It's even worse than that, Thor.
Pontius Pilate served as prefect of Judaea for 10 years from 26 - 36. As he was made a central character in the story we thus have a terminus ad quem of 36 but since Passover is always in the Spring, we can further refine the date to the end of March, 36 as the latest possible date. The problem comes in on the other end.
All 3 synoptic gospels indicate that 'jesus' ministry did not begin until John the Baptist was killed. Matthew and Luke equate the arrest and subsequent execution to the marriage of Herod Antipas to Herodias, either the widow or divorced wife of his brother, Phillip. This gives us our second historical marker. This is an actual event, mentioned by Josephus.
Antipas was married to the daughter of King Aretas of Nabatea and he duly moved to divorce her in order to marry Herodias. However, independent kings within the Roman empire were not all that independent and it was necessary for him to travel to Rome and obtain the consent of Tiberius for a royal wedding. Josephus recounts that he did this which would have taken a good six months round trip. Upon his return the divorce caused Aretas to attack Antipas' kingdom. Attacking a Roman ally was never a good idea and Tiberius directed the governor of Syria, Lucius Vitellius, to deal with Aretas. The problem is that Vitellius did not begin his governorship until 35, he was not even eligible until he was elected consul in 34 and finished his term for such an important military command as Augustus and Tiberius had things set up.
So the political situation goes to shit in 35. It doesn't make sense for John the Baptist to have been denouncing a marriage which had not yet taken place. ( It also doesn't make much sense for John the Baptist, who was a Judaean and therefore a subject of Pilate to have been all that concerned about what Antipas was doing in Galilee in the first place. But this is just another example of the gospel writers having forgotten that the country was divided upon the death of Herod the Great!). Josephus mentions Antipas having John killed but does not specifically relate it to the marriage. It was Vitellius, btw, who removed Pilate as prefect ( an act which probably had more to do with Roman politics than anything else) and replaced him with another officer. Vitellius also removed Caiaphas as high priest around this time.
So we have Antipas divorcing Aretas' daughter in 35, touching off a small war. If the gospel accounts are to be credited the marriage that they claim got John arrested for denouncing must have happened in 35 also. Jesus' ministry begins upon John's arrest and MUST have ended by March, 36. Doesn't leave a lot of time. Certainly not enough for the gospel of John's 3 year ministry, does it?
Pontius Pilate served as prefect of Judaea for 10 years from 26 - 36. As he was made a central character in the story we thus have a terminus ad quem of 36 but since Passover is always in the Spring, we can further refine the date to the end of March, 36 as the latest possible date. The problem comes in on the other end.
All 3 synoptic gospels indicate that 'jesus' ministry did not begin until John the Baptist was killed. Matthew and Luke equate the arrest and subsequent execution to the marriage of Herod Antipas to Herodias, either the widow or divorced wife of his brother, Phillip. This gives us our second historical marker. This is an actual event, mentioned by Josephus.
Antipas was married to the daughter of King Aretas of Nabatea and he duly moved to divorce her in order to marry Herodias. However, independent kings within the Roman empire were not all that independent and it was necessary for him to travel to Rome and obtain the consent of Tiberius for a royal wedding. Josephus recounts that he did this which would have taken a good six months round trip. Upon his return the divorce caused Aretas to attack Antipas' kingdom. Attacking a Roman ally was never a good idea and Tiberius directed the governor of Syria, Lucius Vitellius, to deal with Aretas. The problem is that Vitellius did not begin his governorship until 35, he was not even eligible until he was elected consul in 34 and finished his term for such an important military command as Augustus and Tiberius had things set up.
So the political situation goes to shit in 35. It doesn't make sense for John the Baptist to have been denouncing a marriage which had not yet taken place. ( It also doesn't make much sense for John the Baptist, who was a Judaean and therefore a subject of Pilate to have been all that concerned about what Antipas was doing in Galilee in the first place. But this is just another example of the gospel writers having forgotten that the country was divided upon the death of Herod the Great!). Josephus mentions Antipas having John killed but does not specifically relate it to the marriage. It was Vitellius, btw, who removed Pilate as prefect ( an act which probably had more to do with Roman politics than anything else) and replaced him with another officer. Vitellius also removed Caiaphas as high priest around this time.
So we have Antipas divorcing Aretas' daughter in 35, touching off a small war. If the gospel accounts are to be credited the marriage that they claim got John arrested for denouncing must have happened in 35 also. Jesus' ministry begins upon John's arrest and MUST have ended by March, 36. Doesn't leave a lot of time. Certainly not enough for the gospel of John's 3 year ministry, does it?
