By Kenneth Martin

B. C. and A. D. are Christian Dating
 - Vs -
 B. C. E. and C. E. are I Believe Anti-Christ Dating

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A.D.__ Is From Jesus Birth and Forward

Anno Domini (Latin: "In the Year of the Lord"), abbreviated as AD or A.D., defines an epoch based on the traditionally-reckoned year of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth.

B.C.___ Is Before His birth

Before Christ, abbreviated as BC or B.C., is used in the English language to denote years before the start of this epoch.

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A. D.

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Anno Domini

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Dionysius Exiguus invented Anno Domini years to date Easter.

"AD" redirects here. For other uses, see AD (disambiguation).

Anno Domini (Latin: "In the Year of the Lord"), abbreviated as AD or A.D., defines an epoch based on the traditionally-reckoned year of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. Similarly, Before Christ, abbreviated as BC or B.C., is used in the English language to denote years before the start of this epoch.

The designation is used to number years in the Christian Era, conventionally used with the Julian and Gregorian calendars. More descriptively, years may be also specified as Anno Domini Nostri Iesu Christi ("In the Year of Our Lord Jesus Christ"). Anno Domini dating was first adopted in Western Europe during the eighth century.

The numbering of years per the Christian era is currently dominant in many places around the world in both commercial and scientific use. For decades it has been the global standard, recognized by international institutions such as the United Nations and the Universal Postal Union. This is due to the abundance of Christianity in the Western world, the great influence of the Western world on science, technology and commerce, as well as the fact that the solar Gregorian calendar has for a long time been considered to be astronomically correct.^[1]

In Commonwealth English, usage copies Latin by placing the abbreviation before the year number for AD, but after the year number for BC; for example: 64 BC, but AD 2006. In North American English variant, AD and BC more commonly both come after a date.

History of Anno Domini

Early Christians designated the year via a combination of consular dating, imperial regnal year dating, and Creation dating. Use of consular dating ended when the emperor Justinian I discontinued appointing consuls in the mid sixth century, requiring the use of imperial regnal dating shortly thereafter. The last consul nominated was Anicius Faustus Albinus Basilius in 541. The papacy was in regular contact throughout the Middle Ages with envoys of the Byzantine world, and had a clear idea — sudden deaths and deposals notwithstanding — of who was the Byzantine emperor at any one time.

The Anno Domini system was developed by a monk named Dionysius Exiguus (born in Scythia Minor) in Rome in 525, as an outcome of his work on calculating the date of Easter. Byzantine chroniclers like Theophanes continued to date each year in their world chronicles on a different Judaeo-Christian basis — from the notional creation of the World as calculated by Christian scholars in the first five centuries of the Christian era. These eras, sometimes called Anno Mundi, "year of the world" (abbreviated AM), by modern scholars, had their own disagreements. No single Anno Mundi epoch was dominant. One popular formulation was that established by Eusebius of Caesarea, a historian at the time of Constantine I. The Latin translator Jerome helped popularize Eusebius's AM count in the West. Another formulation, dominant in the East during the early centuries of the Byzantine Empire, was developed by the Alexandrian monk Anninus.

Accuracy

Almost all Biblical scholars believe that Dionysius was incorrect in his calculation, and that the date claimed for Jesus' birth was between 8 BC and 4 BC. According to the Gospel of Luke and the Gospel of Matthew, Herod the Great was alive when Jesus was born. Most historians fix Herod's death in the year 4 BC.

Popularization

The first historian or chronicler to use Anno Domini as his primary dating mechanism was Victor of Tonnenna, an African chronicler of the seventh century. A few generations later, the Anglo-Saxon historian Bede, who was familiar with the work of Dionysius, also used Anno Domini dating in his Ecclesiastical History of the English People, finished in 731. In this same history, he was the first to use the Latin equivalent of before Christ and established the standard for historians of no year zero, even though he used zero in his computus. Both Dionysius and Bede regarded Anno Domini as beginning at the incarnation, or conception, of Jesus, not his birth approximately nine months later (Annunciation style).

