B.C., A.D...Definition...What do they mean?

B.C., B.C.E., C.E., A.D...Definition...What do they mean?

Anno Domini (abbreviated as AD or A.D., sometimes found in the form Anno Domine) and Before Christ (abbreviated as BC or B.C.) are designations used to label or number years in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. The AD or the Christian calendar era is based on the traditionally reckoned year of the conception or birth of Jesus of Nazareth, with ADepoch, and BC denoting years before the start of the epoch. There is no year zero in this scheme, so the year AD 1 immediately follows the year 1 BC. This dating system was devised in 525, but was not widely used until after 800,^[1] and even after that, other systems were still widely used throughout Europe. counting years after the start of this

The Gregorian calendar is the most widely used calendar in the world today. For decades, it has been the unofficial global standard, recognized by international institutions such as the United Nations and the Universal Postal Union. Though the Western calendars spread around the world over the past four centuries as a result of western power, in modern times the Gregorian calendar and AD year numbering has been adopted by many non-Western countries with no Christian heritage. It has been adopted for pragmatic interests of international communication, transportation and commercial integration.^[2] It has also become a basis of scholarly dating.

The term Anno Domini is Medieval Latin, translated as In the year of (the/Our) Lord.^[3][4]:782 It is sometimes specified more fully as Anno Domini Nostri Iesu (Jesu) Christi ("In the Year of Our Lord Jesus Christ"). Because BC is the English abbreviation for Before Christ, it is sometimes incorrectly concluded that AD means After Death,^[5] i.e., after the death of Jesus. If that were true, the thirty-three or so years of his life would not be in any era.^[6][7]

Traditionally, English has copied Latin usage by placing the abbreviation before the year number for AD.^[8] Since BC is not derived from Latin it is placed after the year number (for example: 68 BC, but AD 2011). However, placing the AD after the year number (as in "2011 AD") is also becoming common usage. The abbreviation is also widely used after the number of a century or millennium, as in "fourth century AD" or "second millennium AD" (although conservative usage formerly rejected such expressions).

Common Era

Main article: Common Era

Anno Domini is sometimes referred to as the Common Era, Christian Era, or Current Era (abbreviated as C.E. or CE). CE is often preferred by those who desire a term not explicitly related to Christian conceptions of time.^[27][28] For example, Cunningham and Starr (1998) write that "B.C.E./C.E. …do not presuppose faith in Christ and hence are more appropriate for interfaith dialog than the conventional B.C./A.D." Upon its foundation, the Republic of China adopted the Western calendar in 1912 and the translated term was 西元 (lit. Western Era). Later, in 1949, the People's Republic of China reiterated the use of the Gregorian calendar and accepted the term gōngyuán (公元, lit. Common Era). Regardless of name, the dating scheme remains the same.

[edit] No year zero

Further information: 0 (year), Astronomical year numbering, and Millennium

In the AD year numbering system, whether applied to the Julian or Gregorian calendars, AD 1 is preceded by 1 BC. There is no year "0" between them. Because of this, most experts agree that a new century begins in a year with the last digits being "01" (1801, 1901, 2001); new millennia likewise began in 1001 and 2001. A common misconception is that centuries and millennia begin when the trailing digits are zeroes (1800, 1900, 2000, etc.);^[1] moreover, this convention was widely used to celebrate the new millennium in the year 2000. For computational reasons astronomers and the ISO 8601 standard use a time scale (astronomical year numbering) in which AD 1 = year 1, 1 BC = year 0, 2 BC = year −1, etc.^[29]

[edit] Controversy

Some feel that using the phrase "Year of our Lord"^[30][31] or basing the world's dating system on the life of Jesus are forms of bias towards the Christian religion.^[32] Attempts to use the more secular year designations BCE (Before the Common Era) and CE (Common Era) have also stirred debate in some countries.^[33][34]

^{Gods Grace Abound!!!}