Which ones did you see as petty?

If it was the ones that pointed out discontinuity in the story telling of the Bible, I would say they are just as valid as the ones that show falicies of logic. Both serve to discredit the basis of Christianity, do they not?

i only get fundie mail, like the one titled – The Importance of Jesus Christ
i read the letter but decided he wasn’t important

Luke misstates the year of Jesus’ birth as being in the reign of Herod. Herod died in 4 B.C, whereas Jesus is believe to have been born in 4 A.D.

Most Biblical scholars believe Jesus was born in 7 BC. Caesar Augustus had two empire-wide censuses taken, one in 7 BC and the other in 1 AD. The Anno Domini system was devised by a monk named Dionysius Exiguus around 525 AD. Dionysius knew about both censuses but didn’t know when Herod the Great died. So basically he guessed that Jesus was born during the second census. Later, records were found fixing Herod’s death in 4 BC, which meant that Jesus would have had to have been born during the first census.