Bugnolan Conclave in surprise move, elects Bergoglio! Check Huffpost. The gospel references where Jesus predicted he would rise in three days are Matt. I did a search for the years 25 through 35 AD for the nation of Israel. The Historical Jesus, pp. A secondline of argument for the crucifixion date comes from historical testimony and the weight of opinion of Christian scholars through history. . Origen tells us in his work,Against Celsus(cf Contra Celsus II, 14), that Phlegon had some knowledge of Jesus. An earthquake occurred in Bythinia and overthrew a great part of the city of Nica. We only have fragments left to us of this monumental work and quotations of it from other writers. "In the fourth year, however, of Olympiad 202, 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." For from Nehemiah, who was sent by Artaxerxes to resettle Jerusalem in the 115 th year of the Persian empire, the twentieth year of Artaxerxes, the fourth year of the 83rd Olympiad, until this time, which was the second year of the 202nd Olympiad, the sixteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, there is a total of 475 years. 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. Every person needs to deal with the questions of who Jesus is and what his death means. And finally, if the crucifixion was on 3rd April AD 33 (Julian) then it is 490 years (70 . 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. In fact, PlinysNatural Historyincludes a chapter entitled Of Unusual Long Eclipses of the Sun. Therefore, it seems atfirst glancethatthe skeptic is on to something when he points out that a three hour long darkness is nowhere to be found in this chapter. The fourth year of the 202nd Olympiad I believe would include some of the same year as the 203rd Olympiad but the new Olympiad did not start till the Olympics event took place in the Summer. Another writer, a Christian historian named Sextus Julius Africanus, also commented about Phlegon's writings which connect the above event to the the crucifixion: "Phlegon records that, in the time of Tiberius Csar, at full moon, there was a full eclipse of the sun from the sixth hour to the ninth - manifestly that one of which we speak. 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. 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. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) keeps a database of what are called "significant" earthquakes. Among these is a very interesting quote below from a Christian scholar quoting an earlier Roman historian named Phlegon (first and second century). Regarding thissame2nd century historian, Africanus also wrote: Phlegon records that, in the time of Tiberius Caesar, at full moon, there was a full eclipse of the sun from the sixth hour to the ninth manifestly that one of which we speak(Sextus Africanus,Fragment 18. And upon my servants indeed, and upon my handmaids will I pour out in those days of my spirit, and they shall prophesy. However, these are all unlikely candidates as their timing is off from the Olympiad calendar. Ten Years Ago: Benedict confirms I am no longer the Supreme Pontiff of the Catholic Church, Benedicts Last Audience: Ten Years After, Roma Locuta Est Considers: Benepapism and the Munus vs. Ministerium (EpisodeVI), Is the Culture of Death creating the Remnant? . 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. It was recorded by a Pagan author who had no desire to promote Christianity yet he confirmed the Bible record! And calculation makes out that the period of 70 weeks, as noted in Daniel, is completed at this time." Even if there is speculation on whether this is the correct eclipse referenced, there is only one more that would have been visible by the Persian Gulf and Rome during the Olympiad: http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/5MCSEmap/0001-0100/29-11-24.gif. For example the first Olympiad happened in 776 and the second occurred in 772 BC. I am not convinced by this even though I believe in the darkness over the land when Jesus was crucified. As several of the early Fathers quoted Phlegon, there seems no reason to doubt his word. Phlegon provides powerful confirmation, identifying the year and the exact time of day. The New Testament records the three-hour darkness during Christs crucifixion (Matthew 27:45, Mark 15:33, Luke 23:4445). Moon phase and solar year events are shown on the day in Athens. What miracles!!? ? someone heckled from the back row. and this is shown by the historical account of Tiberius Caesar. Philopon, De. So, these historical extrabiblical sources are also consistent with the AD 33 date. Does this necessarily mean that Phlegon was referencing the seismic activity, if you dare to call it that, that occurred during the Crucifixion in the Gospel accounts? Africanus disputed an attempt by Thallus (a first century historian) to specifically explain the Crucifixion darkness in this way. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Many authors have suggested various means of resolving all the mysteries about the date of the crucifixion. The evidence for Christ's resurrection is also historical evidence of a miracle. [1] There are two books credited to his name:Chronicles and the Olympiads. He asks for your prayers for his intentions. There was a great earthquake in Bithynia, and many things were overturned in Nicaea.'"1 Evidence from Africanus The Text Widget allows you to add text or HTML to your sidebar. 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. Ancient writers sometimes describe their Olympiads as lasting five years but do so by counting inclusively; in fact each comprised a four year period. One such quotation is as follows, "In the 4th year of the 202nd Olympiad, there was a great eclipse of the Sun, greater than had ever been known before, for at the sixth hour the day was changed into night, and the stars were seen in the heavens. 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. The evidence also shows it likely to have been a magnitude 5.5. Copyright Like The Master Ministries. 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 the darkness had not been seen throughout the whole empire, word of it would have spread to Rome as the center of government and commerce. 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. He lives near Atlanta with his family. Have you ever heard of Phlegon of Karia? If your sunset occurs later than sunset in Athens, the event may occur on the previous day . Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription. The above said, we may venture still further in suggesting another reason for theseemingsilence. So I found another source of this very quote from the same Rabbi in an old commentary from the 1600's from English Scholar John Lightfoot [2]. If your sunset occurs later than sunset in Athens, the event may occur on the previous day . Next, let us consider the argument with regard to theGospel of Mark. In Phlegon's Olympiades we are told it happened in the 4th year of the 202nd Olympiad which is AD 33. In sum, the words of Tertullian and Africanus show us that in ancient times onlythe explanation of the causeof the three hour darkness was in dispute,not the fact of it. The span of distance between Bythnia and Jerusalem would have put the earthquake in a cataclysmic category, and the evidence confirmed by science supports that conclusion. Well, Phlegon does mention this guy named Jesus. It has only been referenced in Christian apologist books hundreds of years later. This fits the Hebrew calendar and Passover celebrations, and it also seems confirmed by historical extrabiblical sources referring to Christ's crucifixion. Seeing as Phlegon was born approximately in the second century, it is extremely unlikely he spoke with an eyewitness of either eclipse. You can be sure that faith in God is not blind faith. 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]. What about all the other earthquakes that have hit California in the first part of the 20th century? 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. This may seem hard to accept for some. To recap, according to Eusebius' Chronicon tables, the 2nd year of the 202nd Olympiad is equated alongside the 16th year of Tiberius. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This is a text widget. 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