B.C. and A.D. Versus B.C.E. and C.E.




The first part of this message is from Catholic Dispatch. Their URL is at the end of their article.

Just Say No to "Anno Domini" ?

What would you think if a Catholic were to all of sudden insist upon creating new names for any of the days of the week, or inventing new names for some of the months? After all, isn't Friday named after the mythological god "Frigg", and Wednesday after "Woden"? Or how about the month of January named after "Janus", the god of gates and doorways? The list could go on. How absurd it would be for a Catholic to say that they cannot use these names in conscience because they do not believe in false gods! The terms have become the conventional norm, and therefore their use by Catholics has never been construed to imply belief. This situation is merely hypothetical to prove a point. The Catholic Church has always allowed their use.

This is mentioned because we have a similar circumstance arising today which involves certain groups of non-Christians, and it involves "history dating". Quite familiar for all of us to see is the fact that:

"Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 B.C."
"Christopher Columbus discovered America in 1492.

Imagine someone going out of their way to add something to the end of these statements; someone writing that "Columbus discovered America in 1492 C.E." or that "Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 B.C.E."
It is not just your imagination.
Today there is a move on within the press and public schools to, once and for all, replace the age-old, familiar designations of B.C. and A.D..  As we all should know, B.C. is the abbreviation for "Before Christ", and A.D. is the Latin abbreviation for "Anno Domini" which is literally translated as "in the year of the Lord". The changes made are C.E. (Common Era) and B.C.E (Before the Common Era). It doesn't surprise Catholics to see such an anti-Christian campaign, but who is behind this, when did it start, and what can we say to their excuses?

The first thing to be noted is that the people who defend such a change use the pretext that it is done "because they DO NOT BELIEVE that Jesus is the Lord", or that "they do not want to OFFEND those who do not believe Jesus is the Lord."

Such a pretext is strikingly odd for a few reasons:

1) If they were so conscientious about giving the false impression that they believe Jesus is the Lord, why do they not likewise worry about the impression that is given when they use the names of the DAYS and MONTHS which represent pagan gods? Why do they not push also for these changes?

2) Secondly, since it is customary to omit the A.D. after a date in this era (e.g., simply 1864) then why should it not be sufficient to LEAVE IT this way since what they object to is already NOT THERE? Why go to lengths to type in C.E.?

3) Also, since it is customary to omit the A.D., the pretext that they do not want to "offend" is ruined by the fact that to place a C.E. in a place where there was NOTHING only actively offends those who believe it should be A.D. Do they really care about "offending"?

4) Lastly, such a designation as B.C.E. and C.E., (even were one to invent B.X.Y. and X.Y.), does not change the fact that this FOCAL POINT OF HISTORY is still THE BIRTH OF CHRIST with the SAME numbering scheme. So to change the "era" to "common" becomes rather silly.
Common to whom? It is basically only "common" to Christians of Western Civilization, who reverence that historical birth, and such Christians do not want such a change. It is by no means common to Jews, Moslems and Orientals who have a complete different numbering system.

What this issue boils down to is this:

Those who make that extra effort to write C.E. rather than leaving it customarily blank, are obviously making a statement of protest against Christ and what is left of Christian Society.
What is the origin of this abbreviation, and who is primarily responsible for its use? Looking at a 1930s Webster's Dictionary in the APPENDIX OF ABBREVIATIONS, we find "C.E." listed as: "Civil Engineer; Christian Endeavor; Church of England". Considering how often (if ever!) we have seen the abbreviation C.E. used for "Christian Endeavor", we can safely conclude that such an abbreviation for "Common Era" then, is either a new invention or, at the most, existed among a very, very small minority at that time. Research on the Internet for a clue as to what group invented such a term, reveals that the abbreviations B.C.E. & C.E. were created by the Jews.

The most revealing evidence can be found on a strictly Jewish web site designed by an Observant Jew. The web site contains everything of the basics of Judaism. One of the pages entitled, "Glossary of Jewish Terminology" states that, "Following is a partial list of Hebrew and Yiddish terms used on this web site". Among this list of HEBREW and YIDDISH terms can be found the abbreviations C.E. and B.C.E. even though they are abbreviations of English words! It is listed there as:

C.E.- Common (or Christian) Era. Used instead of A.D., because A.D.
means "the Year of our L-rd," and we do not believe that Christ is our L-rd.

