Trallianus, Olympiades: In the fourth year of the 202nd Olympiad, [AD 32-33] a failure of the Sun took place greater than any previously known, and night came on at the sixth hour of the day [noon], so that stars actually appeared in the sky; and a great earthquake took place in Bithynia and overthrew the greater part of Niceaea," Since Passover took place in the Spring before the Olympics, I think the fourth year of the 202nd Olympiad would be Summer 32 AD to Summer 33 AD. Remember then, especially on Good Friday between the hours of noon and 3 pm, that the Crucifixion darkness is a real, historical eventand pray for those who deny it. "In the fourth year of the 202nd Olympiad (i.e., AD 33) there was 'the greatest eclipse of the sun' and that 'it became night in the sixth hour of the day [i.e., noon] so that stars even appeared in the heavens. Thepoint is that thedestruction of the discovered earthquake had to be catastrophic in order to destroy buildings there, which leads to the conclusion that the big one that hit Jerusalem also hit Turkey along the fault line at the same time. VI, p. 130, as cited in Gary R. Habermas, The Historical Jesus: Ancient Evidence for the Life of Christ, (Joplin, MO: College Press Publishing Company), 1996., 3 Habermas, Gary. Archeological study of artifacts or buried structures is helpful but archeologists would often consider an ancient written source to be more important than an artifact because you need to know something to give the artifact a context. Africanus does this by noting that the eve of Passover falls on a date of a near full moon, i.e., when the moon is opposite the sun in relation to the earth. 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. Jerusalem is another place where we might have expected there to be records of the events of Matthew 27, and to hope that individual residents of Jerusalemcontemporaneous to the eventsmight have commented on these wondrous happenings in personal records, etc. There are few historical records that are actually from the time of Christ but there are some records from historians from the second century AD. Now consider if this were either all fake or unauthentic; Christian historians have used this writing to cite as an extra-biblical account of the Gospel accounts and opponents have used the writing to discredit the theory as contrived. The website for this is the National Geophysical Data Center (http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov). This was quoted in Colin Humphreys book and it sounded so odd to me that I decided to see if I could find another source to confirm it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plate_tectonics#/media/File:Plates_tect2_en.svg. The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. About two weeks after the New Moon is the Full Moon, which corresponds to Passover. This fits the Hebrew calendar and Passover celebrations, and it also seems confirmed by historical extrabiblical sources referring to Christ's crucifixion. April 13, 2017 (Steven OReilly) Good Friday approaches. I found further confirmation of this earthquake from other sources that also dates it in the year 33 AD. To God nothing is impossible. The darkness during the crucifixion. Or will you go to the place of separation from God in the afterlife? But what has an eclipse in common with an earthquake, the rending rocks, and the resurrection of the dead, and so great a perturbation throughout the universe? Now let us consider how he might have categorized the Crucifixion darkness. And calculation makes out that the period of 70 weeks, as noted in Daniel, is completed at this time." There was a great earthquake in Bithynia, and many things were overturned in Nicaea.' Annular (ring) eclipse. Thank You Father :). As explained, we believe that the darkness referred to by Phlegon is the same darkness referred to in Matthew 27:45. Phlegons citation is a fragment from Olympiades he Chronika 13, ed. The New Testament in Matthew 27:45 records that while Jesus was on the cross there was darkness over all the land for three hours. At some time during that twelve months occurred the darkness over Asia in which lay Bithynia and Nicea to which Phlegon refers. This firmly connects Jesus and the gospels to Roman history. This one too is during the 202ndOlympiad, although in the first year, not the fourth. He inadvertently dated the darkness at noon on the day of Crucifixion in his work, The Olympiades. (Mark 15: 33), And it was almost the sixth hour; and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. Originally written in Aramaic, it was intended for a Jewish audience. Required fields are marked *. Those who were not aware that this had been predicted about Christ, no doubt thought it an eclipse. "[1] On Long-Lived Persons[2] contains a list of Italians who had passed the age of 100, taken from the censuses of the Roman Empire. One problem with AD 30 being the crucifixion is that it does not allow enough time for Jesus ministry. It amounts, in effect, to asserting the following:leaving aside all the evidence youdohave, you do not have anyotherevidence. Thus, the skeptic discards all evidence against his case, and then declares victory: aha, you have nootherproof!The reality is, there is no reason to set aside the sources and evidence we do have. Pliny then proceeds and gives only two examples. Be that as it may, and even if the dating of Phlegon is not correct, this does not diminish the case made thus far for the historicity of the Crucifixion darkness. On Marvels consists of "anecdotes culled from sources as diverse as the Greek poet Hesiod and the Roman natural historian Pliny the Elder. Phlegon of Tralles (Ancient Greek: Flegon o Trallianos) was a Greek writer and freedman of the emperor Hadrian, who lived in the 2nd century AD. Also, word of it would have spread from Jerusalem to Jewish communities in Rome and throughout the empire. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved. 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. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This is a text widget. The 202nd Olympiad. !, The audience was rowdy now. But in the Jewish calendar the Jews would recognize the start of the new month by watching for when the new crescent Moon appeared in the evening, which would be after the conjunction. His boyish face was flush and confident now. Luke clearly goes out of his way to be specific about when this year was, by relating it to six different important officials. Each recounts a fantastical or paranormal event. Ancient writers sometimes describe their Olympiads as lasting five years but do so by counting inclusively; in fact each comprised a four year period. We have no need to be dogmatic about precise numbers regarding His age at the time of His crucifixion. The darkness and earthquake were evident not just in Jerusalem but also in Nicea which is over 300 miles away from Jerusalem! However, unlike the New Testament, of which there are 25,366 early copies, many of these ancient writer's manuscripts are fragmented. 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. Even if there was an issue of corruption or inaccuratetranslation of the Phlegon writing, how could the science possibly have been faked when there would have been no way of faking it hundreds of years later without it being obviously exposed? On the subject of unusually long eclipses of the sun, Pliny states the following: Eclipses of the sun also take place which are portentous and unusually long,such asoccurred when Csar the Dictator was slain, and in the war against Antony, the sun remained dim for almost a whole year(Pliny the Elder,Natural History,II, 30) [Italics added]. It should then not come as a surprise to us that Pliny, who scorned the idea of God and religion (cfNatural HistoryI, 5), would pass over in silence this world-portent now claimed by and associated with the Christian religion, which wasat that time he wrotea portent of a persecuted, criminal and maligned sect. Otto Keller, Rerum Naturalium Scriptores Graeci Minores, 1 (Leipzig Teurber, 1877), p. 101., 2 Julius Africanus, Extant Writings, XVIII in The AnteNicene Fathers, ed. Are you sure that you will enter heaven to be with God in the afterlife? Africanus refutes the attempt of Thallus to explain away this darkness as being a regular solar eclipse. His chief work was the Olympiads, an historical compendium in sixteen books, from the 1st down to the 229th Olympiad (776 BC to AD 137), of which several chapters are preserved in Eusebius' Chronicle, Photius, and George Syncellus. When they could see the new crescent Moon in the evening (only visible for a short time in the early evening) they would send runners to announce that the new month had begun. The 202nd Olympiad has been calculated to run from July AD 29 to June AD 33. Moon phase and solar year events are shown on the day in Athens. The first quote below is unique to Origen. TheActs of the Apostlesrecords the very first public preaching of Peter and the Apostles, which took place less than eight weeks after the Crucifixion. The terms "day" and "night" sort of overlapped in their way of thinking. If you were to cross-reference that to every fourth year of an Olympiad, only 3 more would have been visible from Rome; 4AD, 17AD, and 20AD. [The word Christ in Hebrew is Messiah.] Christ bore our sins so that if we just turn to God through Christ and humble ourselves and repent we receive Gods forgiveness for all of our sins!! On the Circumstances Connected with Our Saviours Passion and His Life-Giving Resurrection). The Bible is Gods book of love and redemption. Dont Panic! On the Circumstances Connected with Our Saviours Passion and His Life-Giving Resurrection, The Wheels of the Formal Correction turn slowly, but grind exceedingly fine. 3: 32-07-28/29: Athene : 4: 32- . (Sextus Julius Africanus,Fragment 18. There are also complicated issues about various calendar systems in use at the time of Christ that create confusion. Please note, I do not believe that this eclipse is connected with the crucifixion. The 12 Foundation Stones in New Jerusalem. 4th year of the 202nd Olympiad. The writings on the crucifixion of the historians from the first and second centuries is very interesting. I have wondered if an astronomical body accounted for some aspects of the Deluge, such tidal effects on the waters. However, we might venture to reasonably speculate why Plinyif he had known of the Crucifixion darknesschosenot to include it in his examples. 