202

 For example, Konradin Ferrari D'Occhieppo,  The Star of the Magi and Babylonian Astronomy,  Chronos, 

Kairos, Christos, p. 41 53 

203

 John Mosley, Program Supervisor, Griffith Observatory, Common Errors in  Star of Bethlehem  Planetarium 

Shows, The Griffith Observatory Home Page, , no. 7. 

204

 Finegan, Handbook of Biblical Chronology, revised edition, no. 550, p. 319. 

205

 Emmerich, The Life of the Blessed Virgin Mary, p. 54, 66, 219 220, 237 239. 

206

 There are several conjunctions of one planet with another planet every year. And, if one also includes 

conjunctions of a planet with a bright star or with the moon, there are dozens of conjunctions each year. 

RedShift 3, astronomy software, (Kingston, UK: Maris Multimedia Ltd., Maris.com, 1998). 

207

 Finegan, Handbook of Biblical Chronology, revised edition, no. 532 533, p. 310 311. 

208

 Emmerich, The Life of the Blessed Virgin Mary, p. 245, 246. 

209

 For example, see Finegan, Handbook of Biblical Chronology, revised edition, no. 533 534, p. 311, on the reign 

of Mithridates. Also, certain events in Roman History, such as the death of Julius Caesar and the departure of 

Augustus for Gaul, were connected with the appearance of a comet. 

210

 Kronk, Cometography, p. 24. 

211

 Dio, Roman History, 54.29.8   30.1. 

212

 Dio, Roman History, 54.28.2. 

213

 Dio, Roman History, 54.28.3. Cf. Cassius Dio, The Roman History: The Reign of Augustus, (London, England: 

Penguin Books Ltd, 1987),  the festival called Quinquatrus,  to Dio Cassius,  Roman History, ed. Jeffrey 

Henderson, trans. Earnest Cary, Dio Cassius, Volume VI, Loeb Classical Library, (Cambridge, Massachusetts: 

Harvard University Press, 2000),  the Panathenaic festival.  

214

 Cassius Dio,  The  Roman History: The Reign of Augustus,  (London, England: Penguin Books Ltd, 1987) 

footnote 65, p. 288. 

215

 Dio, Roman History, Volume VI, Loeb Classical Library, 54.29.8. 

216

 Dio, The Roman History, Penguin Books, p. 182. Compare to: Dio,  Roman History, Volume VI, Loeb 

Classical Library, 54.29.7 54.30.1. In the Loeb translation, there is a general reference to  portents as are 

wont to happen to them before the greatest calamities.  However, Dio does not specifically apply this to the 

comet's appearance. It is rather a general comment on portents in general. The Penguin Books translation has 

it as:  when the greatest calamities threaten the state.  

217

 Dio, Roman History, 54.30.1. 

218

 Dio, Roman History, 54.29.8. 

219

 See, for example, Dio, Roman History, 54.19.7. 

220

 Dio mentions the census of 28 

B.C.

 (usual date). Dio, Roman History, 53.1.3. 

221

 Finegan, Handbook of Biblical Chronology, revised edition, no. 523, p. 305. 

222

 Josephus, The Antiquities of the Jews, 18.1ff. 

223

 Josephus, The Antiquities of the Jews, 18.1 3; The Wars of the Jews, 7.253, 2.118. 

224

 Cyrenius and Quirinius are merely different transliterations of the same name. See: The Works of Josephus: 

Complete and Unabridged, New Updated Edition, trans. William Whiston, p. 907. 

225

 Josephus, The Antiquities of the Jews, 18.1 3. On the point that this Judas was a Galilean, see The Antiquities of 

the Jews, 18.23 25; The Wars of the Jews, 2.118. 

226

 Vardaman,  Jesus' Life: A New Chronology,   Chronos, Kairos, Christos, p. 62 63. See also, Finegan, 

Handbook of Biblical Chronology, revised edition, no.523, p. 305. 

227

 E. Jerry Vardaman,  The Birth of Christ in the Light of Chronological Research,  Lecture 1, Chronology and 

Early Church History in the New Testament, (Seminar given at Hong Kong Baptist Theological Seminary, June of 

1998), taken from lecture notes sent to the author by Jerry Vardaman in February of 1999, p. 8 9. Vardaman 

dates a line of the text to 11/10 B.C., and he dates the death of the Roman officer, A. Secundus, to 10 B.C. 

228

 This microletter inscription was described in personal correspondence from E. Jerry Vardaman to the 

author.  The microletters (but these are clear and definite as far as I am concerned) LA CONS P.S.QVINIRI 

are on the line referring to the census which A. Secundus took of Apamea, being sent by Quirinius for that 

purpose on the Lapis Venetus (Inscription of Venice    still there in the Arch. Museum). Quirinius was only 

consul one time    in 12 B.C. For some it will be a problem since here Greek is mixed with Latin, but such 

302