On the continent of Europe, Anno Domini was introduced as the era of choice of the Carolingian Renaissance by Alcuin. This endorsement by Charlemagne and his successors popularizing the usage of the epoch and spreading it throughout the Carolingian Empire ultimately lies at the core of the system's prevalence until present times.

Outside the Carolingian Empire, Spain continued to date by the Era of the Caesars, or Spanish Era, well into the Middle Ages, which counted beginning with 38 BC. The Era of Martyrs, which numbered years from the accession of Diocletian in 284, who launched the last yet most severe persecution of Christians, prevailed in the East and is still used officially by the Coptic and used to be used by the Ethiopian church. Another system was to date from the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, which as early as Hippolytus and Tertullian was believed to have occurred in the consulate of the Gemini (AD 29), which appears in the occasional medieval manuscript.

Even though Anno Domini was in widespread use by the ninth century, Before Christ (or its equivalent) did not become widespread until the late fifteenth century.

Other eras in official use

Some other eras were in official use in modern times or are still in use in several countries alongside the current international Anno Domini era.

Asian national eras

• The official Japanese system numbers years from the accession of the current emperor, regarding the calendar year during which the accession occurred as the first year.
• It is still very common in Taiwan to date events via the Republic of China era, whose first year is 1912.
• North Korea uses a system that starts in 1912 (= Juche 1), the year of the birth of their founder Kim Il-Sung. The year 2004 was "Juche 93". Juche means "autarchy, self-reliance".
• In Thailand in 1888 King Chulalongkorn decreed a National Thai Era since founding of Bangkok on 1782, April 6. In 1912 the New Year's Day was shifted to April 1. In 1941, the Prime Minister Phibunsongkhram decided to count the years since B.C. 543. This is the so-called Thai solar calendar or Thailand Buddhist Era clearly relied on the western solar calendar. This is one of the versions of the Buddhist calendar.

Religious eras

• In Israel, the traditional Hebrew calendar, using an era dating from Creation, is the official calendar. However, the Gregorian calendar is the de-facto calendar and is commonly used. Government documents usually display a dual-date.
• In the Islamic world, traditional Islamic dating according to the Anno Hegiræ (in the year of the hijra) or AH era remains in use to a varying extent, especially for religious purposes. The official Iranian calendar (used in Afghanistan as well as Iran) also dates from the hijra, but as it is a solar calendar its year numbering does not coincide with the religious calendar.

European attempts

• The French Revolution seriously attempted to displace the Anno Domini system by instead dating from 22 September 1792 = 1 vendémiaire an I of the First French Republic. (see French Republican Calendar). Napoléon finally abolished the calendar effective 1 January 1806, the day after 10 nivôse an XIV.
• Similarly, Czechoslovakia attempted to use a revolutionary calendar, but kept only the months in the end, accepting the use of the A.D. years.
• The Italian Fascists used the standard system along with Roman numerals to denote the number of years since the establishment of the Fascist government in 1922. Therefore, 1934, for example, was Year XII. This era was abolished with the fall of fascism in Italy on July 25, 1943.

Synonyms

Common Era

Anno Domini is sometimes referred to as the Common Era (C.E. or CE) instead. This term is often preferred by those who desire a religiously-neutral term or wish to adhere to a level of political correctness. For example, Cunningham and Starr (1998) write that "B.C.E./C.E. ... do not presuppose faith in Christ and hence are more appropriate for interfaith dialog than the conventional B.C./A.D." The People's Republic of China, founded in 1949, adopted Western years, calling that era gōngyuán, 公元, which literally means Common Era.

Anno Salutis

Anno Salutis (often translated from Latin as in the year of salvation) is a dating style used up until the eighteenth century, which like Anno Domini dates years from the birth of Jesus. It can be explained in the context of Christian belief, where the birth of Jesus saved mankind from eternal damnation. It is often used in a more elaborate form such as Anno Nostrae Salutis (in the year of our salvation), Anno Salutis Humanae (in the year of human well-being), Anno Reparatae Salutis (in the year of accomplished salvation).