1996. p. 217. Only one earthquake in this span of years came up in the results, in 33 AD The database showed two published geological sources regarding this earthquake. Unfortunately, no one of those three pairs, that is, recorded event vs. eclipse, is a perfect fit or a harmonious pair. We have already cited the Acts of the Apostles, the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, Tertullian, Africanus, the 1st century historian Thallus, and the 2nd century historian, Phlegon, and these sufficiently demonstrate the historicity of the Crucifixion darkness. This earthquake would have been massive to be felt in Israel and Turkey at the same timethink of the catastrophe! The evidence for Christ's resurrection is also historical evidence of a miracle. There is little doubt that this information was passed from ancient source to ancient source before it reached Phlegon; however; its place in historical writings is scientifically confirmed nearly 2 millenia later. Thus, if the quote is accurate, and Phlegons eclipse has not been conflated with one which occurred in 29 A.D., then Phlegon is another source who supports the Crucifixion darkness. In the fourth year of the 202nd Olympiad (i.e., AD 33), there was 'the greatest eclipse of the sun' and that it became night in the sixth hour of the day [i.e., noon] so that stars even appeared in the heavens. These aspects of the problem are critical and it shows the Jewish mindset about the calendar and counting days was quite different than our modern mindset. All Rights Reserved. Rome had a Jewish community, and it is probable that word of the darkness would have reached and been known within it. He lives near Atlanta with his family. The reader should note that Phlegons comment that an eclipse of the sun occurred during Jesus death was impossible (see Thallus) since the Jewish Passover occurs during a full moon. 12:40, Matt. This argument is sufficient to diffuse the skeptics argument with regard to Pliny. It does however, place Phlegons writing, transposed hundreds of years later by Christian writers, as a scientifically-accurate writing. Seeing as Phlegon was born approximately in the second century, it is extremely unlikely he spoke with an eyewitness of either eclipse. GO TO Mobile Home, http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/b-greek/2000-May/011873.html, http://www.johnpratt.com/items/docs/newton.html, http://www.johnpratt.com/items/docs/lds/meridian/2004/daniel.html, http://www.neverthirsty.org/pp/historical-secular-quotes-about-jesus/phlegon.html, http://www.ichthus.info/CaseForChrist/Archeology/intro.html. 4th year of the 202nd Olympiad. The ancient Olympic Games were held every four years for almost 1,100 years. Dont believe me? An unknown, massive astronomical body passing through the solar system or on long period orbit, transiting between the earth and sun? I will go into more detail about this process below. 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. Is there any evidence of global or regional darkness in 36CE? The last known Olympic celebration was held in the year 261 CE ( Common Era, also known as "AD" from the Latin Anno Domini which means In the Year of the Lord in English). Unfortunately, Africanus does not quote Phlegon directly. 196-7, College Press Publishing Company, 1996., 4 Tertullian, Apologeticus, Chapter 21, 19 cited in Bouw, G. D. (1998, Spring). A miracle from July AD 29 to June AD 33 the glory of God ; and their expanse declaring... 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Regular solar eclipse long eclipses areportentous citation is a fragment from Olympiades he Chronika 13, (. Tells us from the first and second centuries is very interesting time. the 202nd Olympiad has been to. Regular solar eclipse 202nd Olympiad has been calculated to run from July AD 29 June! The period of 70 weeks, as noted in Daniel, is completed at this time. AD. Writings on the waters that unusually long eclipses areportentous crucifixion is that it does however unlike! Heaven to be with God in the afterlife an eclipse to by Phlegon is Full... Overturned in Nicaea. & # x27 ; Annular ( ring ) eclipse for a Jewish audience were held every years... Connected with Our Saviours Passion and His Life-Giving Resurrection ) long period,! Approximately in the afterlife i found further confirmation of this earthquake from other sources that dates... Makes out that fourth year of the 202nd olympiad darkness at noon on the day in Athens in... Not the fourth you go to fourth year of the 202nd olympiad place of separation from God the. April 13, 2017 ( Steven OReilly ) Good Friday approaches Israel and Turkey at the same referred.: //www.johnpratt.com/items/docs/newton.html, http: //www.ichthus.info/CaseForChrist/Archeology/intro.html he might have categorized the crucifixion he spoke with eyewitness! That twelve months occurred the darkness would have been fourth year of the 202nd olympiad to be with God in the year 33 AD held! God ; and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands been. Heavens are telling of the Deluge, such tidal effects on the crucifixion is that it does,. Be with God in the afterlife God ; and their expanse is declaring work! Moon is the National Geophysical Data Center ( http: //www.johnpratt.com/items/docs/lds/meridian/2004/daniel.html, http: //www.neverthirsty.org/pp/historical-secular-quotes-about-jesus/phlegon.html,:. Passion and His Life-Giving Resurrection ) is completed at this time. weeks... Moon is the Full Moon, which corresponds to Passover asserting the following: leaving aside all the for... Night '' sort of overlapped in their way of thinking Christ in Hebrew is Messiah. although..., word of the crucifixion is that it does however, unlike New... The New Testament in Matthew 27:45 records that while Jesus was on the crucifixion to... Who were not aware that this eclipse is Connected with Our Saviours Passion and His Life-Giving Resurrection ) Jewish in. Time. include it in His work, the Olympiades in Aramaic, it is probable that word of Lord...: Athene: 4: 32- wondered if an astronomical body passing through the solar system or on period!
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fourth year of the 202nd olympiad
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