Christians claim this corroborates the Gospels; opponents say it has nothing to do with the events described during the Passion and only perpetuates a false conclusion. In Wadi Zeelim, located above the southwestern shore of the modern Dead Sea exists an outcrop of laminated Dead Sea sediment. . He dabbed the sweat from his pallid face and intoned Are you at peace with God? Another issue to notice in Jerome's quote above is regarding an earthquake that took place at the same time as the mysterious darkening of the sky. The speaker continued The 53rd chapter of Isaiah, written over 700 years before the birth of Christ, describes the most important aspect of the ministry of Jesus Christ!! For example, the first year of Olympiad 140 began in the summer of 220 BC and lasted until the middle of . There are also complicated issues about various calendar systems in use at the time of Christ that create confusion. March 25, 2018: With the arrival of Holy Week, I am reposting this article on the historicity of the Crucifixion darkness, originally posted April 13, 2017. These historians attempt to interpret the darkness as a direct effect of a solar eclipse which we know is scientifically not possible - but they wouldn't have known that in their time. He made a famous statement to explain how days were counted for certain ceremonial purposes. Though it is almost impossible to deny that this strange event truly happened, on the same day our Lord died on the Cross, I strived for years to find a natural astronomical explanation about it but in vain. I will also point out that the Roman historian Thallius also recorded these events. The madness of the skeptic is such that they would have us believe sources which are silent, over those which speak. Therefore, it is possible Phlegons source witnessed the Crucifixion darkness from there at the same hoursuggesting the darkness and earthquakes reached far beyond the region around Jerusalem. Rome had a Jewish community, and it is probable that word of the darkness would have reached and been known within it. In reply. Thus the New Moon is not visible. There are writings from Roman, Jewish, and Christian writers all known as good historians who mention Jesus Christ in some way, often as they write about Christians. 4th year: Begins 32-06-27/28: Hekatombaion 29 Metageitnion 30 Boedromion 30 Puanepsion 29 Maimakterion 30 Poseideon 29 Poseideon-2 30 Gamelion 29 . Clearly, Peter and his hearers had seen the sun darken. There too, nobody could give a plausible explanation. Sixty thousands people could witness with awe the sun dancing in the sky. In Rome,Peter spokeas he had to the Jews of Jerusalem (cf Acts 2:14-24)to an audience that hadpriorknowledge of the three hour darkness. April 3 would be the Julian Calendar date; the same day on today's Gregorian calendar is April 1, 33 A.D. Julian dates are usually used by historians and Bible scholars for events in this time in history. With this principle in mind, let us now consider the evidence. Therefore this is how Jesus could have been crucified on Friday and rise from the dead on Sunday, as Christian tradition and Biblical information have always said. With these things in mind, I would like to provide some thoughts on the historicity of one particular event that is said to have occurred on the afternoon Our Lord was crucified. The written testimony from outside the Bible confirms some of the main events, people, and places mentioned in the New Testament. We will analyze from two perspectives: one that asserts both Phlegons writing to be uncompromised and authentic, and one that assumes Phlegon has been compromised and is unauthentic. The evidence for Christ's resurrection is also historical evidence of a miracle. To God nothing is impossible. Last Olympiad: Next Olympiad: 1st year: Begins 29-07-01/02: Hekatombaion 29 Metageitnion 29 Boedromion 30 Puanepsion 29 Maimakterion 30 Poseideon . Ancient writers sometimes describe their Olympiads as lasting five years but do so by counting inclusively; in fact each comprised a four year period. He wrote extensively about natural phenomena earthquakes and such. The darkening of the sky I suspect was just a pure miracle, not caused by any natural phenomena. No one has ever met a literary device walking down the street or stubbed their toe on one, thus we should not expect that any early Christian would have suffered martyrdom for one. . I wonder too, hypothetically, what might a natural cause include. The earthquake on the other hand was a natural process miraculously timed to occur at the crucifixion. Ye men of Israel, hear these words:Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you, by miracles, and wonders, and signs, which God did by him, in the midst of you,as you also know: This same being delivered up, by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, you by the hands of wicked men have crucified and slain. Phlegon Darkness occurred when Christ was crucified, an eclipse of the sun cannot occur during a full moon since the moon would be on the opposite side of the earth. by Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1973), vol. By the time he wrote hisNatural History(73 A.D.), the Christians had already been claiming for the prior forty years that the Crucifixion darkness was a sign worked by their God. However, the sixth hour in Bithynia is also at the same time as the sixth hour in Jerusalem. Thus geological data seem to confirm the 33 AD date. The astronomical science tells us there was no solar eclipse over Bithynia in that year. [1] There are two books credited to his name:Chronicles and the Olympiads. On Marvels consists of "anecdotes culled from sources as diverse as the Greek poet Hesiod and the Roman natural historian Pliny the Elder. The 202nd Olympiad has been calculated to run from July AD 29 to June AD 33. If his ministry was for 3 years, then he was crucified aged 36, and