(Redirected from BCE)
The 'Common Era', also known as the 'Current Era' or 'Christian Era', abbreviated 'CE',
[1][2][3] is the period of time beginning with year
1 of the
Gregorian calendar. Earlier years are abbreviated 'BCE', described as "Before the Common, Current, or Christian Era". The abbreviations are sometimes written with small capital letters, or with periods (e.g., "
BCE" or "C.E.") and always follow the year number.
[ The Columbia Guide to Standard American English – A.D., B.C., (A.)C.E., B.C.E. Wilson, Kenneth G. ]
The set of abbreviations ''CE'' and ''BCE'' is equivalent to the set ''AD'' (for ''
anno Domini'' or ''Anno Domini'') and ''BC'' (for ''Before Christ''), respectively.
[4][5] So the current year can be written as CE or as AD . Only the abbreviation AD may be written either traditionally before, or after the year number.
For these corresponding appellations, the number of any given year is the same and there is no
year zero, thus
Aristotle was born in 384 BCE (or 384 BC), and
Genghis Khan died in 1227 CE (or AD 1227, or 1227 AD). Year 1 BCE (or 1 BC) however, corresponds to the year zero of the
astronomical system and to year 0000 of the
ISO 8601 standard.
The term "Common Era" is preferred by some for it does not use religious titles for
Jesus such as "
Christ" and "Lord" which are implicit in the
BC-AD notation. Andrew Herrmann, writing in the ''Chicago Sun-Times'', observes, "The changes — showing up at museums, in academic circles and in school textbooks — have been touted as more sensitive to people of faiths outside of Christianity." However, Herrmann notes, "The use of BCE and CE have rankled some Christians. In 2000, the Southern Baptist Convention [of the United States] criticized the use of BCE and CE, calling them 'the result of secularization' and 'political correctness'."
[6]
Origins
Main articles: Anno Domini
The practice of dating years based on either Jesus' birth or the
Annunciation, when
Archangel Gabriel foretold Jesus' birth to his mother,
Mary, was devised in the year 525 by the
monk Dionysius Exiguus, who named it "''anno Domini''" ("in the year of the Lord"). Two centuries later, the
Anglo-Saxon historian
Bede used another
Latin term ("''ante incarnationis dominicae tempus''" — "the time before the Lord's incarnation"), equivalent to the
English "
before Christ", to identify years before the first year of this era.
The term "Common Era" was derived much later, and comes from the concept of the ''Era vulgaris'' that was developed in ancient
Roman philosophy. "Vulgar" comes from the Latin word ''vulgāris'' (from ''vulgus'', the common people), meant "of or belonging to the common people, everyday". By the late 1800s, "vulgar" had come to mean "crudely indecent" and the Latin word was replaced by its English equivalent, "common". (Indeed, rarely, instead of "CE," one finds the abbreviation "''e.v.''" or "EV".)
[ The Thelemic Calendar ] for "''Era Vulgaris''" (
Latin for "Common Era"). A 1716 book by English Bishop
John Prideaux says, "The vulgar era, by which we now compute the years from his incarnation." In 1835, in his book ''Living Oracles'',
Alexander Campbell, wrote: "The vulgar Era, or Anno Domini; the fourth year of Jesus Christ, the first of which was but eight days." In its article on General Chronology, the 1908 ''
Catholic Encyclopedia'' uses the sentence: "Foremost among these (dating eras) is that which is now adopted by all civilized peoples and known as the Christian, Vulgar or Common Era, in the twentieth century of which we are now living."
[7]
However, use of the original Latin term ''Era Vulgaris'' and the idea it originally signified (a decadent age that rejects morality) persists in some circles. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the phrase and indeed the idea of the ''Era vulgaris'' itself became incorporated into
Satanism and some forms of
neo-paganism because of its alleged designation of an amoral age and its rejection of the Christian terms "Christ" and "Lord" as used in BC and AD. For example, some followers of
Aleister Crowley use abbreviations of ''Era vulgaris'' as replacements for BC and AD.
