This information was considered reliable at the time because Origen (in 248 CE) quoted it to refute Celsus (Against Celsus II:14,33,59), a Greek philosopher very critical of Christianity but familiar with history. 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. Phlegons 13th book quoted in Jeromes translation of Eusebius Chronicle, 202 Olympad. 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.". There was a great earthquake in Bithynia, and many things were overturned in Nicaea." There was a great earthquake in Bithynia, and many things were overturned in Nicaea. [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!! Properly working out the Jewish calendar shows this to work for AD 33 (see C. Humphreys). The Romans, for example, are known to have have kept archives which included data on eclipses of the moon and sun. Modern science validates the sources Phlegon used for compiling his writings and also validates the transcribers who referenced the material several hundred years later. It even mentions buildings collapsing in Nicea, which would be over 1,000 miles Northwest from Jerusalem by land. 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. College Press Publishing Co. Joplin, Missouri. Christ still changes lives like he did in the first century. Those who were not aware that this had been predicted about Christ, no doubt thought it an eclipse. Therefore the year of the crucifixion is A.D 33. The audience began to show its disdain. We also know from the New Testament that at that time Caiaphas was the Jewish High Priest (Caiaphas is mentioned in Jewish writings) and Pilate was the Roman governor of Judea. This is the first of the gospels, written some time between38 and 45 A.D. Barton, Bill, This webpage quotes John Lightfoot explaining the "onah" concept. [citation needed]. The timing of this "eclipse" referred to by Phlegon is similar to the event described in the Gospels. Some of the students had come just to harass the speakers. Phlegon of Tralles (Ancient Greek: Flegon o Trallianos) was a Greek writer and freedman of the emperor Hadrian, who lived in the 2nd century AD. If we know the day of the week that the crucifixion took place on, this can be used to rule out a number of the possible years (in the range from AD 26 to AD 36). What about all the other earthquakes that have hit California in the first part of the 20th century? The first Olympiad was conducted in 776 BC. Copyright Like The Master Ministries. So, these historical extrabiblical sources are also consistent with the AD 33 date. If your sunset occurs later than sunset in Athens, the event may occur on the previous day . 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 have already seen there is strong reason to believe a record of the Crucifixion darkness was held in the Roman archives. Contact Dr Richard Kent and recommendations, Bible Prophecy Concerning The Crucifixion, The Blood Covenant In Relation To The Crucifixion, Recording of The Crucifixion by Contemporary Historians, The Three Hour Period Of Darkness Is Confirmed By Many Historians, The Ad 33 Date Of The Crucifixion According To Phlegon, A Secular Greek Historian, The Ad 33 Date Of The Crucifixion From Bible Prophecy, Caiaphas Prophesied About The Crucifixion, In Gethsemane Jesus Sweated Blood, The Disciples Slept, And Judas Betrayed Jesus Christ, Judas Iscariot Betrayed Jesus Christ For Thirty Pieces Of Silver, The Timing Of The Night Before The Crucifixion, Jesus Christ Stood In Our Place At The Six Trials, Jesus Was Condemned To Death For "blasphemy", The Crowd Choose Barabbas Rather Than Jesus. The audience was quieter now and gave the speakers the respectful hearing that they deserved. . this objectionis something of a fallacious argument. So that means there has been at least some investigation of it by geologists though I do not know how much. It cannot be denied that Pliny the Elder wrote on topics like eclipses of the sun. 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. In fact, it is also quite impossible for a solar eclipse to last for 3 hours. Jesus Christ's crucifixion is one of the most important events in the history of the world. The above said, we may venture still further in suggesting another reason for theseemingsilence. 4th year of the 202nd Olympiad. One problem with AD 30 being the crucifixion is that it does not allow enough time for Jesus ministry. !, The audience was rowdy now. 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. We know that Jesus was crucified in the Spring, at the time of the Passover. 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 diagram below will help to clarify this. The next piece of the puzzle is to determine if Jesus indeed was crucified on a Friday. There is more historical evidence to support the three hour period of darkness, and therefore of the Crucifixion, in 33 AD than almost any other ancient event in history! 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. earthquake! 1 Maier, Paul. "[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. We will analyze from two perspectives: one that asserts both Phlegons writing to be uncompromised and authentic, and one that assumes Phlegon has been compromised and is unauthentic. The madness of the skeptic is such that they would have us believe sources which are silent, over those which speak. Early Christian writers, such as Origen, Africanus and Eusebius, also cited a 2nd century writer, Phlegon, as having written of the Crucifixion darkness. However, Eusebius, in book 2 of Chronicle (Chronicon, quoted by Jerome), actually quotes Phlegon, with no mention of Jesus or a three hour darkness. That is a nearly impossible standard to meet. 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. These aspects of the problem are critical and it shows the Jewish mindset about the calendar and counting days was quite different than our modern mindset. 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. For the Hebrews celebrate the passover on the 14th day according to the moon, and the passion of our Saviour fails on the day before the passover; but an eclipse of the sun takes place only when the moon comes under the sun. Thus geological data seem to confirm the 33 AD date. Thank You Father :). How could the science not possibly confirm this level of coincidence? I would not always agree with him on some interpretational points but he does well in analyzing the crucifixion date question. The maximum duration for a total solar eclipse is seven minutes, not three hours, and at the latitude of Jerusalem the maximum duration is even less. The astronomical science tells us there was no solar eclipse over Bithynia in that year. About two weeks after the New Moon is the Full Moon, which corresponds to Passover. He lives near Atlanta with his family. 