Of course, as mentioned earlier, this pretext of "disbelief" does not explain its use when it is already customary to omit the A.D. It most certainly goes deeper than that. The internet research for "C.E." came upon a web page on medieval history mentioning "800-1200 C.E." authored by a Paul Eliasberg, a non-religious Jew from northern Europe. To Mr. Eliasberg was commented, "Using C.E. rather than the usual_nothing_ seems... to be a sort of outright protest to using A.D." Mr. Eliasberg responded, "It is. In a way I'm not just non-Christian but more anti-Christianity."

Another place on the Internet was found:

"As a boy in Jewish Sunday School I was taught to use B.C.E. and C.E. instead of B.C. and A.D."
And we find a statement by a man named Ken Jacobs:
"the BCE/CE convention began (AFAIK) with Maimonides, who proposed BCE/ACE (meaning no more or less than: before/after the start of the Christian Era) as a means of avoiding the utterance of `Anno Domini.'"

This is all understandable since this reflects the ancient Jewish tradition which forbade even the mention of the name of "Jesus" in a Jewish household. This is largely based on their religious books called the Talmud, considered to be a "sequel" to the Hebrew Bible, which were the basis of Jewish religious life. Such books are comprised of volumes and volumes of "rambling commentary" by Jewish Teachers who had no religious function whatsoever (since the Jewish Aaronic priesthood became extinct). Such were written in the 3rd, 4th and 5th centuries primarily as a response and opposition to Christianity.

Being that the "Jewish" subject is such a sensitive issue today, it would be well to quote a few Jewish sources below. Considering all of the "Jewish awareness" we have today in society, one may wonder why the content of the Talmud is not common knowledge by now:
"The Talmud was regarded almost as the supreme authority by the majority of Jews...Even the Bible was relegated to a secondary place."
- Jewish Encyclopedia

"The absolute superiority of the Talmud over the Bible of Moses must be recognized by all." - Archives Israelites

It is quite in accord with Jewish teaching to invent such a dating scheme because the Talmudic scholar Laible admits that during the period of the Talmudists hatred of Jesus became "the most national trait of Judaism", and that "the hatred and scorn of the Jews was always directed in the first place against the person of Jesus". In such writings, rather than use Jesus' name, they refer to Him as "dog", "sorcerer", "fool", "profane person", "liar", "impostor", etc.
"We must not forget that in the seventeenth century, scholars...had brought forth from oblivion old volumes of Hebrew polemic, written in refutation of the Trinity and Incarnation and attacking all dogmas and forms of Christianity with a bitterness entirely Judaic, and with all the subtlety of those peerless casuists who created the Talmud." - Bernard Lazare, "Anti-Semitism". 1903 A.D.

The purpose here is to give a strong and authoritative reason why the Jews would create BCE/CE and try to push it upon society. Of course, this does not imply that every Jew has such a thing in mind, nor that every Hebrew-blooded person is an anti-Christian. Basically, such a change is welcomed generally by any anti-Christian, but obviously has its origin in Jewish religious tradition.

Such a change to C.E. can only be effectively made within society were it to be promoted in the school system. In the confines of the student academic world we find the subtle conditioning of students to make them think that this change has already been made and is now a 'matter of fact'. Here we see this in a student exercise found on a proprietary educational site on the Internet:
"Performance Assessments-Social Studies." "Write a recommendation
for going back to B.C. and A.D., keeping new forms of B.C.E. and C.E.,
or using another pair of abbreviations."

It is strongly suggested that this tract be spread to others through e-mail and posted to computer forums. All are encouraged to put themselves in the habit of writing dates with an A.D. even if it means fighting the initial feeling of "nerdishness". It is a perfectly legitimate thing to do, and the subject is too important not to do something positive to counteract the de-Christianization of our country, and our world.

If anyone presents the false argument of "Separation of Church and State", give them the quote by the Supreme Court in 1892 A.D.:
"Our laws and our institutions must necessarily be based upon and embody the teachings of the Redeemer of mankind. It is impossible that it should be otherwise; and in this sense and to this extent our civilization and our institutions are emphatically Christian."

(c) 1997 The Catholic Dispatch cdia@earthlink.net http://home.earthlink.net/~cdia
REPRINT FREELY WITH THIS INFORMATION.





