A Christian friend asked me if Christ hadn’t of been so important why did we use his birth as the basis of our measurement of the centuries? BC=before Christ etc…He must have been a very important figure to have a whole measurement of time named after him. Can anyone enlighten me?
The calendar system that we use (using B.C. and A.D) was invented by the Roman Catholic Church, so naturally they based it on Christ’s life. Other calendar systems, such as the Judaic system, don’t use B.C. and A.D.
The current measurement of time is the B.C.E and A.C.E. abbreviation, or before current era, and after current era. BC and AD is considered outmoded, except in the area of the world where Christianity is the majority religion. Even there it falls out of favor from time to time, since JC was probably born about 4 BCE (or BC if you prefer).
Meanwhile, many other societies use other calendars, such as the Judaic calendar (current year 5763) or the Chinese (4699).
Welcome aborad lightweight traveller.
You’ve answered your own question - Christ was important to the people who devised that system of calculation - Christian monks in the Middle Ages. Not all cultures use that system however; Muslims use AH (Anno Hejirae) and BH (Before Hijra) for instance, and someone will be along soon to tell you some more.
It’s also becoming more common in this secular age to refer to years CE instead of AD (Common Era instead of Anno Domini), and BCE instead of BC (Before Common Era instead of Before Christ).
Sorry, that should be Common Era, not current era. A common error.
AD anno domini
in the year of our Lord?
history starts with His story?
Even allowing for the smiley we’d better not let that pass in this forum, mrcrow. Here’s what Merriam-Webster has to say about the word history:
Main Entry: his·to·ry
Pronunciation: 'his-t(&-)rE
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural -ries
Etymology: Latin historia, from Greek, inquiry, history, from histOr, istOr knowing, learned; akin to Greek eidenai to know – more at WIT
Date: 14th century
Nothing to do with Jesus.