Important Dates in the Lives of Jesus and Mary 
Agrippa had died. Since this was the March festival after the winter which began in late 16 
B.C.
 (12 
B.C.
, usual 
date), Agrippa must have fallen ill and died in spring of 15 
B.C.
 (11 
B.C.
, usual date). 
    Cassius Dio states that a comet was seen at about the time of Agrippa's death.
215
 He does not say exactly 
when the comet was observed, but he does places his description of the comet after his statement that Agrippa 
died. Also, he does not say that the comet was an omen seen before the death of Agrippa, as he does for other 
comets (such as the comet seen before the death of the emperor Vespasian).
216
 He states merely that it was one 
of many events  connected with Agrippa's death. 
217
 Therefore, the comet was most likely seen after the death 
of Agrippa, sometime in mid to late 15 
B.C.
    Dio gives an unusual description of this particular comet. He says that it  dissolved into flashes resembling 
torches. 
218
 Other comets described by Dio and other Roman historians are not similarly described as 
dissolving into flashes of light.
219
 This particular comet did something that the other comets did not do. 
Perhaps this comet is the same comet described by Blessed Anne Catherine as splitting into two parts and 
forming a complex pattern in the sky. Dio did not describe this comet as merely dissolving, as if it had 
disappeared in the sky. Rather, he describes the comet as dissolving, in the sense of separating, into flashes of 
light resembling torches. He does not say how many torch like lights the comet separated into, nor for how 
long the separate lights lasted. But the description has unusual parallels to the Christmas Star as described by 
Blessed Anne Catherine. 
    I believe that this comet, seen in 15 
B.C.
 (my revised date) was the Christmas Star. This comet was seen in 
the same year as the census/taxation and so also the same year as the Birth of Christ. And the unusual 
description of this comet fits  the description given in the writings of Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich. 
Though we cannot be certain, it is well worth considering that this comet may have been the Christmas Star, 
since it coincided with the census under Augustus and Quirinius (cf. Lk 2:1 2), as explained below. 
A Second Line of Reasoning 
    A second argument can be made for the year of Christ's Birth, without relying on the words of Blessed Anne 
Catherine Emmerich. This argument is based on a revision of the generally accepted dates  for the reigns of 
Roman rulers (details in chapters 12, 13, and 14). As with the two arguments for the date of the Crucifixion 
presented in chapter 2, each of these two arguments can stand on its own without the other. The argument 
above, based on the writings of Blessed Anne Catherine, does not make use of the revised chronology for the 
reigns of the Roman emperors, nor does the argument below make use of the information given in the visions 
of Blessed Anne Catherine. Each can stand on its own, yet, because their conclusions agree, each one supports 
the other. 
The Enrollment 
     In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be enrolled. This was the 
first enrollment, when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be enrolled, each to his own city. And 
Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called 
Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be enrolled with Mary his betrothed, who 
was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to be delivered.  (Lk 2:1 6). 
    Saint Joseph and the Virgin Mary went to Bethlehem because of this census (or enrollment), and while they 
were there, Christ our Savior was born. Determining the date of this census will help us determine the year of 
the Birth of Jesus Christ. 
    There is no agreement among scholars as to the date of this census or enrollment. Several different 
enrollments are known to have occurred. There was a census of Roman citizens in 28 
B.C.
 and also in 8 
B.C.
(the usual dates given for these).
220
 For some time it was thought by many scholars that Christ was likely born 
in 8 
B.C.
, because of this census. However, modern scholars now believe that these enrollments were for 
Roman citizens only, and did not apply to the Jewish people, nor to other nations conquered by the Roman 
empire.
221
 The enrollment described by the Gospel of Luke applied to  all the world,  in other words, to the 
entire Roman empire, not merely to Roman citizens. 
66






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