Phlegon provides powerful confirmation, identifying the year and the exact time of day. The 202nd Olympiad has been calculated to run from July AD 29 to June AD 33. . He quotes Phlegon as stating it was the 4th year of the 202nd Olympiad, conflicting with Africanus who quotes Phlegon as stating it was the 2nd year; He asserts this occurred at the Passover both in the 18th year of Tiberius (spring 32AD) and in Olympiad 202.4 (spring 33AD); It corresponds approximately to April in our modern Gregorian calendar. The written testimony from outside the Bible confirms some of the main events, people, and places mentioned in the New Testament. Modern context of the calendar of ancient Olympics would put the 4th year of the 202nd Olympiad at July 32-33AD. 26:61, Matt. He lived up to the death of the emperor Augustus in 14CE and we know from Luke that his ministry began in the 15th year of Augustus successor, Tiberius. Thirteen inches above the 31 B.C. However, history provides a sufficient answer as to why such documentary evidence has not survived on these topics of great interest. Phlegon Darkness occurred when Christ was crucified, an eclipse of the sun cannot occur during a full moon since the moon would be on the opposite side of the earth. The astronomical science tells us there was no solar eclipse over Bithynia in that year. The speaker continued The 53rd chapter of Isaiah, written over 700 years before the birth of Christ, describes the most important aspect of the ministry of Jesus Christ!! In chapter 28, Matthew provides an accountprobably sourced to either one of the guards and or a Jewish elderof how the guards were bribed, and the lie was spread that the disciples had stolen the body of Jesus (cf Matthew 28:1-15). Phlegon of Tralles, a Greek historian who lived in the second century, has been referenced by Christian apologists for over a thousand years now as confirmation of the events surrounding the Crucifixion. The Historical Jesus. [3]. He said If I could prove to you that the Bible is a supernatural book, confirmed by both foretelling of the future and also by miracles, would you believe what the Bible says?. We know that Jesus was crucified in the Spring, at the time of the Passover. To home he may gobut, it must be with his tail between his legs. This is done carefully in Humphreys book [1]. In Phlegon's Olympiades we are told it happened in the 4th year of the 202nd Olympiad which is AD 33. There are some uncertainties in the Olympiad numbering system but it seems from various sources the fourth year of the 202nd Olympiad would be either AD 32 or AD 33. (Jerome) [4]. One problem with AD 30 being the crucifixion is that it does not allow enough time for Jesus ministry. 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. (Julius Africanus, Chronography, 18.1) [4]. The Crucifixion is widely reported by numerous ancient writers. It does however, place Phlegons writing, transposed hundreds of years later by Christian writers, as a scientifically-accurate writing. 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. Each recounts a fantastical or paranormal event. This example underlines the point that Matthew did not have a similar need to defend the truth of the three hour darkness, precisely because it was a well known, accepted and indisputablefact. Africanus refutes the attempt of Thallus to explain away this darkness as being a regular solar eclipse. The Formal Correction is on the way! He dabbed the sweat from his pallid face and intoned Are you at peace with God? Dont believe me? 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. 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. And with regard to the eclipse in the time of Tiberius Caesar, in whose reign Jesus appears to have been crucified, and the great earthquakes which then took place . Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. 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. The question is: should we accept the historicity of this Crucifixion darkness? Two short works by him are extant. It is important to note that 1) an eclipse of the sun cannot occur during a full moon since the moon would be on the opposite side of the earth and 2) that Jesus died on Passover during a full moon. I will address that below as well. 4th year: Begins 32-06-27/28: Hekatombaion 29 Metageitnion 30 Boedromion 30 Puanepsion 29 Maimakterion 30 Poseideon 29 Poseideon-2 30 Gamelion 29 . 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). Therefore I think we can compare it to another impressive unnatural phenomenon that happened 100 years ago in Fatima, when the sun danced on oct. 13th 1917 at the exact time Our Lady foretold months beforehand, before a huge crowd. Thus the New Moon is not visible. If your sunset occurs later than sunset in Athens, the event may occur on the previous day . Though historical data may be sketchy on some issues sometimes, regarding Christ's crucifixion, the evidence we have confirming the New Testament is I think very persuasive. When the Moon "lines up" with the Sun it is referred to by astronomers as being at conjunction (which is the New Moon). Updated May 2013 Even more fascinating is the mention of an earthquake. Well, Phlegon does mention this guy named Jesus. Or has it been changed and contaminated by ambitious Christian defenders? Yet there has not been a good consensus among scholars about the exact date of the crucifixion. (LogOut/ It is significant that Jesus be crucified on a Friday because that is the normal time when the passover lamb was sacrificed by the Jews. 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. I did a search for the years 25 through 35 AD for the nation of Israel. Though it is almost impossible to deny that this strange event truly happened, on the same day our Lord died on the Cross, I strived for years to find a natural astronomical explanation about it but in vain. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and manifest day of the Lord come. 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. He wrote that during the fourth year of the 202nd Olympiad there was a period of unexplained darkness and there was an earthquake that collapsed buildings in Nicea in northern Asia Minor. The reality is, Plinys statement is not evidence against the Crucifixion darkness. Is there historical evidence for the darkness & earthquake at the crucifixion? 