Among these is a very interesting quote below from a Christian scholar quoting an earlier Roman historian named Phlegon (first and second century). His boyish face was flush and confident now. This earthquake would have been massive to be felt in Israel and Turkey at the same timethink of the catastrophe! This is a clear Bible prophecy foretelling that God would cause the punishment for our sins to fall upon Jesus. In addition, he writes of an earthquake accompanying the darkness, which is specifically recorded in Matthews Gospel (Matthew 27:51): Secular Geologist, Jefferson Williams of Supersonic Geophysical, and colleagues Markus Schwab and Achim Brauer of the German Research Center for Geosciences, researched the Dead Sea and revealed that at least two major earthquakes occurred: A widespread earthquake in 31 B.C. He dabbed the sweat from his pallid face and intoned Are you at peace with God? Phlegon was a Greek historian who wrote an extensive chronology around AD 137. In light of themassobservation and notoriety of a three hour darkness, it would not have made any sense for the Apostlesin preaching or writing about the truth of Christ to believers and nonbelievers aliketo have mentioned this darkness if it had notreallyhappened. subject for a long time and yours is the best Ive discovered till now. Thankfully we have a more detailed fragment from Phlegon's Olympiades: We know from the Bible that on the day of Crucifixion the Sun was darkened for three hours, and there was a great earthquake. I did a search for the years 25 through 35 AD for the nation of Israel. Thus says the LORD, Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me . Phlegon of Tralles was a first century secular Greek historian born not long after the Crucifixion. At Fatima, the miracle was localized though still within many miles of the town. Updated May 2013 At the sixth hour the day was turned into the darkness of night, so that stars were seen in the heaven; and there was a . 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?. 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. This is done carefully in Humphreys book [1]. Z's Blog - What Does The Prayer Really Say. Just for reference, Nicea is in western Turkey, approximately where the city of Bursa is. The difficulty in this is that it mentions three nights as well as three days. Ye men of Israel, hear these words:Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you, by miracles, and wonders, and signs, which God did by him, in the midst of you,as you also know: This same being delivered up, by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, you by the hands of wicked men have crucified and slain. 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. 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]. 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). So that means there has been at least some investigation of it by geologists though I do not know how much. whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. From the work of Phlegon we can work out the date of the Crucifixion. Pratt, John, webpage by astronomer John Pratt on Isaac Newtons approach to determining the date of the crucifixion. Is this a powerful confirmation of the events described in the New Testament? 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. An earthquake occurred in Bythinia and overthrew a great part of the city of Nica. Change). Martinus Nijhoff. 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. Tertullians statement certainly suggests he himself had seen the account of this world-portent. Otherwise, it would have been foolhardy of him to have made such a bold challenge to such sticklers for record keeping as the Romans, who could have proven him wrong. Your email address will not be published. The Resignation of Pope Benedict XVI: Now available through other book sellers, Roma Locuta Est Considers: Benepapism and the Munus vs. Ministerium (EpisodeII), Roma Locuta Est Considers: Introduction to Benepapism (Episode I). Many Christian scholars have come to question either the synoptic gospels or the gospel of John because of the difficulties of resolving questions about exactly when Jesus was crucified. 1 Maier, Paul. Conservative Christian speakers were a rarity on their campus and they wanted to make it rarer. At some time during that twelve months occurred the darkness over Asia in which lay Bithynia and Nicea to which Phlegon refers. It is impossible to have the Moon block the Sun at Full Moon, which is when Passover took place. So how should we understand the statement about Jesus being dead three days and three nights? 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. This is what Colin Humphrey's does well in his book, considering a variety of types of information. However, the sixth hour in Bithynia is also at the same time as the sixth hour in Jerusalem. This needs to be updated they just found evidence if quake from 26 to 36ad. Nisan was the month the Passover was celebrated, a very important time for the Jews commemorating their deliverance out of slavery in Egypt. He has written apologetic articles and is working on a historical-adventure trilogy, set during the time of the Arian crisis. The astronomical science tells us there was no solar eclipse over Bithynia in that year. Early Christian writers, such as Origen, Africanus and Eusebius, also cited a 2nd century writer, Phlegon, as having written of the Crucifixion darkness. Your email address will not be published. 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. 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 . You can be sure that faith in God is not blind faith. The first Olympiad was conducted in 776 BC. 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. Of all these verses, only Matt. From Friday evening at sunset to Saturday evening at sunset was an entire 24 hour day cycle, so it also counted as a day and a night. The Crucifixion darknesswould have been observable to many hundreds of thousands of peopleif not millions. (LogOut/ 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. [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!! So the daylight part of a day (or any part thereof) is an onah and the evening is an onah and the entire dark period of the night is also an onah. He was a Greek historian who lived in Asia Minor during the first century. It cannot be denied that Pliny the Elder wrote on topics like eclipses of the sun. 9 Of course, they only thought an eclipse had occurred. In Phlegon's Olympiades we are told it happened in the 4th year of the 202nd Olympiad which is AD 33. . (Jerome) [4]. Well, Phlegon does mention this guy named Jesus. Euse-bius, in his records of the year A.D. , quotes at length from Phlegon, who says that, in the fourth year of the 202nd Olympiad, there was a great and remarkable eclipse of the sun, above any that had happened before. A secondline of argument for the crucifixion date comes from historical testimony and the weight of opinion of Christian scholars through history. Volume 2 contains the quotes on this webpage. These historians even mention the darkening of the sky and the earthquake which the gospels describe at the time of the crucifixion. Now you may be asking yourself, why is this even relevant? 