How long did Jesus live?

The general opinion is that Jesus was born in 1AD and died in 33AD. The gospels of Mark and John find Jesus' birth and early life irrelevant. However, the gospel of Matthew places his birth during the Star of Bethelehem occurence in 6-7BC whilst the gospel of Luke places it during the Census of Quirinius in 6-7 AD. I'm sure you've all noticed that the 2 possible times for Jesus' birth are 15 years apart. So why does the Catholic Church teach that his birth took place in 1AD? When the modern clergy set up the Calendar they simply split the difference.

Due to a curious lack of sources other than those found in the Bible, there a few known sources that speak of Jesus' birth or life or death. One of these sources is the Acts Pilatii which stated that Jesus died in 19AD.

How long did the Jesus' ministry last?

The Catholic Church follows the chronology events found in the Gospel of John which states that the ministry lasted 3 years. However, all 3 of the other gospels state that the ministry lasted 1 year.

How old was Jesus when he died?

The view of the Catholic Church is that he was 33 (and that he set up his ministry at age 30). Matthew, Mark and Luke all agree that he died when he was 30-33 years of age. Yet, John implies that Jesus was 46 when he died (the same age as the temple in Jerusalem). Here, the Church seems to be picking up various parts of the various Gospels and amalgamating them.

Where was Jesus from?

Ever heard the phrase Jesus of Nazareth. Interesting since there was no Nazareth in Jesus' day. The myth comes from the 1st Crusade in which Christians captured the Holy Land from the Muslims. They intended to create a pilgrimage to the Holy Cities of Jerusalem, Bethlehem and of course Nazareth. Upon finding that there was no town called Nazareth (and realising that this could cause problems with the faith and the pilgrimage plans) the crusaders simply found a town called Nazara and re-named it. If you look at the Gospel of Luke, it states that the some villagers wanted to throw Jesus off the cliffs outside town. There are no cliffs anywhere near Nazareth. Nazareth is probably referring to a strict form of Judaism as it existed in those days, not a town.

As for Bethlehem, it was only mentioned in one of the gospels.

Jesus' Brothers

Jesus had three brothers; James, Simon and Judas. The Catholic Church claims that all three of them were disbelievers. There are two main problems with this;

1. The Gospel of Mark states that the brothers travelled with Jesus. Amongst the Apostles there where 3 Judas', 2 Simon's and 2 James'. Statistically unlikely if his brothers weren't apostles.

2. Upon Jesus' death, the Ministry was given to James until 62 AD whereupon he was matyred. Then Simon took over and ran the Ministry till his matyrdom in 97AD. Judas' eldest son then took control of the Ministry. Judas was killed whilst on a mission for the Ministry in about 35AD. Why whould the Apostles hand over Jesus' Ministry to disbelievers?

References and Further Reading

Self-contradictions of the Bible. William Henry Burr

Cooper, Robert The "Holy Scriptures" analyzed

DeHaan, M. R. 508 answers to Bible questions : with answers to seeming Bible contradictions

Ackerley, Edward "the x-rated bible"