If you get your Church bulletins from Liguori Publications, you will find that they are now using the Jewish B.C.E. and C.E. instead of the Christian B.C. and A.D.. It has happened several times, and by different writers. This is anti-Christian, anti-Catholic, and anti-Christ.
The latest example is dated September 27, 1998 and is on the front page of the bulletin in an article by John F. Craghan.
Two previous examples were in the June 21, 1998, and September 6, 1998 editions of the bulletin in articles by Elsie Hainz McGrath.
I have raised objection twice with Liguori Publications and they have responded with "theologians are telling them to do it". Please take note, they said "theologians" and not the Vatican.
The URL for Liguori Publications is:
http://www.liguori.org/



Here are a few more notes on the subject which I acquired from various sources...

The point within this small section is to acquaint the reader with the terms "BCE/CE" which the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society (Jehovahs Witnesses) employ instead of B.C. or A.D.. B.C. stands for "Before Christ" and A.D. stand for "Anno Domini" or "In the Year of our Lord", clearly Godly, Christian terminology.


Instead of using these simple terms, the WTB&TS use B.C.E (Before the Common Era) and C.E. (Common Era) to depict time. The WTB&TS does not explain why they have decided to use this terminology instead of the commonly used terminology, they simply just state what the terms means and continue in their explanation of what the Old Testament contains (39 Books) and that the New Testament contains 27 Books.

I never dreamed this would turn out to be a sinister as it did. It turns out that only Christians have ever used the terms "B.C." and "A.D.". Jewish people use the terms "Before the Common Era" and "Common Era" because they deny the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

As a boy in Jewish Sunday School I was taught to use B.C.E. (Before the Common Era) and C.E.(Common Era) instead of B.C. and A.D.. Since A.D. refers to "Year of our Lord" and Jews do not recognize Jesus as the lord we avoided the usual term.

The references are to "Before the Common Era" (B.C.E.) and the "Common Era" (C.E.). They are related to B.C. and A.D., but avoid somewhat the Christocentric implications of those initials.

Someone wrote that these stand for Before the Current Era and Current Era. This is close, but not quite. They stand for Before the Common Era, and Common Era. This is a way of stating times in a non-Christian way, since they make no reference to Christ, as B.C. and A.D. do. Not everyone is Christian, which is why B.C.E. and C.E. are now used more often than B.C. and A.D. Hope this helped.

What does B.C.E. & C.E. mean and why does the Jewish community use them rather than B.C. & A.D.?
Our Question and Pastor R-----'s Answer...
Dear Pastor R-----, I am confused as to why the Jewish people and a lot of people dealing with the Bible and Israel date history using B.C.E. and C.E. rather than the most common used B.C. and A.D.. Is there a Jewish reason?

Dear Bev, shalom,
This is a fast but pointed answer, but I know you can quickly get more information by looking at the local public library. Research on our calendar's development, ok.? So, a simple help will do from me. B.C., meaning "before Christ," & A.D., meaning "in the year of our Lord", are abbreviations primarily used/developed by Christians. Their use implies the acceptance of Jesus Christ as divine, a concept rejected by traditional rabbinic Judaism. Hence, in Jewish scholarship B.C.E., meaning "before the Common Era," & C.E., meaning the "Common Era," were introduced to draw a distinction between Christian and Jewish belief.


Interestingly, the fallacy of this belief is, no matter if they use AD-BC or CE-BCE, the time of the transition is still the same, and what or who caused that transition? So what have they gained?


The simple reason why the WTB&TS does not use BC or AD is because they wish to distance their members from the Lordship of Jesus Christ. They refuse to acknowledge Him in all their ways. Also, they forget that someday every knee will bow and every tongue will confess, to the glory of God the Father, that Jesus Christ is Lord!
(Philippians 2:11) Dan 7:25, Acts 10:15,11:9

As you can plainly see, the use of C.E. and B.C.E. are strictly anti-Christian and anti-Catholic. We Christians should be alert to this, yet another attempt, to remove Christ from our lives. It is appalling that Catholic organizations such as Liguori Publications are aiding and abetting yet another crucifixion of Christ.
Liguori! Why are you doing this? What possible reason could you have for removing Christ from our time measure which has been used for centuries?

I urge all Christians who love Jesus Christ to stand up and let your voices be heard, that we will not tolerate these modernist liberal intrusions into our traditional values.
One priest on EWTN devoted his homily to this subject, and he stated,
ALL CATHOLICS SHOULD NOT USE B.C.E AND C.E., BUT SHOULD CONTINUE USING A.D. AND B.C..
I certainly will..., will you?



Compiled by Bob Stanley, October 10, 1998

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