Numbering of years

Historians do not use a year zero — AD 1 is the first year or epoch of the Anno Domini era, and 1 BC immediately precedes it as the first year before the epoch. This is a problem with some calculations; so in astronomical year numbering a zero is added, and the 'AD' and 'BC' are dropped. In keeping with 'standard decimal numbering', a negative sign '−' is added for earlier years, so counting down from year 2 would give 2, 1, 0, −1, −2, and so on. This results in a one-year shift between the two systems (eg −1 equals 2 BC). However, civil usage still omits the idea of a year zero.

Earlier calendar epochs

Anno Domini dating was not adopted in Western Europe until the eighth century. Like the other inhabitants of the Roman Empire, early Christians used one of several methods to indicate a specific year — and it was not uncommon for more than one to be used in the same document. This redundancy allows historians to construct parallel regnal lists for many kingdoms and polities by comparing chronicles from different regions, which include the same rulers.

Consular dating

The earliest and most common practice was Roman and Greek 'consular' dating. This involved naming both consules ordinarii who had been appointed to this office on January 2 of the civil year. Sometimes one or both consuls might not be appointed until November or December of the previous year, and news of the appointment may not have reached parts of the Roman empire for several months into the current year; thus we find the occasional inscription where the year is defined as "after the consulate" of a pair of consuls.

Dating from the founding of Rome

Another method of dating, rarely used, was to indicate the year anno urbis conditae, or "in the year of the founded city" (abbreviated AUC), where "the City" meant Rome. (It is often incorrectly given that AUC stands for ab urbe condita, which is the title of T. Livy's history of Rome.) Several epochs were in use by Roman historians. Modern historians usually adopt the epoch of Varro, which we place in 753 BC.

About AD 400 the Iberian historian Orosius used the ab urbe condita era. Pope Boniface IV (about AD 600) may have been the first to use both the ab urbe condita era and the Anno Domini era (he put AD 607 = AUC 1360).

Regnal years of Roman emperors

Another system that is less commonly found than thought was to use the regnal year of the Roman emperor. At first, Augustus would indicate the year of his rule by counting how many times he had held the office of consul, and how many times the Roman Senate had granted him Tribunican powers, carefully observing the fiction that his powers came from these offices granted to him, rather than from his own person or the many legions under his control. His successors followed his practice until the memory of the Roman Republic faded (late in the second century or early in the third century), when they openly began to use their regnal year.

Indiction cycles

Another common system was to use the indiction cycle (15 indictions made up an agricultural tax cycle, an indiction being a year in duration). Documents and events began to be dated by the year of the cycle (e.g., "fifth indiction", "tenth indiction") in the fourth century, and was used long after the tax was no longer collected. This system was used in Gaul, in Egypt, and in most parts of Greece until the Islamic conquest, and in the Eastern Roman Empire until its conquest in 1453.

Other dating systems

A great many local systems or eras were also important, for example the year from the foundation of one particular city, the regnal year of the neighboring Persian emperor, and eventually even the year of the reigning Caliph. The beginning of the numbered year also varied from place to place, and was not largely standardized in Europe (except England) as January 1 until the sixteenth century. The most important of these include the Seleucid era (in use until the eighth century), and the Spanish era (in use in official documents in Aragon, Valencia, and in Castile, into the fourteenth century. In 1422, Portugal became the last country of western Europe to adopt the Anno Domini era).

See also

Look up AD, Anno Domini in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Calendar
• Calendar era
• Chronology

References

• Declercq, Georges (2000). Anno Domini: The origins of the Christian era. Turnhout: Brepols. ISBN 2503510507. (despite beginning with 2, it is English)
• ———. "Dionysius Exiguus and the Introduction of the Christian Era". Sacris Erudiri 41 (2002): 165–246. An annotated version of part of Anno Domini.
• Richards, E. G. (2000). Mapping Time. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0192862057.
• John Riggs (January-February 2003). Whatever happened to B.C. and A.D., and why?. United Church News. Retrieved on December 19, 2005.
• Philip A Cunningham; Arthur F Starr (1998). Sharing Shalom: A Process for Local Interfaith Dialogue Between Christians and Jews. Paulist Press. ISBN 0809138352.

