THE ATHEIST'S COMPLAINT:
Did Herod really massacre all boys two years old and under? Such a massacre would certainly have been noted by contemporary historians, but not even Josephus, who documented Herod's life in detail, mentions this event. Is there a contradiction?

RESPONSE:
The questioner is right, there does not appear to be any mention in the writings of Josephus about Herod killing all male children age 2 and under in and around Bethlehem. How this is a Bible contradiction, I am failing to see, since the writings of Josephus are not part of the Bible. The questioner may not like the fact that the Bible records this event, and Josephus, a contemporary historian does not, but that does not make it a "Bible contradiction".

That said, we ought to address the absence of this event in the life of Herod as recorded by Josephus, as he was a very diligent and meticulous historian.

The reason for exclusion of this event in Josephus' record of the life of Herod may be twofold:

• "...Demographic clues from first century Palestine reveal that Bethlehem was a small village, with a population between three hundred and a thousand. Experts estimate that, at any given time, the number of babies under the age of two would be only between seven and twenty. So numbers along may be the reason why Josephus does not mention the murders."(1)
• It must be remembered that Josephus is a Jewish historian. For him to record the infanticide, he would have to supply an explanation as to why Herod should do such a deed. This would require him to record the claim of the magi, that Jesus was born "king of the Jews". Josephus, being Jewish, would doubtless prefer to stay clear of such a discourse.

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