which Christ was born, there is among
the learned as great a diversity of opinion as that relating to the year
itself. It is claimed by many Biblical scholars that December 25th, the
day celebrated in Christendom as Christmas, cannot be the correct date.
We believe April 6th to be the birthday of Jesus Christ as indicated in
a revelation of the present dispensation already cited,[253] in which
that day is made without qualification the completion of the one
thousand eight hundred and thirtieth year since the coming of the Lord
in the flesh. This acceptance is admittedly based on faith in modern
revelation, and in no wise is set forth as the result of chronological
research or analysis. We believe that Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem
of Judea, April 6, B.C. 1.

NOTES TO CHAPTER 8.

1. The "Taxing."--Regarding the presence of Joseph and Mary in
Bethlehem, far from their Galilean home, and the imperial decree by
compliance with which they were led there, the following notes are
worthy of consideration. Farrar (_Life of Christ_, p. 24, note), says:
"It appears to be uncertain whether the journey of Mary with her husband
was obligatory or voluntary.... Women were liable to a capitation tax,
if this enrolment also involved taxation. But, apart from any legal
necessity, it may easily be imagined that at such a moment Mary would
desire not to be left alone. The cruel suspicion of which she had been
the subject, and which had almost led to the breaking off of her
betrothal (Matt. 1:19) would make her cling all the more to the
protection of her husband." The following excerpt is from Geikie's _Life
and Words of Christ_, vol. 1, chap. 9; p. 108: "The Jewish nation had
paid tribute to Rome through their rulers, since the days of Pompey; and
the methodical Augustus, who now reigned, and had to restore order and
soundness to the finances of the empire, after the confusion and
exhaustion of the civil wars, took good care that this obligation should
neither be forgotten nor evaded. He was accustomed to require a census
to be taken periodically in every province of his vast dominions, that
he might know the number of soldiers he could levy in each, and the
amount of taxes due to the treasury.... In an empire embracing the then
known world, such a census could hardly have been made simultaneously,
or in any short or fixed time; more probably it was the work of years,
in successive provinces or kingdoms. Sooner or later, however, ev