# The Census of Luke 2



## ColdSilverMoon (Feb 27, 2009)

Does anyone have any good historical data on the dating/nature of the census that required Joseph to register at the time of Christ's birth? I was reading a (secular) historian recently who claims the census was instituted by Caesar Augustus in 6 AD, but that Judeans were exempt since they weren't required to serve in the military. I have read in the past that there was a similar decree for an empire-wide census in 8 BC, but that it didn't "trickle down" to Judea until 2-4 BC. Anyone have any good resources on this?


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## Scott1 (Feb 27, 2009)

Wikipedia has a summary. 

Keep in mind it is not a primary source and does not have the reliability of one, but it can be quite helpful in identifying reliable sources of information (footnotes and citations):

[ame=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Census_of_Quirinius]Census of Quirinius - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]


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## Semper Fidelis (Feb 27, 2009)

The census was for taxation not for military service: Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah | Christian Classics Ethereal Library


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