My questions are concerning the timelines of Jesus’s early life. Is there any official Church teaching on this?

Excellent questions! Pope Benedict XVI actually gives his opinions on many of these questions in his book Jesus of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives. It’s an excellent and relatively short read! For now, though, I will try to give an even shorter response!

Q. What year was Jesus born? From what I read, it varies between 6 BC – 2 BC

We do not exactly know the year of Jesus’ birth (or his death, actually). However, we can use the events recorded in the Gospels and historical accounts to piece together a timeline.

The Gospels state that Jesus began his ministry when he was about 30 years old, and John’s Gospel indicates that he ministered for a total of about 3 years. That means he died around age 33, which is in keeping with the traditions that the Church has passed down. Based on events recorded in the Acts of the Apostles and other sources from the early Church, we know that Jesus could not have died any later than 36 AD or any sooner than 30 AD. Wind back the clock and that gives a possible date for Jesus’ birth between 4 BC and 3 AD. There is also the possibility that Jesus was not precisely 33 years old, and that has led other historians to conclude he might have been born as early as 6 BC.

All that being said, the most commonly held view is that Jesus was born around about 4 BC. The reason that Jesus’ year of birth is inconsistent with the start of the calendar era (1 AD) is because of inaccuracies and ambiguities from the monk who came up with the calendar system, Dionysius Exiguus.

Q. When did the census take place? From the Gospel, it would seem like at the birth of Jesus. However other sources say it is 6 AD which would make the Gospel incorrect.

As far as the time of the Roman census mentioned in Luke’s Gospel, that is also difficult to say. The date of 6 AD is probably accurate, coming from the records of Flavius Josephus, who wrote about Jewish history near the time of Jesus. However, Pope Benedict also notes that Quirinius may have been in the emperor’s service as early as 9 BC. Not only that, but a population census would be a lengthy process which may have extended over several years. One scholar even holds that a census would have been conducted in two stages: registration of land and property, and then collection of payments. So the date of the census should not be of terrible concern to us (all this information can be found in Benedict’s Jesus of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives, pg. 62). Luke’s reason for including these historical details is to show that Jesus’ birth was a true historical event which came as the fulfillment of God’s long-awaited plan. God works in and through human history.

Q. Is the massacre of innocents a historical event? Based on what I have read, scholars term it a myth or folklore. If untrue why does the Church have a feast day for the Holy innocents?

We do not have many records of the massacre of the Holy Innocents. Why might that be? First of all, it would have been scandalous to Herod’s reign for the general public to find out about such an event. Second, Bethlehem was a tiny town. Slaughtering the children of Bethlehem may have meant the killing of no more than a hundred (or maybe even less), rather than thousands upon thousands. That is still a tragic event–but it’s also an easy one to cover up.

Q. When did the magi visit Jesus? From the Gospel, it seems to be soon after birth. However I read accounts which say it could be up to 2 years later.

Finally, there’s the magi. If determining the birth year of Jesus is difficult, then determining the time of the visit of the magi is even more difficult, since we have even less evidence of that. Really, we do not even know where the wise men came from, other than “from the east.” However, we do not have any evidence against the account of them visiting the Christ child.

At this point, though, we should ask ourselves a basic question: Do we trust in the reliability of the Gospels? Do we trust that the Gospel writers are trying to tell us the truth? Or does our quest for historical accuracy lead us to dismiss the Gospel stories as fables?

For the infancy narratives in particular, many of these accounts may trace back to Jesus’ family and friends–those who knew him growing up. Most significant of all, that means they likely go back to Mary. The stories of Jesus’ birth and childhood may well be memories from Mary’s own Heart. Why would Mary, the Gospel writers, or the early Christian community simply make things up?

We may not be able to historically verify every detail, and it’s possible that some historical details (like the year of Jesus’ birth or the date of the Roman census) are inaccurate or just incorrect. However, the Gospels are not only history; they are theological reflections on history. The early Christians were not trying to give us a history book. Rather, they gave us the memories and eyewitness accounts of real historical events that had been passed down, pondered, reflected upon, and finally written for future generations.

So when the historical details do not seem clear, that doesn’t mean that they were false or that they were myths and folklore. It simply tells us that the historical details were not as important for the Gospel writers.