What Year Was Jesus Actually Born?

Jesus was likely born between 5 and 6 B.C.

That's seems odd, of course. Our calendar is broken up into B.C. (Before Christ) and A.D. (anno Domini, the year of our Lord) so doesn’t that mean Jesus was born in year one (since we don’t count year zero)?

Actually, the issue is a bit more complex than that.

Although the Gospel writers did not focus primarily on preserving a precise chronological history of Jesus’ life and ministry, we can still approximate some key dates by comparing historical markers with passages of Scripture.

Let's take a look at what we know from Scripture and history.

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