A chronology of Jesus aims to establish a timeline for the events of the life of Jesus. Scholars have correlated Jewish and Greco-Roman documents and astronomical calendars with the New Testament accounts to estimate dates for the major events in Jesus's life.
Two main approaches have been used to estimate the year of the birth of Jesus: one based on the accounts in the Gospels of his birth with reference to King Herod's reign, and the other by subtracting his stated age of "about 30 years" when he began preaching. Most scholars, on this basis, assume a date of birth between 6 and 4 BC.John P. Meier (1991). A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus, v. 1; The Roots of the Problem and the Person, ch. 11, ... "A Chronology of Jesus Life," pp. 373–433. Anchor Bible Reference Library.D. A. Carson, Douglas J. Moo & Leon Morris. (1992). An Introduction to the New Testament, 54, 56. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.Michael Grant. (1977). Jesus: An Historian's Review of the Gospels, p. 71. Scribner's.Ben Witherington III. (1998). "Primary Sources". Christian History, 17 (3), 12–20.
Three details have been used to estimate the year when Jesus began preaching: a mention of his age of "about 30 years" during "the fifteenth year" of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, another relating to the date of the building of the Temple in Jerusalem, and yet another concerning the death of John the Baptist.Eerdman Publishing. (2000). Eerdman’s Dictionary of the Bible, page 249. Amsterdam University Press. .Craig A. Evans. (2003). The Bible Knowledge Background Commentary: Matthew-Luke, volume 1, pages 67–69 .Paul L. Maier. "The Date of the Nativity and Chronology of Jesus" [In] Jerry Vardaman, Edwin M. Yamauchi. (1989). Chronos, kairos, Christos: nativity and chronological studies, pages 113–129. .Craig Evans. (2006). Josephus on John the Baptist [In] Amy-Jill Levine et al.[Eds]. (2006). The Historical Jesus in Context, pages 55–58. Princeton University Press. . Geoffrey W. Bromiley. (1982). International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, volume E-J, pages 694–695. . Hence, scholars estimate that Jesus began preaching and gathering followers around AD 28–29. According to the three synoptic gospels Jesus continued preaching for at least one year, and according to John the Evangelist for three years.The Riddles of the Fourth Gospel: An Introduction to John by Paul N. Anderson 2011 page 200Herod the Great by Jerry Knoblet 2005 pages 183–184J. Dwight Pentecost. (1981) The Words and Works of Jesus Christ: A Study of the Life of Christ, pages 577–578. Zondervan.
Five methods have been used to estimate the date of the crucifixion of Jesus. One uses non-Christian sources such as Josephus and Tacitus.Paul William Meyer, John T. Carroll. (2004). The Word in this world, page 112. . Another works backwards from the historically well-established trial of the Apostle Paul by the Roman proconsul Gallio in Corinth in AD 51/52 to estimate the date of Paul's conversion. Both methods result in AD 36 as an upper bound to the crucifixion.Andreas J. Köstenberger, L. Scott Kellum. (2009). The Cradle, the Cross, and the Crown: An Introduction to the New Testament, pages 77–79. .Rainer Riesner. (1997). Paul's early period: chronology, mission strategy, theology pages 19–27. . Page 27 has a table of various scholarly estimates. Thus, scholars generally agree that Jesus was crucified between AD 30 and AD 36.Jesus & the Rise of Early Christianity: A History of New Testament Times by Paul Barnett 2002 pages 19–21The Cradle, the Cross, and the Crown: An Introduction to the New Testament by Andreas J. Köstenberger, L. Scott Kellum 2009 page 114 Isaac Newton's astronomical method calculates those ancient Passovers (always defined by a full moon) which are preceded by a Friday, as specified by all four Gospels; this leaves two potential crucifixion dates, 7 April AD 30 and 3 April AD 33. In the lunar eclipse method, the Apostle Peter's statement that the moon turned to blood at the crucifixion (Acts of the Apostles 2:14–21) is taken to refer to the lunar eclipse of 3 April AD 33; although astronomers are discussing whether the eclipse was visible as far west as Jerusalem. Recent astronomical research uses the supposed contrast between the synoptic date of Jesus' last Passover on the one hand with John's date of the subsequent "Jewish Passover" on the other hand, to propose Jesus' Last Supper to have been on Wednesday, 1 April AD 33 and the crucifixion on Friday, 3 April AD 33.