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? Furthermore, the greatest number of Christian scholars through history have held to AD 33 as the year of the crucifixion, though they may have had various views on the exact date and day of week on which it happened. This darkness Thallus, in the third book of his History, calls, as appears to me without reason, an eclipse of the sun. !, The audience was rowdy now. . 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 . 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. At New Moon, the Moon is positioned between the Sun and the Earth with the dark side of the Moon facing the Earth. What Was Achieved By Jesus At The Crucifixion? In 70 A.D., just forty years after the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, the city of Jerusalem and the Temple were utterly destroyed by the Romans and the surviving population carried off into captivity. "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. In fact, it is also quite impossible for a solar eclipse to last for 3 hours. (The Olympics began in 776 B.C., and by counting every fourth year you come to the 202 nd Olympiad, and the fourth year of same is 33 A.D.) Most Fr. However, what concerning the bottom line? He takes the Bible at face value rather than questioning the details in Scripture in some way, which I believe is the right approach. . The mention of three nights in this verse has prompted some to propose the crucifixion was on a Wednesday or a Thursday. 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. You yourselves have the account of the world-portent still in your archives. (Tertullian, Apologia 21) (Emphasis added). The above said, we may venture still further in suggesting another reason for theseemingsilence. The fourth year of the 202nd Olympiad was in 33 A.D.!!! We have no need to be dogmatic about precise numbers regarding His age at the time of His crucifixion. Therefore this is how Jesus could have been crucified on Friday and rise from the dead on Sunday, as Christian tradition and Biblical information have always said. Or has it been changed and contaminated by ambitious Christian defenders? No, but again, it doesnt have to either. 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. Adding these figures up, we find that Jesus began proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom of heaven when he was 33 years old. . earthquake! Zero as a mathematical number in the Greco-Roman world was a later invention. The Crucifixion darkness could certainly have been one of these excluded eclipses. However, whether there was or was not a Crucifixion darkness, it can not be proven from Pliny. Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the sorrows of hell, as it was impossible that he should be holden by it. (Acts 2: 14-24)[Emphasis and formatting added]. The dates of the Olympic Games, recorded in Phlegon's Olympiad In ancient Greece the Olympic Games were held in the July of the first year of each Olympiad, which was a 4 year period running from July to June of each succeeding year. But why is this significant, if it doesnt even validate darkness during the Crucifixion as referenced in the Gospels? 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. . 26:61, Matt. The New Testament records the three-hour darkness during Christs crucifixion (Matthew 27:45, Mark 15:33, Luke 23:4445). As explained, we believe that the darkness referred to by Phlegon is the same darkness referred to in Matthew 27:45. XIV), wrote that Phlegon, in his Chronicles, mentions Jesus: "Now Phlegon, in the thirteenth or fourteenth book, I think, of his Chronicles, not only ascribed to Jesus a knowledge of future events (although falling into confusion about some things which refer to Peter, as if they referred to Jesus), but also testified that the result corresponded to His predictions." This one too is during the 202ndOlympiad, although in the first year, not the fourth. It was recorded by a Pagan author who had no desire to promote Christianity yet he confirmed the Bible record! "[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. The darkness and earthquake were evident not just in Jerusalem but also in Nicea which is over 300 miles away from Jerusalem! The reality is, Plinys statement is not evidence against the Crucifixion darkness. opif. The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. All Rights Reserved. There too, nobody could give a plausible explanation. The Jews counted days and nights as if a portion counted like the whole, they did not think in terms of ellapsed time as we do today. The time from Friday 3 PM to sunset was counted as one day. this objectionis something of a fallacious argument. The astronomical science tells us there was no solar eclipse over Bithynia in that year. The evidence also shows it likely to have been a magnitude 5.5. 3) the 4th year of the 202nd Olympiad; being commonly associated with the March 19, 33 CE solar eclipse. 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? Moon phase and solar year events are shown on the day in Athens. This earthquake did not center near Jerusalem exactly but it was strong enough to be very noticable in effects at Jerusalem if it did damage in Nicea. Even more fascinating is the mention of an earthquake. And calculation makes out that the period of 70 weeks, as noted in Daniel, is completed at this time. Julius Africanus, Chronography, 18.1. Note that I am oversimplifying a number of calendar complications that are worked out in Humphrey's book. Bursa is approximately 600 miles from Jerusalem. 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. An unknown, massive astronomical body passing through the solar system or on long period orbit, transiting between the earth and sun? Rome had a Jewish community, and it is probable that word of the darkness would have reached and been known within it. /* Does Vanessa Nadal Speak Spanish, 21200 Nw 2nd Ave, Miami, Fl 33169, Articles F