CHRONOLOGY

The first day of our common era Anno Domini (AD) is the eighth day.

Alden Mosshammer writes:

"If Dionysius Exiguus meant to number the years from the birth of Christ, rather than the conception, then it is more likely that he considered that event to have occurred on 25 December, seven days before the start of the year that we call AD 1. The consensus of most modern scholars favours that interpretation." (Text)

According to the consensus of most modern scholars, Christ was born in the time Before Christ (BC).

The time BC lasts until the beginning of the first day of our common era Anno Domini and according to the consensus of most modern scholars, Christ was born on the seventh day before the beginning of the first day of our common era Anno Domini.

Christ was circumcised on the eighth day (Lk 1:59).

According to the consensus of most modern scholars, Christ was circumcised on the first day of our common era Anno Domini.

The incarnation of Logos

Jesus Christ came as the incarnation of Logos.

The Gospel of John says:

"And Logos became flesh and took up residence among us." (Jn 1:14)

The incarnation of Logos lasted from the conception of Christ to the ascension of Christ.

It is in no way certain that the birth of Christ actually took place in the year immediately before the year AD 1. The year immediately before the year AD 1 is just the year Dionysius Exiguus has established as the year of both the conception of Christ and the birth of Christ.

ISO 8601

Year 0 (the year immediately before the year AD 1) is not a part of our common era Anno Domini, but year 0 is a part of the Gregorian proleptic calendar ISO 8601.

We can drop AD and instead use the Gregorian proleptic calendar ISO 8601.

We can drop our focus on the eight days between the birth of Christ and the circumcision of Christ and instead count days and years both before and after the beginning of year 0.

Days

Christ was crucified during the feast of Passover on a Friday and he rose from the dead on the third day.

These three paschal days (from the beginning of the day Christ was crucified to the end of the day he rose from the dead) are called Triduum Paschale.

The events during Triduum Paschale took place on three unique days in an infinite series of weekdays.

The infinite series of weekdays begins with either day 1 or day 0.

Ancient time

In ancient time, the infinite series of weekdays begins with day 1. The series of weekdays is infinite after the beginning of day 1.

Modern time

In modern time, the infinite series of weekdays begins with day 0. The series of weekdays is infinite both before and after the beginning of day 0.

Hours

An hour is a part of the day. The length of an hour is either variable or fixed.

Ancient time

In ancient time, the day has 12 hours from sunrise to sunset and the night has 12 hours from sunset to sunrise.

The first hour after sunrise is the first hour of the day and the first hour after sunset is the first hour of the night. It is midday at the sixth hour of the day and midnight at the sixth hour of the night.

Because of the changing seasons, the length of an hour is variable:

Modern time

In modern time, the day has 24 hours and the length of an hour is fixed 3600 SI seconds.

Sunday

"Throughout history there have been different choices for beginning the day. The ancient Egyptians began the day at dawn, but the Babylonians and Jews chose sunset. The ancient Romans switched to midnight after first using sunrise to mark the day’s beginning. Sunrise was the most common choice in Western Europe before the general use of clock time." (Text)

In the Gospels, the events during Triduum Paschale are described as a sequence of events. The chronology in the sequence of events during Triduum Paschale depends on whether the day begins at sunrise, at sunset, or at midnight.

From sunrise to sunrise

The figure shows the chronology in the sequence of events during Triduum Paschale, if the day begins at sunrise. To the left are the changing times of the day and at the top are the changing days of the week.

From sunset to sunset

The figure shows the chronology in the sequence of events during Triduum Paschale, if the day begins at sunset. To the left are the changing times of the day and at the top are the changing days of the lunar month. The day from sunrise to sunrise is written in parentheses.

Between the day from sunrise to sunrise and the day from sunset to sunset, the following differences are obvious:

• The last supper and the crucifixion took place on two different days (Thursday and Friday), if the day begins at sunrise, but on the same day (Luna 14), if the day begins at sunset.
• The resurrection and Jn 20:19-23 took place on the same day (Sunday), if the day begins at sunrise, but on two different days (Luna 16 and Luna 17), if the day begins at sunset.

