CALENDAR CHANGE Part 3 Ritchie Way
When God created space, time began, for time and space are inseparable. If there is space there is time, for the year and its divisions is measured by the Earth’s revolution around the Sun and the day and its divisions is measured by Earth’s rotation on its axis
When Should the Day Start?
But when does the day start? This is a matter that calendar reform would also consider. Should the day start at sunrise, midnight or sunset?
If there is to be uniformity midnight is the only time that is common to people living in the same time zone. Outside of Daylight Saving Time, midnight in Hobart is exactly the same time as midnight in Cairns, but there is a considerable difference between their sunrise and sunset times. To have the day starting at sunrise or sunset would create even greater confusion than we have at the present time and that could hardly be put in the category of ‘reform.’
Common Dating System
The current dating system, B.C. & A.D., was devised by Dionysius Exiguus in 525 A.D. and adapted by Bede (673 – 735). This dating system became common in Europe between the 11th and 14th centuries A.D.
B.C. stands for Before Christ. A.D. (anno domini which is Latin for ‘In the Year of Our Lord’) dates from the traditionally reckoned year of the birth of Christ, though it is now known that Christ was born at least four years before A.D. 1 (A.D. does not mean After Death, for if it did Christ’s death would have occurred at his birth.)
Due to the fact that the world is now largely non-Christian it is becoming more common to replace B.C. with B.C.E. (Before the Common Era), and A.D. with C.E. (Common Era).
Whether this would be a matter to be considered by calendar revisionists, only time will tell.
The Date of Easter
Easter, quite unlike any other religious holiday, is not celebrated on a fixed date each year. Easter is always celebrated on the Sunday immediately following the first full moon after March 20. This means that Easter Sunday—the day that celebrates the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ—can fall anywhere between March 22 and April 25.
The last time Easter was observed on March 22, the earliest possible date, was in 1818 and it will not happen again until 2285. The last time Easter fell on April 25, the latest possible date, was in 1943. It will happen again in 2038.
The resurrection of Jesus was initially celebrated on the Jewish date of 14 Nissan—the date of Passover, regardless of what day of the week it fell on. Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, considered to be the spiritual successor of the apostle John, said John always celebrated the resurrection of Jesus on 14 Nissan, because Jesus rose from the dead on 14 Nissan. On the other hand, Anicetus, bishop of Rome, was of the opinion that Jesus’ resurrection should always be celebrated on a Sunday, because Jesus rose on Sunday.
While Polycarp and Anicetus did not see eye to eye on this matter, they chose not to argue about it. Others after them, however, made it a matter of heated dispute. The issue was ultimately settled by the Nicene Council which decreed that Jesus’ resurrection should be observed on a Sunday; hence the roving date for Easter.
If the Gregorian Calendar were reformed, it seems, from discussions that have already taken place, that religious authorities would not look unfavourably upon the proposal to make Easter a fixed date from Friday to Sunday.
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