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    namely , that Christ ' s conception was miraculous , and that he was born in thetfoys

    narratives alluded to . 'Matthew states , that Joseph was commanded to call the child Jesus — that the birth was announced to Magicians from the East—their interview with Herod , who was then at Jerusalem—Herod ' s consequent conduct—the flight from Bethlehem into Egypt—the slaughter of the infantsthe death of Herod—the return of Joseph , and the subsequent dwelling in Nazareth . Luke states , that Mary was commanded to call the child Jesusthat his birth was announced to shepherds—that he was circumcised the

    eighth day—that the legal purification being accomplished ( which required forty days ) they brought him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord—that when they had performed all according to the law , they returned to their own city Nazareth—and that his parents went every year to Jerusalem to the passover . Now it surely ought not to be objected to any one , that he is obstinate or blind , or captious , because he cannot conceive how both these accounts can possibly be true ; how it can be a fact , as Matthew states , that Joseph went immediately from Bethlehem into Egypt to avoid the fury of

    Herod ; and at the same time a fact , as Luke relates , that the family remained at Bethlehem at least forty days and then went to Jerusalem , where Herod was probably residing , and from thence returned to Nazareth , and finally went every year to Jerusalem to the passover . Every candid inquirer must allow that these are no trifling difficulties , and quite sufficient to justify a more minute scrutiny . Let us then proceed to examine Mr . Rowe ' s view of the chronology of those events in the Roman history , which , the author of the narrative in Luke has identified with the circumstances which he relates .

    These are , the period of Herod , or the decree of Augustus , and of the fifteenth year of Tiberius . Mr . Rowe admits that Herod died in the year 750 , * or 751 , and Augustus in the year 767 . The principal points which he attempts to establish are , that the decree of Augustus was issued in the days of Herod , that the commencement of the government of Tiberius is a distinct period from the commencement of his Teign , and that the former began in the year 764 , and is

    the epoch from which Luke dates the public manifestation of our Saviour * ¦ * when he began to be about thirty years old . " Mr . Rowe assumes that the decree of Augustus was issued in the time of Herod , because the words " in those days , " contained in Luke ii . 1 , must , as he contends , refer to the reign of Herod mentioned in chap . i . 5 . It is , however , impossible to admit the solidity of an argument derived solely from the authority of a narrative , the whole of which is disputed , and it therefore

    behoves Mr . Rowe , in the first place , to prove from other and unquestionable evidence the date of the decree alluded to . From any thing that appears in the narrative , it does not necessarily follow that thi 3 decree preceded the census or taxing of Cyrenius any considerable time ; but if Mr . Rowe ' s view fee correct , it must have lain dormant at least nine years , since it is a fact too Well established to be disputed , that the census or taxing of Cyrenius did not take place until after the banishment of Archelaus , the son and successor-of Herod , in the year 759 . The second verse is admitted to be parenthetical , ^ *_ - — : , ' ; ——• All the dates refer to the year of Rome .

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    328 On the Prefaces to Matthew and Luke .

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), May 2, 1827, page 328, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1796/page/16/