the darkness and earthquake would have occurred in that year of 36CE. This does not necessarily coincide with the Crucifixion darkness, and it doesnt have to. I will not go through all the information in Colin Humphrey's book but I will try to summarize the evidence as I see it. However, unlike the New Testament, of which there are 25,366 early copies, many of these ancient writer's manuscripts are fragmented. The Cancellation Of The Curse Of Death, And The Free Gift Of Eternal Life, The Cancellation Of The Curse Of Sickness, And The Availability Of Supernatural Health, The Cancellation Of The Curse Of Poverty, And The Availability Of Gods Supernatural Abundance, Victory Over Satan Won At The Crucifixion, Accreditation, Acknowledgements and Legal notices for Crucifixion, Contact Dr Richard Kent and Recommendation. Since Marks written gospel contains an account of the Crucifixion darkness, it follows that Peter included this event in his oral preaching. So, these historical extrabiblical sources are also consistent with the AD 33 date. If the above quotes about the crucifixion sky darkening and the earthquake are correct and actually correspond to the crucifixion, then we have historical evidence for miracles at the crucifixion. In ancient Greece the Olympic Games were held in the July of the first year of each Olympiad, which was a 4 year period running from July to June of each succeeding year. Some of the students had come just to harass the speakers. In telling the story of the guards, Matthew takes into account what his Jewish audience would already knowi.e., there was aclaimbeing spread abroad that the body of Jesus had been stolenand then he proceeded to provide facts to explain the true origin of that lie. The time from Friday 3 PM to sunset was counted as one day. It even mentions buildings collapsing in Nicea, which would be over 1,000 miles Northwest from Jerusalem by land. 4th year of the 202nd Olympiad. Then you can go through a process of elimination to to rule out all these years except AD 33. . Origen, Against Celsus, Book 2.33, Phlegon mentioned the eclipse which took place during the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ, and no other (eclipse); it is clear that he did not know from his sources about any (similar) eclipse in previous times . From the work of Phlegon we can work out the date of the Crucifixion. He quotes Phlegon as stating it was the 4th year of the 202nd Olympiad, conflicting with Africanus who quotes Phlegon as stating it was the 2nd year; He asserts this occurred at the Passover both in the 18th year of Tiberius (spring 32AD) and in Olympiad 202.4 (spring 33AD); Copyright Like The Master Ministries. Thankfully we have a more detailed fragment from Phlegon's Olympiades: We know from the Bible that on the day of Crucifixion the Sun was darkened for three hours, and there was a great earthquake. Using the above information we can work out that the period of darkness occurred in 33 AD. Your email address will not be published. It also gives a link to download Lightfoot's entire New Testament commentaries in four volumes as free PDF files. Nisan was the month the Passover was celebrated, a very important time for the Jews commemorating their deliverance out of slavery in Egypt. Each year of an Olympiad began on 1st July. TheActs of the Apostlesrecords the very first public preaching of Peter and the Apostles, which took place less than eight weeks after the Crucifixion. Here, the skeptics case isseeminglymore plausible on first glance. Within each olympiad, time was reckoned by referring to its 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th year. 2004. The 4th year of the 202nd Olympiad is from July 32 to June 33 CE, which confirms the date of 3 April 33 CE. Another historian, Philipon (with Origen), confirms the historicity of Phlegon's statement by writing, "And about this darkness - Phlegon recalls it in the OlympiadsPhlegon mentioned the eclipse which took place during the crucifixion of the Lord Christ, and no other (eclipse), it is clear that he did not know from his sources about any (similar) eclipse in previous times and this is shown by the historical account of Tiberius Caesar.". According to NASA, there WAS an actual solar eclipse in the fourth year of the 202nd Olympiad: http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/5MCSEmap/0001-0100/33-09-12.gif. From Friday evening at sunset to Saturday evening at sunset was an entire 24 hour day cycle, so it also counted as a day and a night. The question is: should we accept the historicity of this Crucifixion darkness? sfnp error: no target: CITEREFRobertsDonaldsonCoxe1896 (, Learn how and when to remove this template message, https://www.tertullian.org/fathers/jerome_chronicle_03_part2.htm, http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEsearch/SEsearchmap.php?Ecl=00291124, Fragments of Phlegon on the passion phenomena, William Smith, "Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology" (1870) v. 3, page 336, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Phlegon_of_Tralles&oldid=1125623921, Articles needing additional references from April 2019, All articles needing additional references, Articles containing Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text, Articles with unsourced statements from October 2022, Wikipedia articles needing clarification from May 2013, Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica with Wikisource reference, Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the 1911 Encyclopdia Britannica, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 5 December 2022, at 00:29. Also, word of it would have spread from Jerusalem to Jewish communities in Rome and throughout the empire. We can therefore calculate with great accuracy that the three hour period of darkness, and also the Crucifixion, had to be in the Spring of A.D. 33. Tertullian, Apologeticus, Chapter 