Context and overview
The Christian gospels do not claim to provide an exhaustive list of the events in the life of Jesus.Christology: A Biblical, Historical, and Systematic Study of Jesus by Gerald O'Collins 2009 pp. 1–3Jesus as a Figure in History: How Modern Historians View the Man from Galilee by Mark Allan Powell 1998 pp. 168–173 They were written as theological documents in the context of early Christianity rather than historical chronicles, and their authors showed little interest in an absolute chronology of Jesus or in synchronizing the episodes of his life with the secular history of the age.Karl Rahner. (2004). Encyclopedia of theology: a concise Sacramentum mundi, pp. 730–731. Interpreting Gospel Narratives: Scenes, People, and Theology by Timothy Wiarda 2010 pp. 75–78Paula Fredriksen. (1999). Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews, pp. 6–7, 105–10, 232–34, 266. Alfred A. Knopf Publishers. One indication that the gospels are theological documents rather than historical chronicles is that they devote about one-third of their text to just seven days, namely the last week of the life of Jesus in Jerusalem, also known as the Passion of Christ.Matthew by David L. Turner 2008 p. 613
Nevertheless, the gospels provide some details regarding events which can be clearly dated, so one can establish date ranges regarding major events in Jesus' life by comparison with independent sources. A number of historical non-Christian documents, such as Jewish and Greco-Roman sources, have been used in historical analyses of the chronology of Jesus.Jesus and the Gospels: An Introduction and Survey by Craig L. Blomberg 2009 pp. 431–436 Virtually all modern historians agree that Jesus existed, and regard his baptism and his crucifixion as historical events, and assume that approximate ranges for these events can be estimated.In a 2011 review of the state of modern scholarship, Bart Ehrman wrote: "He certainly existed, as virtually every competent scholar of antiquity, Christian or non-Christian, agrees" B. Ehrman, 2011 Forged : writing in the name of God . p. 285
Using these methods, most scholars assume a date of birth between 6 and 4 BC, and that Jesus' preaching began around AD 27–29 and lasted one to three years. They calculate the death of Jesus as having taken place between AD 30 and 36.
Year of Jesus' birth
The date of birth of Jesus of Nazareth is not stated in the gospels or in any secular text, but most scholars assume a date of birth between 6 BC and 4 BC. Two main methods have been used to estimate the year of the birth of Jesus: one based on the accounts of his birth in the gospels with reference to King Herod's reign, and another based on subtracting his stated age of "about 30 years" from the time when he began preaching (Luke 3:23) in "the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar" (Luke 3:1-2): the two methods indicate a date of birth before Herod's death in 4 BC, and a date of birth around 2 BC, respectively.Nikos Kokkinos, 1998, in Chronos, kairos, Christos 2 by Ray Summers, Jerry Vardaman pages 121–126Murray, Alexander, "Medieval Christmas", History Today, December 1986, 36 (12), pp. 31 – 39.Jack V. Scarola, "A Chronology of the nativity Era" in Chronos, kairos, Christos 2 by Ray Summers, Jerry Vardaman 1998 pages 61–81Christianity and the Roman Empire: background texts by Ralph Martin Novak 2001 pages 302–303.
Biblical references to King Herod's reign The two nativity accounts of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew and Gospel of Luke differ substantially from each other, and are considered to have been written independently. However, some consistent elements are evidently derived from a common early tradition:Ulrich Luz: Die Geburtsgeschichten Jesu und die Geschichte. Göttingen 2013, S. 170 Jesus was born under the Judean king Herod the Great (Matthew 2:1f; Luke 1:5 vs Luke 2:1f) in Bethlehem (Matthew 2:5f; Luke 2:4.15) prior to his parents moving to Nazareth (Matthew 2:22f), or before their return to Nazareth (Luke 2,39). Jesus' parents Mary and Joseph were betrothed (Matthew 1:18–20; Luke 1:27; 2:5). His birth was a virgin birth conceived by the Holy Spirit. Angels announced Jesus' birth, his name, his role as the Messiah (being a descendant of King David and the son of God), and his mission to save his people from sin (Matthew 1:21; Luke 1:77; 2:11,30).
Thus both Luke and Matthew independently associate Jesus' birth with the reign of Herod the Great.Encyclopedia of theology: a concise Sacramentum mundi by Karl Rahner 2004 page 731 Matthew furthermore implies that Jesus was up to two years old when Herod reportedly ordered the Massacre of the Innocents, that is, the murder of all boys in Bethlehem up to the age of two (Matthew 2:16).