Theology Confused: Studying the plain text: B.C. to A.D. the way we see time.

Is Jesus Christ really the center point of World history? How can this be when the question of his actual existence is brought into question by many? Some will acknowledge there is mention of a man who was Crucified around the time period this so-called Jesus was supposed to have lived that could correspond to this event, and perhaps from this reference, the Christian myth was developed. However, there seems to be more than these folks want to admit. It seems a very strange thing for a myth to be the dividing event of all human history.

The term "A.D." stands for anno domini (Latin for "in the year of the lord"), and it refers specifically to the birth of Jesus Christ. "B.C." stands for "before Christ."

One of the main motivations for the European study of mathematics was the problem of when to celebrate Easter. The First Council of Nicaea, in A.D. 325, had decided that Easter would fall on the Sunday following the full moon that follows the spring equinox. The Calculations for this most important date were set forth in documents known as Easter tables. It was on one such table that, in A.D. 525, a monk named Dionysius Exiguus of Scythia Minor introduced the A.D. system, counting the years since the birth of Christ. Dionysius attempted to set A.D. 1 as the year of Jesus Christ's birth, but was off in his estimation by a few years, with modern estimates placing Christ's birth at around 4 B.C. Dionysius devised his system to replace the Diocletian system, named after Diocletian who was a Roman Emperor.

So prior to the 6th century the system we know as A.D and B.C. did not exist. It came into existence as a result of the afore mention Easter celebration date determined at Nicaea in 325. This celebration has nothing to do with Biblical instruction or proper Christian worship. It was simply a desire of the early Christians to celebrate the resurrection of Christ. At the time, many Asian Christians held the celebration on Nisan 14 of the Jewish Calender, while most others observed Easter on a Sunday that fell within that week since the Lord was resurrected on a Sunday.

At Nicaea (325 AD), it was agreed that the date for Easter should be divorced from the Hebrew calendar and the Jewish Passover. It was further decided to observe the holiday on the Sunday after the first full moon on or after the day of the vernal equinox. The council, however, did not issue specific instructions regarding the method of computation. The Alexandrian Easter tables, based upon a 19-year cycle, became the main method for its calculations, but several others continued to be used, and by the end of the fourth century, the celebrations varied each year by as much as five weeks. So Nicaean Council attempted to standardize an official date, but without a unified method of calculating, they were still in disagreement on when to celebrate.

As time progressed, various calendar systems were in place until finally the current Gregorian calendar was utilized almost worldwide. Non-Christian nations initially saw no reason to switch to the Christian-based calendar but, as with the Anno Domini dating system, they eventually adopted it over the centuries due to the global economic, political, and scientific dominance of Christendom. It took 1,500 years for it to be accepted across Western Europe and would become an international standard in 1988 when the International Organization for Standardization released ISO 8601, which describes an internationally accepted way to represent dates and times.

It really is not an accurate statement for Christians to suggest the Cross and the life of Christ as being the recognized dividing line of world history. It is of course the center of biblical history and the indirect means by which we have now come to view our historical dates, but it took centuries to arrive at this universal acceptance, and that largely as a result of influence from the Church. The world is ever-changing and the acceptance of A.D. and B.C. is changing with it. The popularity of B.C.E & C.E (Before Common Era & Common Era) is increasing, largely due to sensitivity to other religions. As the influence of Christianity diminishes so will the acceptance of the B.C. and A.D. system.

What is interesting about all of this is it all comes about over when to celebrate Easter. That is important because unbelievers always bring the validity of the resurrection of Christ into question. The very event they say there is no evidence for is the very event that has fashioned the way the world calculates time and its calendars. It is difficult to imagine that a non-event could have such an impact on the world. The first recorded celebration of the resurrection is in the middle of the 2nd century. It would be most unlikely the first celebration would be recorded without special mention, so it is most probable it was celebrated much earlier. There are no Scriptural instructions for the celebration, nor is there any record of the infant church doing so. However, the Christian Passover would naturally grow out of the Jewish Passover, as the Lord’s Day (Sunday) grew out of the Sabbath (Saturday). The Jewish Christians would very naturally from the beginning continue to celebrate the legal Passover, but in the light of its fulfillment by the sacrifice of Christ, they would dwell chiefly on the aspect of the crucifixion. The Gentile Christians, for whom the Jewish Passover had no meaning would chiefly celebrate the Lord’s resurrection as they did every Sunday of the week. Christians commemorated the entire period between the death and resurrection of Christ with vigils, fasting, special devotions, and meetings culminating in a resurrection feast celebrating the whole work of redemption. The feast of the resurrection gradually became the most prominent aspect of the Christian Passover.

The celebration has no scriptural basis and is entirely an invention of the church arising from a desire to commemorate the resurrection. However, that in itself is a remarkable validation of the actual existence of the event. Even if the first recorded celebration was the first event, it would have had its fulfillment just 150 years or so before. If the resurrection did not actually occur, it would be much like us today celebrating a momentous event in the life of General Stone Wall Jackson, one which was never recorded. Someone could say it happened, but it would be very difficult to establish a general acceptance and celebration of it without some kind of record or general knowledge it actually occurred. One certainly couldn't establish a General Jackson day to commemorate his successful recovery from his injuries, for historical evidence and general knowledge would prevent that deception, even though it would be said to have happened 150 years ago. For the church to have such a widespread common desire to acknowledge the resurrection speaks volumes against the modern accusation there is no evidence it ever happened. The Christian faith rests upon the resurrection, for without it there is no remission of sins, therefore, no basis for the faith. Without the resurrection there is no Christian faith, the fact there is a Christian faith is the greatest voice to declare to the world there was an actual resurrection.