The Beginning of Saint Luke...chapter 2...and the controversy...

The beginning of Luke chapter 2 begins in controversy. For a number of centuries, some historians have commented that Luke's beginning description in the first few verses of this chapter is inaccurate. In particular, the story of the census being taken, the timing of the appointed official Quirinius, and the general requirement of Roman authority for all the Jewish people of the region to return to their home town to sign-up for the census (for tax purposes pertaining to the Roman Empire).
 The basis is two-fold as I understand it. First, the story written by Luke is challenged (indirectly) by the popular historian of the era Josephus. In fact, this is the major documentation that brings up question to Luke's information he gives to us in his Gospel.
 Josephus is controversial himself. Although some of his written manuscripts of the history in that era have proved helpful, there are certain questions that arise to what he may have wrote. Josephus was a non-believer in Christ Jesus, having Hebrew origin, who was in a military role in the attempted overthrow of Roman rule in the war between the Jewish people and Rome in 67-70 A.D. He is written to have given up his own men and join Rome after his capture by the Romans, and later lived in Rome itself. As I did research, I have come to the conclusion the controversy is not really strong enough to cause me to really question the info Luke recorded. The original manuscripts of the New Testament are so much more plentiful than that of Josephus, along with the general lack of information regarding this time in history, and the fact what Josephus recorded has questions to the timing of general events of this era as well.
 The other question is...was history tampered by others in later centuries (3rd and 4th centuries) to back the beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church and her association to Christ Jesus?
 Overall, I still believe the information Luke recorded is accurate, for no other reason than he was dedicated to that precise thing....recording accurately what really happened. Besides, the manuscripts of the New Testament (up to now over 5000 original manuscripts found of different parts of the Bible), versus the few found by others such as Josephus recording of the history of that era, the actual translations of the Scriptures in Hebrew and Greek from their original language into the languages of today like English, and the moral obligations to relay to us today the actual events that happened, leads me to believe Luke has written accurately...what we need to know...in the early life of the One who became...one of us...the Lord Jesus Himself. 

                                A Gleaning of Luke 2: 1-7

 " In those days, the Roman Emperor Caesar Augustus decided it was again time for a census to be taken throughout the Roman Empire...to update tax records needed...for the financial success of the Roman Empire.
 {NOTE: Caesar Augustus whose very name Augustus means "noble", had developed "Pax Romana" (Roman peace), for the Roman Empire had enjoyed a time of peace for approximately 40 years. It seems it had become a requirement for a census to be taken every 14 years. This was looked upon with disdain with the Jewish nation Israel. 
 The nation of Israel had been involved with a number of census taken in the Old Testament. In the Book of Numbers 1:1-3 the Lord God had initiated a census through Moses to get a number of warriors in the land of Israel, in II Chronicles 2:17-18 Solomon had taken a census of foreigners who lived within the land of Israel...in conjunction with the building of the Temple in Jerusalem, and in the Book of Ezra a census was taken as to the number of Israelites that had returned from their exile in Babylon. Yet, in II Samuel 24:1-2, King David had initiated a census that infuriated the Lord God. The Scriptures do not indicate the motive of David for wanting the census, but the consequences of David choosing to do so was dire.
 This "Davidic required census" was most likely the mindset of the nation of Israel when Emperor Augustus required this census around the time of Christ's birth.}                                 


 This was the first time a census was taken during the leadership role of Quirinius in the area of Syria. The census required all people (most likely the men or head of households of the family)  to return to their home towns to be registered.
 Because of Joseph being a descendant of King David, he then returned to his hometown of Bethlehem of Judea, the home of King David himself. The travel for Joseph was about 80 miles from Nazareth in Galilee.
 Joseph took with him his fiancee Mary, who was now obviously pregnant. {NOTE: Did Joseph have to take Mary along?...probably not. Yet, he knew the time of birth was near and obviously wanted to be there with Mary. I personally think it also depicts the tender heart of Joseph toward Mary, choosing not to leave her feeling abandoned, and perhaps not wanting her to be left alone to be accused and judged harshly by those around her as to how she became pregnant and..."Who's child is it?"}
 When the couple arrived in Bethlehem, it was now time for Mary to give birth.  She wrapped her firstborn in strings of cloth, commonly called swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger of a stable where animals were kept, for every inn was completely full in Bethlehem because of the census, the result being the animal stable was the only place Mary and Joseph could find a place to stay.

{NOTE: Swaddling Clothes: these were used actually to restrict the movement of a newborn's limbs, to give warmth, and to ensure the arms and legs would grow straight. Prior to wrapping the child in these strips of cloth, the umbilical cord was cut and tied, and the child was normally washed in a salt and water solution. In the Book of Ezekiel 16:4, Israel is described as "unswaddled", meaning abandoned.
 Manger: A manger during the time of Christ's birth was a feed trough found in an animal's stable was made of clay, held together with straw, and reinforced with stone. Just as we today would probably not recognize the manger that was actually used in that day, it is doubtful Mary and Joseph would recognize the nativity scene as we know it today.}