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Thursday 3 April 2014

Happy Birthday, Church....

Today I saw an interesting article on the First Things website, dating the Crucifixion to 3 April AD 33.

In my opinion there is something odd that the event described by Vicky Beeching as:

History was split in two

happens in year 33. Shouldn't this be the first year in a Christian-based calendar?

The Church dates back to the Holy Spirit descending on those in the upper room (Acts 2), which we are told happened at Pentecost, i.e. 50 days after Passover.

The real Apostolic Succession is that all Christians were led to Christ by someone who was led to Christ by someone who was led to Christ by someone who was led to Christ by ......... by someone who was led to Christ by someone who was led to Christ by someone who was in that room on Pentecost in AD 33.

Jesus was crucified at Passover - and this places the Pentecost in Acts 2 to be 23 May.

However, this is on the Julian calendar, and we use the modern Gregorian calendar, which is 13 days ahead. So 23 May on the Julian calendar is equivalent to 5 June on the Gregorian calendar (from 1900 to 2099 inclusive). Hence, 5 June is the Church's birthday.

If we want to look at celebrating the Church's 2,000th birthday, then we have to wait till Sunday, 5 June 2033.

In 2033, Easter is 17 April. When this happens then Pentecost is 5 June, coinciding with the anniversary of the Acts 2 Pentecost.

So, the Church can celebrate its 2,000th birthday on Pentecost Sunday.

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