[8] The third essay in the
Satanic Bible presents the idea of the New Satanic Age that borrows from the idea of the ''Era vulgaris''.
[9] During the 1800s, the phrase "common era", in
lower case, was frequently used in a ''generic'' sense, not necessarily to refer to the Christian Era, but to any system of dates in common use throughout a civilization. Thus, "the common era of the Jews,"
[10][11] "the common era of the Mahometans,"
[12] "the common era of the foundation of Rome."
[13] When it did refer to the Christian Era, it was sometimes qualified, e.g., "the common era of the Nativity of Our Lord"
[14] or "the common era of the birth of our Saviour."
[15]
On the other hand, some Jewish academics were already using the ''BCE'' abbreviation by the mid-1800's, such as in
1856, when Rabbi and historian,
Morris Jacob Raphall used the abbreviation in his book.
''Post-Biblical History of The Jews''.
Usage
The terms "Common Era", "''Anno Domini''", "Before the Common Era" and "Before Christ" can be applied to dates that rely on either the
Julian calendar or the
Gregorian calendar. Modern dates are understood to be in the Gregorian calendar, but for older dates writers should specify the calendar used. Dates in the Gregorian calendar have always used the Common Era, but over the millennia a wide variety of eras have been used with the Julian calendar.
Although Jews have their own
Jewish Calendar, they often find it convenient to use the Gregorian Calendar as well. The reasons for some using Common Era notation are described below:Indeed, Common Era notation has also been in use for Hebrew lessons for "more than a century".
[16]
Some American academics in the fields of
education and
history are adopting CE and BCE notation although there is some disagreement.
[17] The Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, which is the leading publishing body of the
Jehovah's Witnesses, uses CE and BCE exclusively in its publications.
[18] More visible uses of Common Era notation have recently surfaced at major museums in the English-speaking world: The
Smithsonian Institution prefers Common Era usage, though individual museums are not required to use it.
[19] Furthermore, several style guides now prefer or mandate its usage.
[20] Even some style guides for Christian churches prefer its use: for example, the Episcopal Diocese ''Maryland Church News''.
[21]
In the
United States, the usage of the BCE/CE notation in
textbooks is growing.
Some publications have moved over to using it exclusively. For example, the 2007 World Almanac was the first edition to switch over to the BCE/CE usage, ending a 138-year usage of the traditional BC/AD dating system. It is used by the
College Board in its history tests,
[22] by the
Norton Anthology of English Literature, and by the
United States Naval Observatory.
[23] Others have taken a different approach. The US-based
History Channel uses BCE/CE notation in articles on non-Christian religious topics such as
Jerusalem and Judaism[24] and uses BC (but neither CE nor AD) in other cases.
[25] Whereas, in June 2006, the Kentucky State School Board reversed its decision that would have included the designations BCE (Before the Common Era) and CE (Common Era) in referring to dates.
[26]
In some formerly
Communist, predominantly Christian societies, the designation ''New Era'' (or ''Our Era'') was encouraged by Communist authorities to replace BC and AD. In
Bulgaria, for example, ''пр.н.е.'' (''преди новата ера'', before the new era, or ''преди нашата ера'', before our era) and ''н.е.'' (''от новата ера'', of the new era, or ''от нашата ера'', of our era) are still widely used by atheists/agnostics instead of traditional ''пр.Хр.'' (''преди Христа'', BC) and ''сл.Хр.'' (''след Христа'', after Christ), which were unofficially reinstituted after the Communist period. The Chinese use the term "
Common Era (公元)."
Arguments for and against usage of BCE notation
A range of arguments exist both for and against the use of CE and BCE in place of AD and BC.
Support
Supporters of Common Era notation promote it as a religiously-neutral notation suited for cross-cultural use.