Note

1. ^ The mean year of the Gregorian calendar is 365.2425 days. This approximated the mean tropical year more than five millennia ago. The real (mean) tropical year is now very close to 365.2421875 days i.e. 27s/year shorter. However, relative to the vernal equinox year, important for the determination of the date of Christian Easter, the older Lilius definition of the year is and will be a very good value. The vernal equinox year and the mean tropical year have falsely been seen as identical even by many erudite persons of the 20th century.

• The approximation of the year in the old Persian calendar attributed to Omar Khayyám is 365.2424 days, which is very close to the vernal equinox year, but requires a 33-year cycle.
• The definition of Milutin Milanković, used in the "revised Julian calendar", is 365.2422 days, which is very close to the mean tropical year, but uses unequal long-period cycles.
• Despite common belief, A.D. does not represent After Death.

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B. C. E.___ Before Common Era of whatever was suppose to be just common

C. E.___ Common Era of whatever was suppose to be common

"They May Be Calling Jesus Birth Just Common"

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C. E.

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Common Era

Chronology and notation

Main article: Anno Domini

The calendar practice prompting the coining of the term common era is the system of numbering years from the supposed year of birth of Jesus. This system was devised by the monk Dionysius Exiguus in the year 525, who named it anno Domini. Two centuries later, the Anglo-Saxon historian Bede used a Latin term (ante incarnationis dominicae) that is roughly equivalent to the English term before Christ to identify years before the first year of this era.

The term "common era" is an alternative way of referring to this era. Using this nomenclature, human beings first walked on the Moon in the year 1969 of the common era, and the French Revolution is considered to have occurred in year 1789 of the common era.

When used as a replacement for BC/AD notation, the common era is abbreviated as CE and its years are numerically equivalent to AD years. Similarly, the time before the common era is written as BCE and is equivalent to BC. Both Common Era abbreviations are written following the year, thus Aristotle was born in 384 BCE (or 384 BC), and Genghis Khan died in 1227 CE (or AD 1227). As with anno Domini, the year zero is not used, except for astronomical uses. So 1 CE is immediately preceded by 1 BCE.

On (rare) occasions, one may find the abbreviation "e.v." or "EV" instead of "CE"; this stands for "Era Vulgaris", the Latin translation of "Common Era".

Origins

According to Peter Daniels (a Cornell University and University of Chicago trained linguist):

CE and BCE came into use in the last few decades, perhaps originally in Ancient Near Eastern studies, where (a) there are many Jewish scholars and (b) dating according to a Christian era is irrelevant. It is indeed a question of sensitivity.

However, the term "common era" has earlier antecedents. A 1716 book by English Bishop John Prideaux says, "The vulgar era, by which we now compute the years from his incarnation." In 1835, in his book Living Oracles, Alexander Campbell, wrote "The vulgar Era, or Anno Domini; the fourth year of Jesus Christ, the first of which was but eight days." In its article on Chronology, the 1908 Catholic Encyclopedia uses the sentence: "Foremost among these (dating eras) is that which is now adopted by all civilized peoples and known as the Christian, Vulgar or Common Era, in the twentieth century of which we are now living."

"Vulgar" comes from the Latin word vulgāris (from vulgus, the common people), meant "of or belonging to the common people, everyday," and acknowledges that the date was commonly used, even by people who did not believe that Jesus was divine. By the late 1800s, however, vulgar had come to mean "crudely indecent" and the Latin word was replaced by its English equivalent, "common".

The first known Jewish use of this practice is from an inscription on a gravestone in a Jewish cemetery in Plymouth, England:

Here is buried his honour Judah ben his honour Joseph, a prince and honoured amongst philanthropists, who executed good deeds, died in his house in the City of Bath, Tuesday, and was buried here on Sunday, 19 Sivan in the year 5585. In memory of Lyon Joseph Esq (merchant of Falmouth, Cornwall). who died at Bath June AM 5585/VE 1825. Beloved and respected.

This inscription uses the Jewish calendar (5585), but ends by providing the common year (1825); presumably the "VE" means "Vulgar Era", and presumably VE was used instead of AD in order to avoid the Christian implications.