Was the last supper a meal during or before the feast of Passover?

• The three synoptic gospels say that the last supper was a meal during the feast of Passover (Mt 26:17, Mk 14:12, Lk 22:7).
• The Gospel of John says that the last supper was a meal before the feast of Passover (Jn 13:1).

Alden Mosshammer writes:

"Since the lamb was slain on the 14th day before evening and the Passover meal was eaten in the evening of that day, Mark’s account implies that the crucifixion took place on the 15th day of the month. ... John’s account implies that the crucifixion took place on the fourteenth day of the month just before a Passover meal would have been taken in the evening. ... If Pilate had tried and executed Jesus on the 15th day of Nisan, he would have been profaning a Jewish holy day of rest. For this and other reasons, many modern scholars prefer the Johannine account." (Text)

Jack Finegan writes:

"In the Fourth Gospel, on the other hand, we saw that the day must have been reckoned from the preceding midnight, according to what Pliny tells us was official Roman usage." (Text)

In particular two passages in the Gospel of John indicate that according to the Gospel of John, the day begins at midnight:

1)

Mary came to the tomb on "the first day" (Sunday) "while it was still dark" (Jn 20:1). "Dark" means before sunrise. Therefore, the day began not at sunrise, because then it would still be Saturday and not yet Sunday, when Mary came to the tomb "while it was still dark".

Jesus came to the disciples "when it was evening on that day, the first day" (Jn 20:19). "Evening" means after sunset. Therefore, the day began neither at sunset, because after sunset it was still "on that day" (Sunday).

According to the Gospel of John, the day began neither at sunrise nor at sunset. This indicates that according to the Gospel of John, the day begins at midnight.

2)

The Bible says:

"On the first day, on the fourteenth day of the month, in the evening, you will eat unleavened bread until the evening of the twenty-first day of the month. For seven days leaven must not be found in your houses." (Ex 12:18-19)

The Bible says seven days without leaven, from the fourteenth to the twenty-first, but if both the fourteenth and the twenty-first are included, there are eight and not seven days from the fourteenth to the twenty-first (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21). Therefore, the Bible distinguishes between the day of preparation (14) and the seven days without leaven (15-21).

The feast of Passover (the day of preparation plus the seven days without leaven) lasted eight days (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21).

From midnight to midnight

The figure shows the chronology in the sequence of events during Triduum Paschale, if the day begins at midnight. To the left are the changing times of the day and at the top are the changing days of both the week and the lunar month.

Triduum Paschale began at midnight between Thursday and Friday. The feast of Passover lasted eight days from midnight between Luna 13 and Luna 14, to midnight between Luna 21 and Luna 22. The last supper took place Thursday evening on Luna 13 and was therefore a meal before the feast of Passover (Jn 13:1). This also indicates that according to the Gospel of John, the day begins at midnight.

That the last supper took place Thursday evening on Luna 13 is in accordance with the Greek version of Chronicon Paschale, which says:

"Our Saviour was betrayed on the thirteenth, the fifth day of the week, on the fourteenth was crucified, and arose on the third day, that is on the sixteenth of the moon, which was the Lords day." (Text)

Weekend

The duration of a week is seven days.

• The Weekend is not only a weekly reminder of the Sabbath.
• The Weekend is a weekly reminder of the three paschal days (triduum paschale) from the beginning of the day Christ was crucified to the end of the day he rose from the dead.

The Bible says:

Remember to keep holy the seventh day.

• Sunday is the first day and Saturday is the seventh day after the Sabbath (post sabbatum).
• Monday is the first day and Sunday is the seventh day after the Weekend (post dominicam).

As a weekly reminder of the three paschal days, the Weekend is midnight between Sunday and Monday and is both the end of the week and the beginning of the week.

Remember the three paschal days, to keep holy the day of the Lord (dies Domini).

Julian day

The Julian day is a continuous count of days and fractions of days before and after the beginning of the current Julian period.