Arguments given for changing to the Common Era designation include:
★ The label ''Anno Domini'' is almost certainly inaccurate; "scholars generally believe that Christ was born some years before A.D. 1, the historical evidence is too sketchy to allow a definitive dating."
[27]
★ It is simple to change from BC/AD to BCE/CE notation, since the years are numbered identically in both (e.g., 33 BC becomes 33 BCE), Documents with years that do not have AD designation do not need to be changed at all (e.g., 1066 remains 1066 in AD and in CE systems).
[ Year dating conventions Fred Espenak ]
★ Both BCE and CE are used as suffixes, unlike BC/AD where BC is used as a suffix and AD as a prefix. This can be beneficial for computer usage.
★ "Forcing a Hindu, for example, to use AD and BC might be seen by some as coercing them to acknowledge the supremacy of the Christian God and of Jesus Christ."
[ Controversy over use of "CE" and "BCE" to identify dates in history ] The
Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance further state: "We use the terms CE and BCE throughout this web site because they are less hurtful to non-Christians."
★ Evidence that AD and BC have not lost their religious significance is the fact that much of the opposition, some of it intense, to switching to usage of CE and BCE has been on religious grounds.[28]
Opposition
Efforts to replace AD/BC notation with CE/BCE notation have given rise to opposition. Arguments against the Common Era designation include:
★ While a person using BC/AD may not hold Christian beliefs, the ''calendar'' itself has Christian roots. The substitution of BCE/CE for BC/AD is, in this respect, offensive. [29]
★ Since the calendar in use has Christian roots, the alteration of BC/AD to BCE/CE partially effaces an important contribution of Christianity to world culture. [30]
★ The use of BCE/CE may be seen as a type of intolerance in its own right, as non-Christians seek to remove reference to the religious figure upon whom the calendar's years are, in fact, based.[31]
★ The BCE/CE promotion distracts from the adoption of the system already used by astronomers, i.e. 0 for 1 BC, -1 for 2 BC, etc., which does resolve this problem and does not use any of the contentious acronyms ".[32]
★ "If we do end by casting aside the A.D./B.C. convention, almost certainly some will argue that we ought to cast aside as well the conventional numbering system itself, given its Christian basis."[33]
★ It is inconsistent to remove this "religious" reference from our nomenclature and not remove other religiously derived words such as the days of the week and months of the year which are named after various pagan deities: January = Janus' month, Thursday = Thor's day, et cetera.[ Controversy over the use of "CE" and "BCE" to identify dates in history ]
★ The use of identifiers which have common spellings is more ambiguous than the use of identifiers with divergent spellings. Both C.E. and B.C.E. have in common the letters "C.E.", which is more likely to cause confusion than identifiers with clearly different spelling.
See also
★ Calendar era, for an outline of different dating systems that have been or are currently used throughout the world
★ Calendar reform
★ Within the context of archeology and geology, one also encounters the term Before present (also known as ''before physics'') with the abbreviation 'BP' to indicate dates in years before 1950.
Notes
1. History of Judaism 63BCE-1086CE BBC Team
2. What is the Difference Between the Western, Islamic, and Jewish calendars? wiseGEEK
3. Dictionaries:
★ Common Era
★ Common Era
★ Common Era
★ Common Era
★ Common Era
★ 'Common Era', 'Collins Dictionary of the English Language' ISBN 0 00 433080-3
4. Anno Domini, Latin: "in the year of the Lord". Blackburn, Bonnie; Leofranc Holford-Strevens (2003). The Oxford companion to the Year: An exploration of calendar customs and time reckoning. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-214231-3. (reprinted & corrected, originally published 1999) p. 782
5. anno Domini
6. BCE date designation called more sensitive
7. General Chronology
8. Era vulgaris
9. ''The Satanic Bible''
10. the common era of the Jews places the creation in BC 3760
11.
