myself, in the depth it deserves (though I have tackled it to some extent), since it clearly requires more attention than I have time, energy, or desire to devote to it, and have simply compiled the following list of good articles, for the sake of those who want to pursue the issue in depth and to be aware of the best Christian arguments and proposed solutions available.
Many atheists (of the anti-theist sort) will quickly retort that the following efforts are desperate and pitiful examples of special pleading or deliberate intellectual dishonesty. Let them conclude what they will. I am happy to leave the decision to my readers as to which arguments are the best ones and more plausible, and whether their writers are dishonest hacks and sophists or honest inquirers who happen to be Christians and believers in the inspiration of the Bible (which characteristic includes historical accuracy).
“Luke and the Census” (Conservapedia)
“The Census of Quirinius: The Historicity of Luke 2:1-5” (Ronald Marchant, 1980)
“The Census of Quintilius Varus” (Ernest L. Martin, The Star of Bethlehem: The Star that Astonished the World, 2nd ed., 2003, ch. 12)
“Contradictions in the Infancy stories?” (Glenn Miller, 2-10-08)
“Joseph Misdated the Census of Quirinius” (John H. Rhoads, Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, March 2011)
Astronomical and Historical Evidence for Dating the Nativity in 2 BC” (James A. Nollet, Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith, Volume 64, Number 4, December 2012, 211-219)
“Historical Evidence for Quirinius and the Census” (Bible History.net, 2013)
“The 100-year old mistake about the Birth of Jesus” (Jimmy Akin, 4-13-13)
“Jesus’ birth and when Herod the Great really died” (Jimmy Akin, April 2013)
“Does Luke Contradict Himself on When Jesus Was Born?” (Jimmy Akin, 9-12-14)
“The Lukan Census — Updated” (Glenn Miller, Sep. 2014)
“Jesus’ Birth – Roman History” (Joseph Lenard, 1-5-17)
“Recent Scholarship Dating Herod’s Death Matches Christian Texts About Jesus’s Birth“ (G. W. Thielman, The Federalist, 12-20-17)
“An Unusual Roman Census Decree By Caesar Augustus” (
“Did Augustus Tax the World?” (Things Paul and Luke, 11-30-18)
“The Census of Quirinius” (The Bible History Guy, 10-16-19)
“Quirinius: An Archaeological Biography” (Bryan Windle, Bible Archaeology Report, 12-19-19)
“Towards the Historical Plausibility of Luke 2:2” (Maviael Alves & Maviael Oliveira, October 2020)
“Solving the Census of Quirinius” (10-27-20)
“Untangling the Apparent Contradiction of the Census of Quirinius” (David E. Graves, Deus Artefacta, 7-16-21)
“Miller vs Carrier on the Lukan Census” (J. P. Holding, n.d.)
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Photo credit: Saint Joseph Seeks a Lodging in Bethlehem, by James Tissot (1836-1902) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons]
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Summary: I offer many resources concerning the biblical “difficulty” of Governor of Syria, Quirinius & Luke’s Census (see Luke 2:1-5). Atheists LOVE to engage in this discussion.
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