Alden Mosshammer writes:

"Joseph Scaliger established the foundations of modern scientific historical chronology with the publication in 1583 of his Opus de emendatione temporum." (Text)

In his Opus de emendatione temporum, Scaliger calculated a period of 7980 Julian years. 7980 is the result of 15 x 19 x 28. About this calculation Scaliger writes:

"To avoid any cumulative error due to the long series and interconnection of the epochs, I have devised a period which contains both cycles and the indictions. I shall call this the Julian Period. For to obtain it I multiplied the great 532-year period of Dionysius [Exiguus] by 15. 15 x 532 = 7980." (Text)

532 [0]

Dionysius Exiguus established the foundations of our common era Anno Domini with the publication in 525 of his paschal table.

Dionysius Exiguus writes:

"Since Saint Cyril began his first cycle from the 153rd year of Diocletian and ended his last at the 247th, we have begun from the 248th year of that same ruler - more a tyrant than a prince. But we did not want to perpetuate the memory of that impious persecutor in our cycles, so we have chosen rather to number the years from the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ." (Text)

In his paschal table, Dionysius Exiguus chose the beginning year 532. He could have chosen 533, but he chose 532.

The 532-year period beginning in 532 is the 532-year period from 532 to 1063 (both years included). Bede writes:

"It takes its beginning from the 532nd year of the Lord’s Incarnation, where Dionysius began his first cycle, and extends up to the year 1063 of this most holy Incarnation." (Text)

The 532-year period immediately before the 532-year period from 532 to 1063 is the 532-year period from 0 to 531 (both years included).

Year 0 is not a part of Scaliger's calculation. In Scaliger's calculation of the current Julian period, the 532-year period immediately before the 532-year period from 532 to 1063 is the 532-year period from 1 BC to 531 AD (both years included).

Indiction [15]

The cycle of indictions is a cycle of 15 Julian years.

In Scaliger's calculation of the current Julian period, and in the Dionysian paschal table, the number was 10 in 532 AD.

Lunar [19]

The lunar cycle is a cycle of 19 Julian years.

In Scaliger's calculation of the current Julian period, and in the Dionysian paschal table, the epact was 0 and the number 1 in 532 AD.

Alden Mosshammer writes:

"The frequent complaint that Dionysius Exiguus was unfamiliar with the concept of zero has no basis in the facts. The paschal table of Dionysius begins with a new moon on the day of its conjunction with the sun. In some tables, such a new moon was designated as the 30th day of the Lunar cycle. Dionysius, however, counts it as zero (nulla)." (Text)

Solar [28]

The solar cycle is a cycle of 28 Julian years.

In the solar cycle, the red numbers are leap years (366 days), and the black numbers are ordinary years (365 days). The letters above the numbers are the Sunday letters. A leap year has a double Sunday letter and an ordinary year has a single Sunday letter.

The Sunday letter shows the date of the first Sunday of the year.

Every day of the year has one of the seven lowercase letters in the repeating sequence; a, b, c, d, e, f, g. The first day of the year (01/01) always has the lowercase letter a.

In the solar cycle, the Sunday letter A shows that the date of the first Sunday of the year is 01/01. The Sunday letter G shows that the date of the first Sunday of the year is 07/01.

The leap day every fourth year is always in February. In an ordinary year, all Sundays have the same letter as the Sunday letter, but in a leap year, all Sundays before the leap day have the first of the two letters in the double Sunday letter and all Sundays after the leap day have the second of the two letters in the double Sunday letter.

The year immediately before the year AD 1 was a leap year and the first Sunday of the year was 04/01. Therefore, the year immediately before the year AD 1 had the double Sunday letter DC. Remarkably, Scaliger writes:

"The year in which the birth of Christ is commonly held to have fallen had the double Sunday letter DC and was therefore 9 in the Roman solar cycle." (Text)

In Scaliger's calculation of the current Julian period, a 532-year period begins neither in the year immediately before the year AD 1, nor in 532, because Scaliger does not use the solar cycle of the Dionysian paschal table. Scaliger uses "the Roman solar cycle".

