Did Luke get Christmas wrong?

I've been chewing this over for a while now as I prepare to look at Luke 2 over Christmas

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.)

Luke 2: 1-2

I'm sure we all know some of the problems with this - e.g. King Herod (cf. Luke 1: 5 and Matthew 1-2) died before Quirnius was governor. Richard Dawkins takes great delight in highlighting them in The God Delusion.

In my mind there are three questions:

1. What is the correct translation of verse 2? Especially of 'prote' (= first above) - is it possible to translate it 'before Quirnius was governor'? Or is that merely an attempt to harmonise the gospel accounts with history?

(Herod died in 4BC, the census that was finalised under Quirnius happened 6/7 AD.)

2. What do we think is the most likely historical reconstruction of what happened? And in doing that, how do we weigh up conflicting accounts? With things like censi (is that the plural of census or a martial arts expert?) sometimes taking decades to complete are we reading a modern notion of history back into the text?

3. How does this all fit with Luke's introductory appeal to Theophilus? If Luke has got it all wrong then doesn't that seriously undermine his claim to have investigated eye-witness accounts?

This is not merely academic to me. At the moment my first point from Luke 2 is going to be - Jesus is a real person because he had a birth certificate. That comes from the text but I want to be able to preach that with confidence and integrity.

The Lure of Pornography

I was speaking to someone recently who struggle with internet porngraphy. This is a very common issue, especially amongst men, and therefore the first step to dealing with it is to admit to it. My guess would be that several guys at PBC struggle with this issue.

A recent article / sermon (from Proverbs 7) I read on the subject was really helpful - pornography unmasked.

Here are the 6 lures taken from it:


Lure #1: The Forbidden
One of the marketing strategies of pornography is to create settings and scenarios that present the lure of the forbidden.

Lure #2: The Physical Body

Lure #3: Passivity
Pornography’s message is that the man can take it easy; he can avoid the assertiveness of real relationships and reap the benefits of sexual pleasure anyway.

Lure #4: Comfort
One of the self-justifications we often use when we gear up to view pornography is that we want to unwind, we want to relax, and we want to reward ourselves after a hard day.

Lure #5: Ego-Fulfillment
The man that repeatedly returns to pornography is caught in the fantasy experience that the woman on the screen is selling to him: she wants him, she notices him and she makes him feel like a real man.

Lure #6: Secrecy
Often what makes porn so enticing is that it is viewed in secret.

The analysis is spot on. Read the original sermon for Biblical advice on how to deal with this sin.