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Common Era (
CE), sometimes known as the
Current Era or as the
Christian Era, is the period of measured time beginning with the year
1 on the
Gregorian calendar. The notations CE and
BCE (
Before the Common Era or
Before the Christian Era) are alternative notations for AD (
anno Domini,
Latin for "In the year of (Our) Lord
[ Blackburn & Lolford-Strevens p. 782]") and BC (Before Christ), respectively. The CE/BCE system of notation is chronologically equivalent to dates in the AD/BC system, i.e. no change in numbering is used, and neither includes a year zero. The abbreviations may also be written C.E. and B.C.E.
The term
common era is preferred by some as an alternative to the more overtly religious AD and BC, since Common Era does not explicitly make use of religious titles for
Jesus,
Christ and
Lord, that are used in the AD/BC notation. Some criticize Common Era notation as a
euphemism that does not alter the pivotal year 1 still centering on the life of Jesus. Others criticize the notation as an unnecessary attempt at
political correctness.
The phrase 'Common Era' has its equivalents in other languages: For example, since the
People's Republic of China succeeded the Republic of China in 1949, most
Chinese have used the literal translation of Common Era,
gōngyuán 公元, for date notation. Some Chinese use
zhŭhòu 主後 (lit. After the Lord). Additionally, the term "CE" is preferred by academics in some fields (e.g. by the
American Anthropological Association).
[cite web | url = http://www.aaanet.org/pubs/style_guide.pdf | title = AAA Style Guide | accessmonthday = September 9 | accessyear = 2006 | author = American Anthropological Society | month = January | year = 2003 ]Chronology and notation
main|Anno
The calendar practice prompting the coining of the term
common era is the system of numbering years from the supposed beginning of the life of
Jesus. This system was devised by the
monk Dionysius Exiguus in the year 525, who named it
anno Domini. Two centuries later, the
Anglo-Saxon historian
Bede used a
Latin term (
ante incarnationis dominicae tempus) that is roughly equivalent to the
English term
before Christ to identify years before the first year of this era.
The term "common era" is an alternative way of referring to this era. Using this nomenclature, human beings first
walked on the Moon in the year 1969
of the common era, and the
French Revolution is considered to have begun in year 1789
of the common era.
When used as a replacement for BC/AD notation, the common era is abbreviated as
CE and its years are numerically equivalent to
AD years. Similarly, the time before the common era is written as
BCE and is equivalent to
BC. Both Common Era abbreviations are written following the year, thus
Aristotle was born in 384 BCE (or 384 BC), and
Genghis Khan died in 1227 CE (or AD 1227). As with
anno Domini, the
year zero is not used, except for
astronomical uses. So 1 CE is immediately preceded by 1 BCE.
On (rare) occasions, one may find the abbreviation "
e.v." or "EV" instead of "CE";
[cite web | url = http://www.thelema101.com/calendar.html | title = The Thelemic Calendar | accessmonthday = September 9 | accessyear = 2006 | work = Thelema Home ] this stands for "Era Vulgaris", the Latin translation of "Common Era".
Gregorian versus Julian calendar
The terms
common era, anno Domini, before the common era, and
before Christ can be applied to dates that rely either on the
Julian calendar or the
Gregorian calendar. Modern dates are understood to be in the Gregorian calendar, but writers should specify the calendar for older dates. Dates in the Gregorian calendar have always used the common era, but a wide variety of eras have been used with the Julian calendar over the millennia.
Origins
The term "common era" has early antecedents. 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."
[cite web | url = http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03738a.htm | title = ]
General Chronology | accessmonthday = September 9 | accessyear = 2006 | work = Catholic "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, however, vulgar had come to mean "crudely indecent" and the Latin word was replaced by its English equivalent, "common".
Usage
Many Jewish, Islamic, Hindu, and other sources prefer the notation's neutrality, while some Christians have used the term CE to mean
Christian Era. Jehovah's Witnesses exclusively use CE and BCE in their publications, generally explaining in footnotes that the terms stand for "Common Era" and "Before the Common Era".
[For example: "In this publication, instead of the traditional “A.D.” and “B.C.,” the more accurate “C.E.” (Common Era) and “B.C.E.” (before the Common Era) are used." - The Bible—God’s Word or Man’s?, p. 16 footnote, published by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc.]Some non-religious academics in the fields of
history,
theology,
archaeology,
sociology and
anthropology have also in recent decades begun using this system.
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.
[cite web | url = http://www.smithsonianeducation.org/educators/field_trips/standards/world_history_standards.html | title = World History Standards | accessmonthday = September 9 | accessyear = 2006 | author = Smithsonian Institute | work = Smithsonian ] Furthermore, several style guides now prefer or mandate its usage.
