B.C.E. , C.E vs B.C. , A.D.

i think that we should make an effort to enforce useing BCE (before common era) and CE (Common era) instead of using “before christ” and “after death”. Im not denying that christ was a person i just dont think we should use his instance as a historical way of knowing dates. BCE & CE is somthing that we can all agree, wouldnt you say so?

you posted this in the dreamspell forum which follows the 13 moon calendar and so it doesnt belong there.
also AD does not stand for after death but is latin for the year of the lord

I used to think AD stood for “after death” as well when I was little! It should be - it makes more sense than the Latin! I do use BCE and CE anyway, but it’s not something that comes up very often unless you’re discussing ancient history, really.

but when do you define when the ‘common era’ starts then?

i find BC and AD much easier, since the year “0” marks the birth of Christ. (In the western calender then).

When is the ‘year 0’ of BCE?

Q, it is not year zero. :content: We get feom 1 BC to 1 AD, there’s no year zero.

This is why 2000 is (though people didn’t seem to care to this little detail) the last year of the second millenium and 2001 is the real first year from the third millenium.

edit: The birth of Christ was in the first year of God, 1 AD.

Oops. :grin: In my mind there is a 0 somewhere on that timeline. But you are right. But my question remains, what is the ‘starting point’ if you will, of CE then?

Apparently, it’s the same date: 1 AD.

As far as I can remember, there is an “astronomical” version of the Gregorian calendar, with 0 instead 1 B.C., -1 instead 2 B.C. and so on (dates on our side of the zero year are the same), it is used in science, when adding and subtracting 1 can be a sore… But the “common” calendar has no “zero year”, only “zero point” - midnight from 31 Dec 1 B.C. to 1 Jan 1 A.D.
P.S. I forgot what A.D. stands for :sad: Anno Domini?
P.P.S. Whenever Jesus Christ existed, He was most likely not born in 1 B.C. This year was chosen almost voluntarily, and it was done in 4th century or something like that by some monk, who had no historical info on that epoch…

Well, B.C.E refers to the same date as B.C. does right? Why not leave it the same if it means the same thing? :content:

BCE is the same thing as BC. BC to me tells me were useing the christian way of a timeline (not in a radical sense), while BCE is more culturaly diverse. does this make sense?

Everyone is use to BC and AD so lets keep it that way.

Just because people are used to it doesnt mean it should stay the same. Like i said before…

There is nothing wrong with using Before Christ.

Well, as I was born in USSR, i am used to “Common Era”… :smile:

Anno Domini = year of the lord?

(I should pay more attention during latin class…)

Some would say that.
"The Ethic of Reciprocity (the Golden Rule) suggests that one should not intentionally cause pain to other humans. We should treat others as we would wish to be treated. Since only one out of every three humans on earth is a Christian, some theologians and other authors felt that non-religious, neutral terms like CE and BCE would be less offensive to the non-Christian majority. 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. " ← from www.religioustolerance.org

i agree with this. And i think some should consider it.

but forcing christians to convert to CE and BCE (which to my mind are not neutral terms … but firmly saying that christianity has no place in the culture) would intentionally cause pain

I don’t really care at all. That is my honest oppinion on the matter. I will use AD/BC because that is what I grew up with regardless of belief.

To me they mean nothing except to clarify whether it’s a possitive or negative year of the current calendar anyways. People should be allowed to use which ever they prefer, forcing people to use one or the other is going to PO someone so let the people use which they specifically prefer. Problem solved :wink: