Was it an angel Caesar Augustus King Herod or Joseph's mother who told Mary and Joseph to go to Bethlehem?

A:Looking at the options propsed:

• An angel - no. Luke's Gospel makes no mention of an angel in this context.
• Caesar Augustus - according to Luke's Gospel, yes (through delegation to the Syrian governor Quirinius). However, scholars and historians have great difficulty with this, since there was never an empire-wide census and Quirinius would have had no reason to call a census before 6 CE when the first known Roman census in Judea was called. The Roman governor of Syria had no authority over Judea before 6 CE, when the territory came under direct Roman rule.
• King Herod - no. It would have made more sense for Herod to require a resident of Galilee to go to Judea, since at that time he ruled both territories, but Luke says the census was called by Quirinius on the orders of Augustus. Herod died in April 4 BCE, long before the census of Quirinius.
• Joseph's mother - no. There is no mention in The Bible of Joseph's mother.