Brief History of Calendars
Calendars were developed to permit mankind to measure time – past, present and future. The world has experienced numerous, often competing calendars throughout the centuries. These calendars differed from each other based on the emphasis placed upon them in various parts of the world (e.g., earth’s revolution around the sun, cycles of the moon, seasons, politics, religious considerations, etc.).
The lunar calendar, taking notice of the cycles of the moon, anciently was a popular approach to defining time. “The lunar calendar became the basis of the calendars of the ancient Chinese, Babylonians, Greeks, and Jews” (“History of the Lunar Calendar”). However, lunar calendars especially fail to correspond to the makeup of a year as defined by solar calendars – the time it takes for our planet to revolve around its sun. Having less days than solar calendars, lunar calendars represent the four seasons inconsistently at different times on the lunar calendar from year to year. Proponents of Islam still use the Islamic Calendar, a lunar calendar, for religious purposes and observances.
The Roman calendar, itself evidencing that it was a revision of previous calendars, was revised by Julius Caesar in 45 B.C. “The Julian calendar was no longer dependent on the observation of the new moon but simply followed an algorithm of introducing a leap day every four years. …The Gregorian calendar was introduced as a refinement of the Julian calendar in 1582 and is today in worldwide use as the de facto calendar for secular purposes” (“History of Calendars”).
“While the Gregorian calendar is now in worldwide use for secular purposes, various medieval or ancient calendars remain in regional use for religious or social purposes, including the Julian calendar, the Hebrew calendar, the Islamic calendar, various Hindu calendars, the Zoroastrian calendar etc.” (“History of Calendars”).
Regarding dates for the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, various “authorities” cannot even agree on what year, projected backward from the calendar now commonly used, that those events occurred. In addition, neither is there common agreement regarding in what month the death and resurrection of Christ transpired. Jewish and Roman calendars were in use in first century Palestine, and those two calendars did not even agree on the makeup of a day. The Roman calendar, like our calendar today, calculated each day from midnight to midnight (12:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m.), but the Jewish reckoning of a day was from sunset to sunset (roughly from 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.). Those factors deserve careful consideration and require scrutiny of biblical context to ascertain in any passage whether reference is to Jewish or Roman time in Scripture.
In any case, the year or month that any event recorded in the Bible occurred is not usually as significant as the event that appears in Holy Writ. That certainly is true regarding the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. One may think that he has ascertained or concurs with others who affirm the precise date of those or other events in the Bible, but these are not matters over which one needs to be concerned.
That being said, though, days of the week regarding the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ are known. They are known from their placement in consideration of the Jewish Sabbath and Jewish Passover on the front end as well as from the back end counting backward from the Pentecost (a Sunday) of Acts 2. After selecting a year, for instance, A.D. 30 or A.D. 33, it is a matter of projecting backward, after analysis of the various pieces of information, to select prospective dates for the death and resurrection of our Lord as well as the Pentecost on which the Lord’s church began. Still, the events and ramifications of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ take center stage, and they are on what one needs to dwell. If suggestive dates in a narrative about the death and resurrection of our Lord as well as the beginning of the church add a sense of realism and factualness that soothes, then note them in passing. On the other hand, if such are a distraction, simply ignore or overlook them.
Works Cited
“History of Calendars.” Wikipedia. 18 Dec. 2015 <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_calendars>.
“History of the Lunar Calendar.” Infoplease. 17 Dec. 2015 <https://www.infoplease.com/calendar/lunar.html>.
Works Consulted
Akin, Jimmy. “7 clues tell us *precisely* when Jesus died (the year, month, day, and hour revealed).” 10 Apr 2013 National Catholic Register. 17 Dec 2015 <www.ncregister.com/blog/jimmy-akin/when-precisely-did-jesus-die-the-year-month-day-and-hour-revealed>.
“The Historical Calendar of Jesus.” Albatrus.org. <https://www.albatrus.org/english/potpourri/dates/historical_calendar_of_jesus.htm>.
Time and Date.com. 17 Dec. 2015 <https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/?year=0030&country=1>.