Usage

Many Jewish writers, Islamic scholars, and others prefer the notation's neutrality, while some Christians have used the term CE to mean "Christian Era." Jehovah's Witnesses exclusively use CE and BCE in their publications, generally explaining in footnotes that the terms stand for "Common Era" and "Before the Common Era". ^[1] Some non-religious academics in the fields of history, theology, archaeology, sociology and anthropology have also in recent decades begun using this system.

More visible uses of common era notation have recently surfaced at major museums in the English-speaking world: The Smithsonian Institution prefers Common Era usage, though individual museums are not required to use it.[1] Furthermore, several style guides now prefer or mandate its usage. See:[2][3][4][5][6]. Even some style guides for Christian churches mandate its use: For example, that of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland.(pdf)

The usage of the BCE/CE notation is growing in textbooks. It is used by the College Board in its history tests, as well as by some National Geographic Society publications^{[citation needed]}, and the United States Naval Observatory. [7]

The U.S.-based History Channel uses BCE/CE notation in articles on non-Christian religious topics such as Jerusalem and Judaism [8],[9] and BC/AD in other cases [10].

Support

Supporters of common era notation promote it as a religiously-neutral notation suited for cross-cultural use.

Arguments given for standardizing common era notation include:

• The calendar used by the West has become a global standard—one built into every computer's hardware. It should be religiously and culturally neutral out of consideration for those cultures compelled to use it out of necessity. [11]

• It has been largely used by academic and scientific communities for over a century now, and is not a completely unfamiliar dating system.

• Dating years according to Christian theology has the potential to be culturally divisive in worldwide use. Naming months and days based on Roman and Norse gods, however, is of little concern because the Roman and Norse religions are virtually extinct and thus exclude everyone equally. No alternative naming system for days and months exists which has gained much currency. Furthermore, the names of the days of the week come from the names of the planets and other celestial objects, and four months are already named according to their numerical sequence. People in other cultures are free to name the months and days of the week as they wish in their own language (and they do), but years are just numbers and it is quite easy to make them less overtly culturally specific. [12]

• Going along with the naming of a day as Wednesday does not imply that one worships Odin as a god, anymore than going along with calling a planet Jupiter implies that one actually worships Jupiter as a god, or even considers him a god. However, the very meanings of AD and of BC are such that they imply the acceptance of Jesus as Christ and as Lord. Saying "Today is Wednesday" does not mean that one attributes divinity to Odin. Saying "This is AD 2006" does actually mean "This is the year of the Lord (Jesus), 2006".

• It promotes ecumenical standards and Christian Era is an interchangeable meaning for the acronym CE.

• It is simple to change BC/AD to BCE/CE notation, since the years are numbered exactly the same in both. (33 BC becomes 33 BCE.) Documents with years that do not have AD designation do not need to be changed at all. (Example: 1066 remains 1066 in AD and in CE systems)

• The intensity with which some Christians protest any switch from BC/AD to BCE/CE indicates that, despite any claims to the contrary, BC/AD has not become "removed from its religious connotations".

• The label Anno Domini is almost certainly inaccurate—the birth of Jesus of Nazareth probably occurred no later than 4 BC, the year of Herod the Great's death.

• Common Era notation works well syntactically with centuries, whereas Anno Domini, because it is about years instead of eras, does not ("In the 18th Century, Common Era" versus "In the year of the Lord, 18th Century" versus "In the 19th century in the year of the Lord").

Opposition

Efforts to replace AD/BC notation with CE/BCE notation have given rise to opposition. Arguments against the common era designation include:

• The term "Common era" is viewed as a euphemism for Anno Domini. MSN Encarta recognizes the era simply as "Christian (Common) Era: the period after the birth of Jesus Christ" [13] and uses the AD/BC notation in all articles [14].

• BC and AD have been used for such a length of time as to have become somewhat removed from their religious connotations.

• The newer BCE/CE system has not been used widely enough so as to have become commonly understood.

• "BCE" and "CE" are so similar that they may confuse readers. Changing the notation merely confuses members of the public for only minor benefits.

