Calendars: Jewish. The Jewish calendar counts years from the beginning of creation. According to ancient and medieval Jewish scholars, creation occurred, using the Christian calendar, in 3761 BC. So the year 2012, prior to the Jewish New Year in September, is the year 5772 (3760 + 2012) according to the Jewish calendar. The important point is that the Jewish calendar starts counting years from the creation of the world.
Christian. The Christian calendar does not do this. It splits the reckoning of years in relation to the birth of Christ. Years before that event are reckoned BC (“Before Christ”) while those after it are reckoned AD (Latin, Anno Domini or “Year of Our Lord”). So we live in AD 2013.
Islamic. The Islamic calendar, like its Christian counterpart, splits history into two periods. It, however, reckons all events in relation to the move of Muhammad, its founder, and his followers from
Olympianity, our now dominant religion, has modified the use of the Christian calendar. The Christian calendar intentionally reckoned events as occurring either BC, “Before Christ,” or AD, “in the Year of the Lord.” Olympians understandably sought to eliminate this explicit reference to Jesus. So they substituted BCE, “Before the Common Era,” for BC and CE, “Common Era,” for AD.
Olympianity, our now dominant religion, also modified the use of the Christian calendar in another way. While the Christian calendar did reckon events in relation to the birth of Jesus, it also reckoned the creation of the world as occurring around 4000 BC. On the basis of strictly empirical data, Olympians determined that the universe started perhaps 15 billion years ago with a big band, that our earth formed about 5 billion years ago, and that human beings as we know them evolved perhaps 200,000 years ago. They then used this empirical data to thoroughly discredit the biblical basis of the Christian calendar. They did this so well that even Christian teachers use BCE/CE, rather than BC/AD, when teaching about biblical events occurring before or after the birth of Jesus.
My primary purpose in this blog is to clarify how we might live as more radiant witnesses to Jesus. To do that, we will be exploring, celebrating (when appropriate), but always learning from the history of
Instead, in our retelling of the history of
Copyright © 2013 by Steven Farsaci.
All rights reserved. Fair use encouraged.
All rights reserved. Fair use encouraged.