B.C.E.

Common Era, also known as Current Era, abbreviated CE, [1] What is nowadays called the 'Current Era' traditionally begins with the birth of a Jewish teacher called Jesus. His followers came to believe he was the promised Messiah and later split away from Judaism to found Christianity, (Religion & Ethics, BBC [2], What is the Difference Between the Western, Islamic, and Jewish calendars? [3] Dictionaries: Common Era, Collins Dictionary of the English Language, ISBN 0 00 433080-3| "another name for Christian Era." [4] The American Heritage® Science Dictionary. Common Era – The period beginning with the year traditionally thought to have been birth of Jesus. [, Merriam Webster Online Dictionary|year=2003|publisher=Merriam-Webster |http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Common%20Era, The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. (2004). Houghton Mifflin, "The period coinciding with the Christian era."|"Common Era" [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/common%20era |title= "common era"|publisher=Dictionary.com WordNet® 3.0. Princeton University, adverb – 1. of the period coinciding with the Christian era; preferred by some writers who are not Christians; 'in 200 CE' [syn: CE] — noun – 1. the time period beginning with the supposed year of Christ's birth [syn: Christian era] [5] [6] Merriam Webster Online Dictionary, CE – Function: abbreviation – 3 Christian Era —often punctuated; Common Era —often punctuated

is a designation for the period of time beginning with year 1 of the Gregorian calendar. An earlier date is then designated BCE, described as "Before the Common or Current Era".[7] The American Heritage® Science Dictionary. (© 2002). Houghton Mifflin, "Abbreviation for before the Common Era. [8] [9] The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition. (2005). Houghton Mifflin, "B.C.E. – An abbreviation sometimes used in place of b.c. It means 'before the Common Era.' – [Chapter:] Conventions of Written English[10]|

The numbering of years is identical to the numbering in the Anno Domini system, neither system using a year zero. Two separate systems that also do not use religious titles, the astronomical system and the ISO 8601 standard do use a year zero. The year 1 BCE (identical to the year 1 BC) is represented as 0 in the astronomical system, and as 0000 in ISO 8601.

The only difference between "BC/AD" and "BCE/CE" is that the term Common Era does not use the religious titles for Jesus ("Lord" and "Christ") that are explicit in "anno Domini" and "before Christ". Originating among Christians at least as early as 1762, Common Era notation has been adopted by many non-Christians, and also by some Christians wanting to be sensitive to non-Christians.[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4155/is_20060527/ai_n16436633[ "BCE date designation called more sensitive", Andrew Herrmann, Chicago Sun-Times, Herrmann observes, "The changes — showing up at museums, in academic circles and in school textbooks — have been touted as more sensitive to people of faiths outside of Christianity." However, Herrmann notes, "The use of BCE and CE have rankled some Christians}}. The use of BCE and CE has been criticized by some who favor the BC/AD system as being "the result of secularization" and "political correctness". [[11] Southern Baptist Convention 2000, Resolution 9] "Please maintain the Common/Current/Christian Era names & "Before..." + their abbreviations CE & BCE within the FIRST paragraph.

The abbreviation BCE, just as with BC, always follows the year number. Unlike AD, which traditionally precedes the year number, CE always follows the year number (if context requires that it be written at all). [12], The Columbia Guide to Standard American English – A.D., B.C., (A.)C.E., B.C.E., 1993, Wilson, Kenneth G. Thus, the current year is written as 2024 in both systems (or, if further clarity is needed, as 2024 CE, or as AD 2024), and the year Socrates died is represented as 399 BCE (the same year that is represented by 399 BC in the AD/BC system). The abbreviations are sometimes written with small capital letters, or with periods [13] , Major Rule Changes in The Chicago Manual of Style, Fifteenth Edition, University of Chicago Press, "Certain abbreviations traditionally set in small caps are now in full caps (AD, BCE, and the like), with small caps an option."

Origins

The Anno Domini system was devised by the monk Dionysius Exiguus, while he was, in Rome, working on a table to establish future dates for Easter. When he devised his table, Julian calendar years were identified by regnal years and by naming the consuls who held office that year. He wished to replace the Diocletian years that had been used, because he did not wish to continue the memory of a persecutor of Christians. In the process, he determined a year for the beginning of the life of Jesus. Whether he intended the year of Jesus' birth or his conception is an issue still debated. Many historians and Biblical scholars place the birth of Jesus from one to about six years earlier than Dionysius calculated. These scholars include D. A. Carson, Douglas J. Moo and Leon Morris. An Introduction to the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1992, 54, 56; Michael Grant, Jesus: An Historian's Review of the Gospels, Scribner's, 1977, p. 71; John P. Meier, A Marginal Jew, Doubleday, 1991–, vol. 1:214; E. P. Sanders, The Historical Figure of Jesus, Penguin Books, 1993, pp. 10–11, and Ben Witherington III, "Primary Sources," Christian History 17 (1998) No. 3:12–20. He gave a method to calculate "annos ab incarnatione Domini nostri Jesu Christi" (Latin for years since the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ). Dionysius, Nineteen Year Cycle of Dionysius [14] [15], Nineteen Year Cycle of Dionysius, "In this document, Dionysius used both "annis Christi" and "anni Domini nostri Jesu Christi" for titles and headings. He also used "annos Domini", "annos ab incarnatione Domini nostri Jesu Christi", "annos incarnationis Domini nostri Jesu Christi", "annus ab incarnatione Domini nostri Jesu Christi", and "anni ab incarnatione Domini". He made no reference in this document to years before Jesus. He himself stated that the then current year was 525 years since the incarnation of Jesus.

Some two centuries later in northern England, the Venerable Bede began the process of bringing the AD system Dionysius had invented into general use in Western Europe, when he (Bede) used it to date the events in his Ecclesiastical History of the English People, completed in 731. Bede also used another Latin term "ante uero incarnationis dominicae tempus" ("the time before the Lord's true incarnation"), equivalent to the English "before Christ", to identify years before the first year of this era.[16], Historiam ecclesiasticam gentis Anglorum, Book 1, Chapter 2, first sentence. According to the General Chronology article in the 1914 Catholic Encyclopedia, usage of AD gradually became more common in Europe in the latter part of the ninth century, and, while it occurred occasionally in papal documents of the time of John XIII (965-972), it was not the rule before the 12th century.[17], B. M. Lersch, Einleitung in die Chronologie, 2 vols., Freiburg, 1899 (vol. ii. on Christian Calendar) p. 233. In 1422, Portugal became the last Western European country to switch to the Anno Domini system.[18], General Chronology, New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia

The term "Common Era" is traced back in English to its appearance as "Vulgar Era" (from the Latin word vulgus, the common people, i.e. those who are not royalty) at a time when vulgar did not mean "crudely indecent". In Latin, Common Era is written as Vulgaris Aera. The first instance of this found so far in Latin is in a 1762 book by Laurentis Joanne Bertie, entitled Ecclesiasticae historiae breviarium. Editio, post secundam venetam. Pars prima quae compectitur Chronologiae Rudimenta. Pars secunda quae progreditur usque ad unnum Vulgaris Aera; [19] A 1716 book by Dean Humphrey Prideaux says, "The vulgar era, by which we now compute the years from his incarnation." Merriam Webster accepts the date of 1716, but does not give the source. [20], Merriam Webster Online entry for Vulgar Era,

• NASA: Year dating conventions
• The Columbia Guide to Standard American English (1993): A.D., B.C., (A.)C.E., B.C.E.