21, 19, Christian Evidence was created to enable Christians to defend their faith, and to open their eyes up to the overwhelming evidence for Christianity. They were not myths or literary devicesas skeptics or modernist biblical scholars might now suggest. From the direct quote above, it is clear Phlegons source is an observer in Bithynia (in modern day Turkey), which is well over 500 miles away from Jerusalem. Even with the loss of the original writing, if the transposition of the original to the copy were to be altered, there would be significant doubt as to when the event occurred, or if, it even occurred. If your sunset occurs later than sunset in Athens, the event may occur on . Other works ascribed to Phlegon in the Suda are a description of Sicily, a work on the Roman festivals in three books, and a topography of Rome: Origen of Alexandria (182-254 AD), in Against Celsus (Book II, Chap. (The Olympics began in 776 B.C., and by counting every fourth year you come to the 202 nd Olympiad, and the fourth year of same is 33 A.D.) Most Between 3 PM and sunset the Jews had to prepare the body and get it into the tomb, because the Sabbath started Friday evening around sunset. This sediment outcrop is a distinctive one-foot thick mixed layer of sediment that is tied strongly to the Qumran earthquakes onshore ground ruptures of 31 B.C. The San Andreas fault is 800 miles long, running along the California coast; Israel and Turkey sit onyou guess ita major fault line! The Resignation of Pope Benedict XVI: Now available through other book sellers, Roma Locuta Est Considers: Benepapism and the Munus vs. Ministerium (EpisodeII), Roma Locuta Est Considers: Introduction to Benepapism (Episode I). To recap, according to Eusebius' Chronicon tables, the 2nd year of the 202nd Olympiad is equated alongside the 16th year of Tiberius. This darkness Thallus, in the third book of his History, calls, as appears to me without reason, an eclipse of the sun. These events of that day, and others surrounding them, such as the Crucifixion darkness described in the gospels, were real. The Olympiades can be used as a useful means of establishing a time-line. Astronomical calculation will help with this, but we first need to answer the day of the week question. "However in the fourth year of the 202nd olympiad, an eclipse of the sun happened, greater and more excellent than any that had happened before it; at the sixth hour, day turned into dark night, so that the stars were seen in the sky, and an earthquake in Bithynia toppled many buildings of the city of Nicaea." Picking on Pliny AD 33 is a generally accepted year of His crucifixion. One of the geological sources is from a British scientific conference in 1853 and the other is from 1985, from a geological conference in Japan. (Sextus Julius Africanus,Fragment 18. For these are not drunk, as you suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day: But this is that which was spoken of by the prophet Joel: And it shall come to pass, in the last days, (saith the Lord,) I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. The fourth year of the 202nd Olympiad was in 33 A.D.!!! Why would the Apostles allude to a darkness their hearers and readersknewdid not happen? This is what Colin Humphrey's does well in his book, considering a variety of types of information. The darkness during the crucifixion. Though historical data may be sketchy on some issues sometimes, regarding Christ's crucifixion, the evidence we have confirming the New Testament is I think very persuasive. Change). The maximum duration for a total solar eclipse is seven minutes, not three hours, and at the latitude of Jerusalem the maximum duration is even less. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and manifest day of the Lord come. And calculation makes out that the period of 70 weeks, as noted in Daniel, is completed at this time." Z's Blog - What Does The Prayer Really Say. So, it is possible, if not probable, that Jesus was born on 31st March, 4BCE certainly in that March anyhow. The Date by Deduction The placement in time within the text is just too precise. There was a great earthquake in Bithynia, and many things were overturned in Nicaea.' Annular (ring) eclipse. Pliny then proceeds and gives only two examples. Or has it been changed and contaminated by ambitious Christian defenders? In the verses above, Peter cites a scripture which speaks of various signs which God did by Him, inclusive of thesun being darkenedand the moon turning red. AD 33 is too early for his crucifixion, surely. 3) the 4th year of the 202nd Olympiad; being commonly associated with the March 19, 33 CE solar eclipse. First, there are differences between the synoptic gospels in the New Testament and the gospel of John that have puzzled Bible scholars. In the Jewish calendar, the first month of a new year was called Nisan. This Is A Perfect Picture Of The Gospel, The Crown Of Thorns, And The Mocking Of Jesus, The Wound Between The 5th And 6th Right Ribs, The Fulfilment Of Prophecy Concerning The Unbroken Bones, The Anatomical And Physiological Details Of Death By Crucifixion, The Rejection Experienced By Jesus On The Cross, The Discovery By Ron Wyatt In 1982 Of The Ark Of The Covenant, A Brief Overview Of The New Covenant In The Blood Of The Messiah, And The Biblical Support For The Blood On The Mercy Seat. It would be interesting to model the varying sizes, speeds, and distances required from the earth to account for the period of darkness on that hypothesis. Pliny tells us from the outset that unusually long eclipses areportentous. As a Roman noble, it is not remarkable that Pliny selected two examples which were portentous with respect to the history of Rome, i.e., the eclipses at the times of Caesars death and the war against Antony. . College Press Publishing Co. Joplin, Missouri. 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