Episode 50: Dating Jesus Christ’s Birth and Death (Jeff Chadwick)

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BYU Religious Education

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🗓️ 15 February 2022

⏱️ 50 minutes

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Summary

April 6th is commonly taught by Latter-day Saints to be Jesus’s birth date. Some Church leaders, however, have explored other options, saying the date “is not a settled issue.” In this episode, Professor Jeff Chadwick discusses his publications that academically explore the dates of Jesus Christ’s birth and death, highlighting important aspects of our faith that arise from dating theses scriptural events.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi there, wire religion friends, Anthony Swet here from BYU's Church History and
0:03.9	Doctrine. Welcome to another great episode of Wire religion. At the start of
0:07.9	each semester in one of my classes here at BYU we explore ways to approach
0:12.2	sources of Church history and doctrine. As we discuss and analyze what
0:17.1	establishes official doctrinal positions for the Church, I have my students do
0:21.3	an assignment where they analyze various statements on the date for the birth
0:25.0	of Jesus Christ. They read a quote from Elder Bednar and one from President
0:29.6	Kimble, one from Harold V. Lee and one from James E. Townmidge, all agreeing
0:33.6	that April 6th is Jesus's birth date. The students usually feel settled and
0:38.8	fine, but then they also read some statements from Elder Orson Pratt,
0:43.7	President J. Rueckin Clark, and Elder Rusar Makonky, who all give
0:48.1	differing dates in months and years for the Savior's birth.
0:52.2	Elder Makonky wrote, quote, we do not believe it is possible with the present
0:56.8	state of our knowledge, including that which is known both in and out of the
1:00.8	Church to state with finality when the natal day of the Lord Jesus actually
1:05.8	occurred. This is not a settled issue, end of quote.
1:11.1	Well, this unsettled issue in the words of Elder Makonky is one that Professor
1:14.9	Jeff Chadwick from BYU's Department of Church History and Doctrine has
1:18.4	explored from an academic perspective with some fascinating conclusions.
1:23.8	I think the best date to place Jesus's birth that is probably where scholarship places it
1:28.8	in December of 5 BC. This is President Clark of the first presidency,
1:35.0	writing 20 years after Elder Townmidge. Oh, this is interesting. What do I do with this?
	...

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