[cite web | url = http://www.egyptstudy.org/Ostracon/OstraconGuidelines.html | title = ]
Submission Guidelines for The Ostracon | accessmonthday = September 9 | accessyear = 2006 | author = Egyptian Study ;cite web | url = http://chass.colostate-pueblo.edu/natrel/pom/pomstyle.html | title = http://chass.colostate-pueblo.edu/natrel/pom/pomstyle.html | accessmonthday = September 9 | accessyear = ;cite journal | title = Manuscript Submission Guidelines | journal = American Journal of Philology | url = ;cite journal | title = Manuscript Submission Guidelines | journal = Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha | url = ;cite web | url = http://www.yorku.ca/topia/docs/styleguide | title = Canadian Journal of Cultural Studies Style Guide | accessmonthday = September 9 | accessyear = 2006 | work = Canadian Journal of Cultural Studies | format = DOC | date = Even some style guides for Christian churches mandate its use: For example, the Maryland Church News.
[cite web | url = http://www.ang-md.org/mcn/style_guide.pdf | title = Maryland Church News Submission Guide & Style Manual | accessmonthday = September 9 | accessyear = 2006 | work = Maryland Church News | format = PDF | date = ]In the
United States, the usage of the BCE/CE notation in
textbooks is growing.
[Michael Gormley. (25 April 2005). "P.C. scholars take Christ out of B.C." Washington Times. Accessed at http://washingtontimes.com/national/20050425-122707-1314r.htm] It is used by the
College Board in its history tests,
[cite web | url = http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/ap/history_world/topic.html?worldhist | title = AP: World History | accessmonthday = September 9 | accessyear = ] as well as by some
National Geographic Society publications,
[cite web | url = http://google.nationalgeographic.com/search?site=default_collection&client=default_frontend&proxystylesheet=default_frontend&output=xml_no_dtd&oe=UTF-8&q=BCE&btnG=Go | title = National Geographic Search: BCE | accessmonthday = September 9 | accessyear = ] The
Norton Anthology of English Literature, and the
United States Naval Observatory.
[cite web | url = http://aa.usno.navy.mil/faq/docs/calendars.html | title = Introduction to Calendars | accessmonthday = September 9 | accessyear = 2006 | publisher = U. S. Naval Observatory Astronomical Applications Department | date = ] The U.S.-based
History Channel uses BCE/CE notation in articles on non-Christian religious topics such as
Jerusalem and Judaism[cite web | url = http://www.history.com/minisite.do?content_type=Minisite_Generic&content_type_id=50287&display_order=3&mini_id=1051 | title = Jerusalem Timeline | accessmonthday = September 9 | accessyear = 2006 | publisher = History ;cite web | url = http://www.history.com/minisite.do?content_type=Minisite_Generic&content_type_id=992&display_order=2&mini_id=1051 | title = Jerusalem: Biographies | accessmonthday = September 9 | accessyear = 2006 | publisher = History ] and the unusual combination of BC and CE in other cases.
[cite web | url = http://www.history.com/wt.do | title = History Channel Timeline | accessmonthday = September 9 | accessyear = 2006 | publisher = History Channel ]In June of 2006, the Kentucky State School Board reversed its decision that would have included the designations B.C.E. (Before the Common Era) and C.E. (Common Era) in referring to dates. The decision resulted in an explosion of protest that has gained national attention.
[cite web | url = http://www.tffky.org/articles/Press%20Releases/prs%2006-14-06%20MC.html| title = State School Board reverses itself on B.C./A.D. controversy| accessmonthday = October 4 | accessyear = 2006 | publisher = Family Foundation of ]Support and opposition to the use of CE/BCE over AD/BC
A range of arguments exist both for and against the use of CE and BCE over AD and BC.
Support
Supporters of common era notation promote it as a religiously-neutral notation suited for cross-cultural use.
Arguments given for standardizing common era notation include:
*The calendar used by the West has become a global standard—one built into every computer's hardware. It should be religiously and culturally neutral out of consideration for those cultures compelled to use it out of necessity.
[cite web | url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/brunel/A3176345 | title = The 'Common Era' - a Secular Term for Year Definition | accessmonthday = September 9 | accessyear = 2006 | publisher = BBC | date = ]*It has been largely used by academic and scientific communities
and is not a completely unfamiliar dating system.
*It is simple to change BC/AD to BCE/CE notation, since the years are numbered exactly the same 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).
*The label
Anno Domini is almost certainly inaccurate—the birth of Jesus of Nazareth probably occurred no later than 4 BC, the year of
Herod the Great's death.
* Anno Domini (which means, literally, "in the year of the Lord") works well with specific dates, eg AD 655. But its use with centuries, (and other time-units such as decades and millennia) presents grammatical difficulties: AD 7th Century would mean, literally, "In the year of the Lord, 7th Century" – a syntactical error. The CE notation avoids this problem.
* "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."
[cite web | url = http://www.religioustolerance.org/ce.htm | title = Controversy Over Use of "CE" and "BCE" to identify dates in history| accessmonthday = October 4 | accessyear = 2006 | publisher = ] 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."
Opposition
Efforts to replace AD/BC notation with CE/BCE notation have given rise to opposition. Arguments against the common era designation include:
*BC and AD have been used for such a length of time as to have become somewhat removed from their religious connotations.
