The simplicity of the historical record of the birth of Jesus is in marked contrast with the unparalleled, momentous significance of this event.

Although "scholars once questioned Luke's accuracy concerning the historical details of Jesus' birth, Bible-believing Christians have never doubted his accuracy, since what he wrote is the Word of God. Moreover, now a mass of papyri and inscriptions give sufficient evidence that Augustus did issue the census decree which Luke mentions, "that it was a new, epoch-making measure, and that inaugurated a periodic enrollment in the empire which continued for over two centuries at intervals of fourteen years." - Lenskt