"It should hence be known that the letter G is not, nor can it be, the Sunday letter in March, except in the 6th or 12th or 17th or 23rd year of the solar cycle." (Text)

In the quote from 1294, Robert of Leicester describes "the Roman solar cycle", which Scaliger uses and which is shown above.

The Julian period

The current Julian period

Chronological epoch

"The first year of the current Julian period, or that of which the number in each of the three subordinate cycles is 1, was the year 4713 B.C., and the noon of the 1st of January of that year, is the chronological epoch." (Text)

Julian day 0

"The number assigned to a day in this continuous count is the Julian Day Number which is defined to be 0 for the day starting at Greenwich mean noon on 1 January 4713 BC, Julian proleptic calendar." (Text)

A proleptic calendar is a calendar that is applied to days both before and after the introduction of the calendar.

ISO 8601

ISO 8601 is an international standard for representation and interchange of date and time.

Date is written in the format: yyyy-mm-dd.

Time is written in the format: hh:mm:ss.

Date and time combined are separated by T: yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss.

ISO 8601:2019 says:

"This document uses the Gregorian calendar for the identification of calendar days (4.2.1). This document allows the identification of calendar years by their year number for years both before and after the introduction of the Gregorian calendar (4.2.1)." (Text)

"Each Gregorian calendar year can be identified by a 4-digit ordinal number beginning with ‘0000’ for year zero (4.3.2)." (Text)

October 1582

The red lines show the introduction of the Gregorian calendar.

At the introduction of the Gregorian calendar, the Gregorian calendar jumps from the fourth of October in the Julian calendar to the fifteenth of October in the Gregorian calendar.

The Gregorian proleptic calendar ISO 8601 applies the leap year rules of the Gregorian calendar in the time both before and after the introduction of the Gregorian calendar.

• In the time after the introduction of the Gregorian calendar, there is no difference between the calendar dates in the Gregorian calendar and the calendar dates in the Gregorian proleptic calendar ISO 8601.
• In the time before the introduction of the Gregorian calendar, there is almost always difference between the calendar dates in the Julian calendar and the calendar dates in the Gregorian proleptic calendar ISO 8601.

Only in the period between 0200-03-01 and 0300-02-28 (both days included) there is no difference between the calendar dates in the Julian calendar and the calendar dates in the Gregorian proleptic calendar ISO 8601.

Year 0

Year 0 (0000) is a part of the Gregorian proleptic calendar ISO 8601, but not a part of our common era Anno Domini.

Dies Domini

Dies Domini is a possible supplement to the Gregorian proleptic calendar ISO 8601.

As supplement to the Gregorian proleptic calendar ISO 8601, Dies Domini is a continuous count of weekdays and fractions of weekdays before and after the chronological epoch 0.0.

The chronological epoch 0.0 is the same date and time as 0000-01-01T00:00:00.

Dies Domini 0 is the same Saturday as 0000-01-01.

Date

Date and time

New Year

The annual celebration of New Year can be seen as an eight-day festivity (NEW YEAR), where both the first day of the festivity (12-25) and the last day of the festivity (01-01) is a holy day.

12-25

12-25 is X-day (*) for the incarnation of Logos. (*CHRISTOS-day: The first letter in the word X-day is the Greek letter X/CH, which is the first letter in the Greek word ΧΡΙΣΤΌΣ/CHRISTOS). The incarnation of Logos lasted from the conception of Christ to the ascension of Christ. The events during Triduum Paschale took place during the incarnation of Logos.

"And Logos became flesh and took up residence among us, and we saw his glory, glory as of the one and only from the Father, full of grace and truth. John testified about him and cried out, saying, “This one was he about whom I said: The one who comes after me is ahead of me, because he existed before me.” For from his fullness we have all received, and grace after grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came about through Jesus Christ." (Jn 1:14-17)

01-01

01-01 is New Year's Day and anniversary of the epoch day 0000-01-01.

01-01 begins midnight (00:00:00) between 12-31 and 01-01.

A new millennium begins 00:00:00 between y999-12-31 and y000-01-01.