*The newer BCE/CE system has not been used widely enough to have become commonly understood.
*Both BCE and CE contain the two letters "CE". This presents a confusing similarity between them and makes it more difficult to distinguish one from the other.
*Some argue against the BCE/CE system because it retains year 1 as its epoch and so preserves a Christocentric worldview. These people hold that a more massive change in the calendar is needed, one that would change every date.
*BCE/CE fails to fix one of the primary problems with the Christian calendar, the lack of a year zero. Critics find that this makes calculations unnecessarily difficult.
*As there is no equally forceful trend to remove other terms with origins in non-Christian religions (such as those days of the week which in English are named after Norse gods), many argue that movement to replace BC and AD is specifically anti-Christian.
Other calendar eras
main|Calendar
Several systems of calculating the year have existed:
*The Hindu calendar constitutes four eras and the epoch of the present (fourth) era, the Kali Yuga, is January 23 3102 BCE on the proleptic (i.e., back-dated) Gregorian calendar, making the current year (2006) 5108.
*The Hebrew calendar dates from the traditional Jewish date of Creation (according to which the year beginning in the northern autumn of 2000 was 5761 AM);
*Most Chinese do not assign numbers to the years of the Chinese calendar, but the few that do (expatriate Chinese and Westerners) date from the Yellow Emperor (three different systems are in use, which caused the Chinese years 4637, 4697, or 4698 to begin in early 2000).
*The Taiwanese calendar dates from the founding of the Republic of China in 1911.
*The Buddhist calendar dates from the passing away of the Buddha (making 2000, 2543 under this calendar, currently used in Thailand);
*The Indian national calendar (also the Saka calendar) is the official civil calendar in use in India. Years are counted in the Saka Era, which starts its year 0 in 78. 2006 is therefore 1928 in India.
*The Islamic calendar dates from the Hijra in 622 using a lunar year of about 354 days (so the Western year 2000 contains parts of 1420 AH and 1421 AH);
*The Bahá'í calendar dates from the year of the declaration of the Báb. Years are counted in the Bahá'í Era (BE), which starts its year 1 from March 21, 1844.
*The Japanese calendar dates from the succession of the current Emperor of Japan. The current emperor took the throne in 1989, which became Heisei 1, but which was until then Shōwa 64.
*The Jalaali calendar, a form of the Zoroastrian calendar, is used in Iran. This uses the Zoroastrian months, with the starting year taken from the Hijra in 622—thus the year 1385 begins in March 2006. The spring equinox marks the beginning of the year for this calendar.
*The French Revolutionary Calendar was used in Revolutionary France from October 24, 1793 (on the Gregorian calendar) to January 1, 1806. Years were counted using the Republican era from September 22 1792 starting with year I.
*The Neo-Pagan Calendars include that used by many pagan religions today, often called the Wheel of the
*The Roman Calendar, which is virtually extinct, dated years from the mythological founding of Rome, 21 April, 753 BC. The first year was thus 1 AUC (ab urbe condita or anno urbis conditae; "from the city being founded", or "in the year of the foundation of the city"). Reckoning days by this calendar is complex and no longer in use, but the calendar continues on today as 2759 AUC in 2006.
*The Discordian calendar follows the CE numbering plus 1166, presumably because of the Curse of Greyface that occurred in 1166 BCE. As a reference, is YOLD (Year of Our Lady of Discord) in the Discordian calendar.
*The Julian day number can be considered a very simple calendar, where its calendar date is just an integer. This is useful for reference, computations, and conversions. The Julian day system was introduced by astronomers to provide a single system of dates that could be used when working with different calendars and to unify different historical chronologies. Apart from the choice of the zero point and name, this Julian day and Julian date are not related to the Julian calendar. The Julian day or Julian day number (JDN) is the (integer) number of days that have elapsed since noon Greenwich Mean Time (UT or TT) Monday, January 1, 4713 BC in the proleptic Julian calendar. This equals November 24, 4714 BC in the proleptic Gregorian calendar. That noon-to-noon day is counted as Julian day zero. Thus the multiples of 7 are Mondays. Negative values can also be used. It does not count years, so strictly speaking it has no era, but it does have an epoch. Today (noon-to-noon UTC) the value is -0.5) round .
See also
*Calendar reform
References
External links
*http://www.religioustolerance.org/ce.htm The use of "CE" and "BCE" to identify dates (Religious Tolerance.org)
*http://www.ucc.org/ucnews/jan03/asiseeit.htm Whatever happened to B.C. and A.D., and why? (United Church of Christ)
*http://www.sino-platonic.org/abstracts/spp111_bc_ad.html Victor Mair: The need for a new era
*http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/SEhelp/dates.html NASA: Year dating conventions
*http://washingtontimes.com/national/20050425-122707-1314r.htm Associated Press: P.C. scholars take Christ out of B.C.
*http://www.bartleby.com/68/20/120.html The Columbia Guide to Standard American English (1993): A.D., B.C., (A.)C.E., B.C.E.
Category:Calendars
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