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 year given by Phlegon for this eclipse is the fourth year of the 202nd Olympiad (i.e., 33 A.D.), which is consistent with one of the possible dates of the Crucifixion (i.e., April 3, 33 A.D.). Now before the accusations fly about me ascribing random astronomical events to this writing, consider this: these are the only two solar eclipses that occur within the time frame reference by Phlegon, and from 20-40AD there are only 3 other eclipses that could even possibly have been seen by Rome or the Persian Gulf; one in 20AD and the other two occur after 36AD. A non-profit, 501(c)3 corporation. The answer is a resounding yes.Whether the darkness was witnessed throughout the empire or only in regions around Jerusalem is not clear. And calculation makes out that the period of 70 weeks, as noted in Daniel, is completed at this time. Julius Africanus, Chronography, 18.1. From this brief statement, the skeptic wants to declare victory and go home. And finally, if the crucifixion was on 3rd April AD 33 (Julian) then it is 490 years (70 . Second, though the Passover week celebrations of the Jews are well understood, no written records exist regarding the calendar and New Moon from the time of Christ, as the Jews used them. For these are not drunk, as you suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day: But this is that which was spoken of by the prophet Joel: And it shall come to pass, in the last days, (saith the Lord,) I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. The third quote is from Julius Africanus and the last is from Jerome. 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. Are you sure that you will enter heaven to be with God in the afterlife? It cannot be denied that Pliny the Elder wrote on topics like eclipses of the sun. 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. There are a variety of opinions on this question. The Olympiades can be used as a useful means of establishing a time-line. Elsewhere in this same work, Origen wrote in relation to the Crucifixion darkness: And with regard to the eclipse in the time ofTiberius Csar, in whose reign Jesus appears to have been crucified, and the great earthquakes which then took place, Phlegon too, I think, has written in the thirteenth or fourteenth book of his Chronicles (Contra Celsus II, 33). The facts were recorded in a historical account of Tiberius. Jesus was thus the true final Passover Lamb and he died at the time the passover lambs was normally sacrificed. The San Andreas fault is 800 miles long, running along the California coast; Israel and Turkey sit onyou guess ita major fault line! For example, the first year of Olympiad 140 began in the summer of 220 BC and lasted until the middle of . There was a great earthquake in Bithynia, and many things were overturned in Nicaea." On this site you can do a search for earthquakes essentially anywhere in the world, including through history. I am more concerned in determining the year than the exact date and day of the week, but it seems you cannot really determine the year confidently without figuring out the exact day and day of the week. . Origen, Against Celsus, Book 2.33, Phlegon mentioned the eclipse which took place during the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ, and no other (eclipse); it is clear that he did not know from his sources about any (similar) eclipse in previous times . It has only been referenced in Christian apologist books hundreds of years later. (below) says it took place in the fourth year of the 202nd Olympiad, which was 33 A.D. - which can be verified by clicking on the link following Phlegon's quote in red below. earthquake! The audience began to show its disdain. The 202nd Olympiad has been calculated to run from July AD 29 to June AD 33. By the time he wrote hisNatural History(73 A.D.), the Christians had already been claiming for the prior forty years that the Crucifixion darkness was a sign worked by their God. There was a great earthquake in Bithynia, and many things were overturned in Nicaea.' Annular (ring) eclipse. 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. And I will shew wonders in the heaven above, and signs on the earth beneath: blood and fire, and vapour of smoke. The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. He referred to a description by Phlegon of an eclipse accompanied by earthquakes during the reign of Tiberius: that 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. Some Christian scholars argue Jesus was crucified on Thursday and some even hold to a Wednesday crucifixion. TheActs of the Apostlesrecords the very first public preaching of Peter and the Apostles, which took place less than eight weeks after the Crucifixion. Zero as a mathematical number in the Greco-Roman world was a later invention. I am a follower of Jesus Christ, the One who saved me, and my goal is to spread the gospel and all the evidence for Christianity! The next piece of the puzzle is to determine if Jesus indeed was crucified on a Friday. (see Figure 2 below). In either case, many would have witnessed it. On Marvels consists of "anecdotes culled from sources as diverse as the Greek poet Hesiod and the Roman natural historian Pliny the Elder. 3: 32-07-28/29: Athene : 4: 32- . "However in the fourth year of the 202nd olympiad, 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." Picking on Pliny Among these is a very interesting quote below from a Christian scholar quoting an earlier Roman historian named Phlegon (first and second century). These events of that day, and others surrounding them, such as the Crucifixion darkness described in the gospels, were real. The Jewish calendar is a lunar calendar and thus months start with the New Moon. Thank you, Ive just been looking for information about this Also, word of it would have spread from Jerusalem to Jewish communities in Rome and throughout the empire. Otto Keller, Rerum Naturalium Scriptores Graeci Minores, 1 (Leipzig Teurber, 1877), p. 101., 2 Julius Africanus, Extant Writings, XVIII in The AnteNicene Fathers, ed. Only the Nov. 24, AD 29 eclipse over Asia Minor can match that, and Joel's prophecy (Acts 2, 14-21) that ``the sun will be turned to darkness and moon to blood." Another historian, Philipon (with Origen), confirms the historicity of Phlegon's statement by writing, "And about this darkness - Phlegon recalls it in the OlympiadsPhlegon mentioned the eclipse which took place during the crucifixion of the Lord Christ, and no other (eclipse), it is clear that he did not know from his sources about any (similar) eclipse in previous times and this is shown by the historical account of Tiberius Caesar.". 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Shall be turned into darkness, and many things were overturned in Nicaea. & # x27 Annular... Lamb and he died at the time of the glory of God ; and their expanse is the. ) [ 4 ] you are commenting using your Facebook account if sunset. That while Jesus was thus the true final Passover Lamb and he died at the time the! Calendar of ancient Olympics would put the 4th year: Begins 32-06-27/28 Hekatombaion... Was normally sacrificed we know that Jesus was crucified in the afterlife world was a great earthquake in,! Of 220 BC and lasted until the middle of poet Hesiod and the time...

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