• Some object to the common era's retention of the year 1 as its epoch because it preserves a Christocentric worldview at the expense of a religiously neutral timekeeping system. These people hold that a more massive change in the calendar is needed, one that would change every date.

• Likewise, the imposition of a Christian calendar as a "Common Era" is also seen by some to be self-defeating.

• BCE/CE fails to fix one of the primary problems with the Christian calendar, the lack of a year "0". 1 BC should become the year 0, 2 BC should become 1 BC, et cetera. There is no point to changing the system, without fixing the system.

• As there is no equally forceful trend to remove other terms with origins in non-Christian religions (such as days of the week named after Norse gods), the movement to replace BC and AD is specifically anti-Christian.

• Some see the letters as tradition, whether they are Christian or not, such as, "It has been so all of this time, who are we to change it now?"

• Some would argue that the phrases "Common Era" and "Before Common Era" make no sense, as there is no definition as to what the "Common Era" actually is. For example, what would make 2 BCE uncommon from 1 CE? Some argue this shows a poor euphamistic attempt at hiding a still deeply Christian meaning.

Examples of opposition include:

• When BC was changed to BCE in one examination question in New South Wales, Australia in early 2005, it prompted questions and protestations of offence in both chambers of the State Parliament, and the State Education Minister stated in Parliament that the change should not have been made.

• When the teaching of what BCE/CE meant was introduced into the English National Curriculum in 2002, it prompted confused letters to national newspapers.

• When the Royal Ontario Museum in Canada changed from using BC to using BCE, it was subjected to derision as well as complaints expressed in the national Canadian press.

Other calendar eras

Main article: Calendar era

Several major calendar systems exist in addition to the Western calendar:

• The Hindu calendar constitutes four eras and the epoch of the present (fourth) era, the Kali Yuga, is January 23 3102 BCE on the proleptic (i.e., back-dated) Gregorian calendar, making the current year (2006) 5108.

• The Hebrew calendar dates from the Creation (according to which the year beginning in the northern autumn of 2000 was 5761 AM);

• Most Chinese do not assign numbers to the years of the Chinese calendar, but the few that do (expatriate Chinese and Westerners) date from the Yellow Emperor (three different systems are in use, which caused the Chinese years 4637, 4697, or 4698 to begin in early 2000).

• The Taiwanese calendar dates from the founding of the Republic of China in 1911.

• The Buddhist calendar dates from the birth of the Buddha (making 2000, 2543 under this calendar, but only in Thailand);

• The Indian national calendar (also the Saka calendar) is the official civil calendar in use in India. Years are counted in the Saka Era, which starts its year 0 in 78. 2006 is therefore 1928 in India.

• The Islamic calendar dates from the Hijra in 622 using a lunar year of about 354 days (so the Western year 2000 contains parts of 1420 AH and 1421 AH);

• The Bahá'í calendar dates from the year of the declaration of the Báb. Years are counted in the Bahá'í Era (BE), which starts its year 1 from March 21, 1844.

• The Japanese calendar dates from the succession of the current Emperor of Japan. The current emperor took the throne in 1989, which became Heisei 1, but which was until then Shōwa 63.

• The Jalaali calendar, a form of the Zoroastrian calendar, is used in Iran. This uses the Zoroastrian months, with the starting year taken from the Hijra in 622—thus the year 1385 begins in March 2006. The spring equinox marks the beginning of the year for this calendar.

• The French Revolutionary Calendar was used in Revolutionary France from October 24, 1793 (on the Gregorian calendar) to January 1, 1806. Years were counted using the Republican era from September 22, 1792 starting with year I.

• The Neo-Pagan Calendars include that used by many pagan religions today, often called the Wheel of the Year.^{[citation needed]}

• The Roman Calendar, which is virtually extinct, dated years from the mythological founding of Rome, 21 April 753 BC. The first year was thus 1 AUC (ab urbe condita or anno urbis conditae; "from the city being founded", or "in the year of the foundation of the city"). Reckoning days by this calendar is complex and no longer in use, but the calendar continues on today as 2759 AUC in 2006.