B.C. and A.D.

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D

Derek

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#1
Hey, so you know how our time line goes, B.C. and A.D.? For instance it is 2009 A.D. Well, I'm just curious to know where that came from and when it was applied to the time line. Did people like Paul consider their time line to be A.D.? And did someone like David consider his time line to be B.C.? Anyone have any historical facts on this stuff or maybe know a good link to go to?
 
L

lil-rush

Guest
#2
BC means Before Christ.
AD means Anno Domini, which is latin for "in the year of our lord."

I'm not quite sure where it originated, but since AD is latin and it is measured off of the birth of our Lord then it had to have come around after Christ's birth. And since the measurement is approximately 1-6 years off(Jesus was apparantly born around 3 AD) the system had to have come around a few centuries after Christ's birth.

The measurement was created most probably by Catholics, or the predecessors of Catholics, since the numbering system was created to try and base the Julian calender around Christ's birth in order to make history more centered on Jesus.

I don't think David went by the BC timeline, since it is measured backwards from Christ's birth. Like the negatives on the X axis. I imagine it would be hard for David to measure years that way when he was not sure when Christ would be born. He couldn't very well go around saying "Well the year is 2013 BC, which means in 2013 years our savior will be born." In fact, I think the years in BC were measured mostly by who was King. Like "It is the 32nd year of the reign of King So-and-so."
 
T

Topher

Guest
#3
Hey Derek,

The Anno Domini dating system was devised in 525 by Dionysius Exiguus, who used it to compute the date of the Christian Easter festival, and to identify the several Easters in his Easter table. At the time, he didn't use it to date any historical event. When he devised his table, Julian calendar years were identified by naming the consuls who held office that year - he himself stated that the "present year" was "the consulship of Probus Junior / Flavius Probus", which he also stated was 525 years "since the incarnation [conception] of our Lord Jesus Christ". How he arrived at that number is unknown. He invented a new system of numbering years to replace the Diocletian era that had been used in an old Easter table because he did not wish to continue the memory of a tyrant who persecuted Christians.

The Anno Domini era began to be adopted in Western Europe in the 8th century, after it was used by the Venerable Bede to date the events in his Ecclesiastical History of the English People (completed in 731). According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, even popes continued to date documents according to regnal years for some time, and usage of AD gradually became more common in Europe from the 11th to the 14th centuries. In 1422, Portugal became the last Western European country to adopt the Anno Domini system.

Copied straight-up from Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anno_Domini

- Christopher
 
D

Derek

Guest
#4
Cool, thanks guys for knowledge!
 
S

Slepsog4

Guest
#5
There is a new system being used: BCE and CE

They mean... Before the Common Era and the Common Era

I like to hijack them and say they mean... Before the Christian Era and the Christian Era
 
C

Cobblepot

Guest
#6
The jarring transition from BC and AD to BCE and CE is straight-up obnoxious. The birth of Jesus of Nazareth is of weighty historical significance, regardless of one's religious affiliation. That someone would be offended by basing the Gregorian Calendar around the birth of Christ, but not be offended that the days of the week are named after Norse pagan deities, is very telling of that person's brand of bigotry.
 
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