Hello my name is James and I have been pulling my hair out trying to find an answer to my question. We define the period prior to Jesus’ birth as B.C., we also define the period after his death A.D. Is there a defined period while Jesus was alive? If so what is the name of that period? Thank you for any insight you can provide. ~ James Kregness
Your difficulty lies in the false assumption that “AD” means ‘after the death of Christ.’ Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary identifies the abbreviation “AD” with various words for which it sometimes stands, including “anno Domini.” Then, the dictionary defines “anno Domini” by its etymology from Medieval Latin, meaning, “in the year of the Lord.” Whereas the abbreviation “BC” means “before Christ” according to Webster’s, the abbreviation “AD” stands for “anno Domini” and refers to time after the birth (not death) of Christ.
For centuries, competing calendars were adopted by various parts of the known world. In the sixty century, a Roman Catholic monk by the name of Dionysius Exiguus (500-560) devised a calendar (525) by which modern time was calculated from the birth of Christ. It was not for another two centuries before his calendar was generally accepted. Incidentally, the monk made an error of about four years, which now it is too late to correct given the two millennia that have elapsed since the birth of Christ. The error is evident from first century writers, including Josephus and the Gospel writers, as well as from astronomical calculations.
References:
McClintock and Strong Encyclopedia, Electronic Database, (Seattle, WA: Biblesoft) 2000.
