A) INTRODUCTION.

B) WHY IT MATTERS.

C) CHRIST’S BIRTH MONTH.

D) THE USE OF.

 

 

A) INTRODUCTION

 

 

The way most people remember the difference between B.C. and A.D. is “Before Christ” and “After Death (of Christ).”  Also, most people do not put periods after “BC” or “AD.”  But because I know the meaning of them, I do.  I also break the rules in that since I know their respective meanings, I put “B.C.” before dates (such as B.C. 536.), and “A.D.” after dates (as in 27 A.D.).  When one understands the true meaning of each abbreviation, you will understand why I put the “B.C.” (“Before”) in the front of dates in years, and the “A.D.” “After”) following the dates in years.

 

The controversy all began when secularists decided that Christ needed to be left out of the dating system.  Thus, they came up with “C.E.,” or “B.C.E.”  “C.E.” means “Common Era,” or alternatively, “Christian Era.”  While “B.C.E.” means “Before the Common Era,” or, “Before the Christian Era.”  It refers to the same dates as “A.D.” or “Anno Domini,” except that “A.D.” goes before the year number and “C.E.,” or “B.C.,” or “B.C.E.” goes after it.  In other words, “A.D. 1996” is the same year as “1996 C.E.”

 

 

B) WHY IT MATTERS

 

 

Why does it matter?  Why invent another abbreviation?  Well, most people don’t realize what “A.D.” stands for or means.  A.D. comes from the Latin, “Anno Domini,” meaning, “in the year of Our Lord,” which, of course, refers to Our Lord Jesus Christ.  That is, “A.D. 1996” literally means, “in the 1,996th year since the birth of the Christ.”

 

This system was devised by the Monk, “Dionysius Exiguus,” in the year 525 A.D., who named it “Anno Domini.”  Two Centuries later, the Anglo-Saxon historian “Bede” used a Latin term, “ante incarnationis dominicae tempus,” that is roughly equivalent to the English term “Before Christ,” to identify years before the first year of this era.

 

Now, not all the world is Christian, so it makes no sense for a Jew, a Moslem, a Hindu, a Witch, a Druid, or an Atheist to refer to the date as being in the year of “our Lord,” especially when they don’t follow Him.  Therefore, their societies didn’t care to follow the Gregorian calendar and the meaning has for the most part been lost.  So “C.E.” is a more considerate way of labeling dates in the Gregorian calendar without rubbing non-Christian’s noses in the fact that so much of the world is using a calendar based on the alleged birth-year of the Man we Christians believe to be the Messiah.

 

In a side note:  There are other calendars in use -- the Gregorian calendar is not universal.  So there are plenty of people with their own perfectly good calendars who have to keep track of dates in our calendar so they can do international business, or just to communicate with the folks in their own neighborhood if they live in a country that uses the Gregorian calendar.

 

 

C) CHRIST’S BIRTH MONTH

 

 

Since today’s best guesses as to when Jesus of Nazareth was born differ by four to six years from the best resources that the folks who invented our calendar had, it is highly unlikely that Jesus was born in the year 1 B.C. (“C.E”).  We must also remember that astrologists do not count zero year; whereas historians do.  Which means that if one insists on calling the year 1 A.D. as the year of Christ’s birth, one is probably off by about four or five years.  See my Bible Study:  “CHRIT’S BIRTH MONTH.”

 

 

D) THE USE OF

 

 

Personally, being a bit of a traditionalist, using “A.D.” on personal correspondence with other Christians or folks who I know won’t care, and on certain published (or web-published or posted) material intended primarily for a Christian audience, or intended to present an intensely personal and religious topic, to use these terms, “B.C.” and “A.D.”  In the United States, it is quite proper, considering those folks use the Gregorian calendar.  

 

As most people know, “B.C.” stands for “Before Christ,” and is therefore subject to the exact same problems as “A.D.”  That is to say, for non-Christians it’s somewhat inconsiderate to use.  And for Christians to use it, they must keep in mind that it is wrong by about four years.  So the common alternative is “B.C.E.,” meaning “Before the Common Era.”  Don’t let them talk you into this excuse.  Even though off by a few years, we still should acknowledge and promote Christ.

 

Governments around the world understand these terms, and it is just easier to get along and be polite (as opposed to accurate) so that all can do business and stay in time and discuss history and events with each other.  I don’t believe anybody wants to go around changing all the dates on medieval tax records to pretend our ancestors used religiously neutral language.  Therefore, it has been more polite and considerate towards non-Christians to just use “B.C.” or “A.D.” and leave it at that.