The first and second Advent: or, The past and the future with reference to the Jew, the Gentile, and the Church of God, Rev. Bourchier Wrey Savile, MA, , , Wertheim, Macintosh and Hunt, 1858, , p. 176: "Hence the present year, 1858, in the common era of the Jews, is AM 5618-5619, a difference of more than 200 years from our commonly-received chronology."
12.
Practical tables for the reduction of Mahometan dates to the Christian calendar, Johannes von Gumpach, , , , 1856,
p. 2: "The common era of the Mahometans, as has already been stated, is that of the flight of Mahomet."
13.
Universal History: From the Creation of the World to the Beginning of the Eighteenth Century, Alexander Fraser Tytler, Lord Woodhouselee, , , Fetridge and Company, 1854, , p. 284
14.
St. Patrick, Apostle of Ireland, A Memoir of his Life and Mission, James Henthorn Todd, , , Hodges, Smith & Co, Publishers to the University, 1864, , p. 497: "It should be observed, however, that these years correspond to 492 and 493, a portion of the annals of Ulster being counted from the Incarnation, and being, therefore, one year before the common era of the Nativity of our Lord."
15.
A smaller Scripture history, William Smith, , , John Albemarle, 1870, , p. 216, ""
16. "Use of B.C. and A.D. faces changing times"] (Registration required.)
17. See, for example, the Society for Historical Archaeology state in their style guide "Do not use C.E. (current era) ... or B.C.E.; convert these expressions to A.D. and B.C." Style Guide Society for Historical Archaeology . Whereas the American Anthropological Association style guide AAA Style Guide American Anthropological Society takes a different approach
18. [1] [2] Also see, for example, comment "In this publication, instead of the traditional 'AD' and 'BC', the more accurate 'CE' (Common Era) and 'BCE' (before the Common Era) are used." in ''The Bible — God's Word or Man's?'', p. 16 footnote, published by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc.
19. World History Standards Smithsonian Institute
20. Submission Guidelines for ''The Ostracon'', , , , The Ostracon —
Journal of the Egyptian Studies Society,
- Contributer Guidelines, , , , The Pomegranate: The International Journal of Pagan Studies,
- Author Guidelines, , , , American Journal of Philology,
- Manuscript Submission Guidelines
- Style Guide, , , , Canadian Journal of Cultural Studies,
21. Maryland Church News Submission Guide & Style Manual
22. AP: World History
23. Introduction to Calendars
24. Jerusalem Timeline ; Jerusalem: Biographies
25. History Channel Timeline
26. State School Board reverses itself on B.C./A.D. controversy
27. Explanatory Supplement to the Astronomical Almanac, , L., Doggett, University Science Books, 1992,
28. Southern Baptist Convention 2000, Resolution 9
29. Whitney, Susan, "Altering history? Changes have some asking 'Before what?'" The Deseret News, December 2, 2006. Whitney, for instance, quotes Lori Wentz, who argues that, "Whether or not someone believes in Christ, the culture and politics of his time eventually came together to form our way of keeping historical time...It's 2006 this year for anyone on Earth that is participating in day-to-day world commerce and communication. Two thousand six years since what? Most people know, regardless of their belief system, and aren't offended by a historical fact." http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4188/is_20061202/ai_n16891064
30. Rodriguez, Nancy C. and Peter Smith, "Ky. school board to look at replacing A.D., B.C. in dates", The Courier-Journal, April 11, 2006.
31. Safire, William, "B.C./A.D. or B.C.E. C.E.?", On Language, ''The New York Times'', August 17, 1997, p. SM22
32. History Today, June 1999, p. 60, Darian Hiles, letter: "Of Dates and Decimals"
33. The Columbia Guide to Standard American English
External links
★ The use of "CE" and "BCE" to identify dates (Religious Tolerance.org)
★ NASA: Year dating conventions
★ The Columbia Guide to Standard American English (1993): A.D., B.C., (A.)C.E., B.C.E.
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