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. Historical Testimony Why would the Apostles allude to a darkness their hearers and readersknewdid not happen? At Fatima, the miracle was localized though still within many miles of the town. I will follow the work of Cambridge professor Colin Humphreys based on his book, "The Mystery of the Last Supper," published in 2011 [1]. Clearly, Peter and his hearers had seen the sun darken. mund. All Rights Reserved. The ancient Olympic Games were held every four years for almost 1,100 years. Two short works by him are extant. I will not go through all the information in Colin Humphrey's book but I will try to summarize the evidence as I see it. This darkness Thallus, in the third book of his History, calls, as appears to me without reason, an eclipse of the sun. Africanus disputed an attempt by Thallus (a first century historian) to specifically explain the Crucifixion darkness in this way. The young minister was painfully uncomfortable standing in front of a largely secular group of college students. TheActs of the Apostlesrecounts Peters words on Pentecost. He made a famous statement to explain how days were counted for certain ceremonial purposes. 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. 27:63, Mark 8:31, Mark 9:31, Mark 10:33-34, and John 2:19. However, these are all unlikely candidates as their timing is off from the Olympiad calendar. A secondline of argument for the crucifixion date comes from historical testimony and the weight of opinion of Christian scholars through history. Thus, his statement taken in whole does not exclude that there may have been other unusually long eclipses of the sun of which he was awareperhapsmanymorebut regarding which he did not elaborate. Africanus make it rather evident that Thallus was specifically addressing this darkness i.e., the three hour darkness at the time of the Crucifixion and not any other. This historical puzzle shows the historical accuracy of the New Testament in a number of ways. 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.). This Is A Perfect Picture Of The Gospel, The Crown Of Thorns, And The Mocking Of Jesus, The Wound Between The 5th And 6th Right Ribs, The Fulfilment Of Prophecy Concerning The Unbroken Bones, The Anatomical And Physiological Details Of Death By Crucifixion, The Rejection Experienced By Jesus On The Cross, The Discovery By Ron Wyatt In 1982 Of The Ark Of The Covenant, A Brief Overview Of The New Covenant In The Blood Of The Messiah, And The Biblical Support For The Blood On The Mercy Seat. Are you sure that you will enter heaven to be with God in the afterlife? Dont believe me? In reply. Thesestatements reveal several key things: 1. This may seem hard to accept for some. An earthquake occurred in Bythinia and overthrew a great part of the city of Nicaea" . Certainly, other ancient writers, most notably Pliny the Elder (23 79 AD), would have written of a three hour darkness had it really happened. With this principle in mind, let us now consider the evidence. Read more . Die Fragmente der Griechischen Historiker. 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. A great earthquake occurred during Christs death. source:http://www.numachi.com/~ccount/hmepa/calendars/202.html. 26:61, Matt. 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. 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's greatest work was the writing of a history book, called The Olympiades. He takes the Bible at face value rather than questioning the details in Scripture in some way, which I believe is the right approach. First, there are differences between the synoptic gospels in the New Testament and the gospel of John that have puzzled Bible scholars. He was, therefore, about 4 years old at the turn from BCE to CE. Trallianus, Olympiades: In the fourth year of the 202nd Olympiad, [AD 32-33] a failure of the Sun took place greater than any previously known, and night came on at the sixth hour of the day [noon], so that stars actually appeared in the sky; and a great earthquake took place in Bithynia and overthrew the greater part of Niceaea," Tradition informs us that Marks gospel derives directly from Peters oral preaching in Rome (seehere). This research again confirms Phlegons writing. Why preach something that was manifestly untrue? 12:40, Matt. 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. I will address that below as well. Last month: Next month: new 11:37 32/06/26 UTC : 1: 32-06-27/28: Noumenia kata Selene : 2: 32-06-28/29: Agathos Daimon : 3: 32-06-29/30: Athene : 4: 32- . 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. What Was Achieved By Jesus At The Crucifixion? Therefore, it is possible Phlegons source witnessed the Crucifixion darkness from there at the same hoursuggesting the darkness and earthquakes reached far beyond the region around Jerusalem. Phlegon, born about A.D. 80, was a secular historian who lived in the second century. Roman historical sources confirm that Jesus Christ lived on Earth and died by crucifixion. . . The expression "three days and three nights" then becomes a special idiom that had a different meaning to the Jews than the way we would use it today. Required fields are marked *. AWESOME I had read so many "time lines" and prophetic explanations. No, but again, it doesnt have to either. Is there any evidence of global or regional darkness in 36CE? 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? He was smartly dressed, flamboyant and gregarious. 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. We do not know what other sources that Africanuswho established a library for Severus Alexander might have had at his disposal with regard to Phlegons writings. In October, I will perform a miracle here so that all may believe. . "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." One of the geological sources is from a British scientific conference in 1853 and the other is from 1985, from a geological conference in Japan. "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 Phlegons citation is a fragment from Olympiades he Chronika 13, ed. Jesus was born whilst Herod, the Great, was still alive; we know he died in BCE and on 1st April 4BCE. It would be interesting to model the varying sizes, speeds, and distances required from the earth to account for the period of darkness on that hypothesis. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Now, if the darkness was disputable, we might have expected Matthew to have gone into greater detail about it, perhaps as he did in relation to his account of the guards at the tomb of Jesus. It is believed to be an 8.2-magnitude earthquake. He can be contacted at StevenOReilly@AOL.com. 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. It was recorded by a Pagan author who had no desire to promote Christianity yet he confirmed the Bible record! . The Crucifixion darknesswould have been observable to many hundreds of thousands of peopleif not millions. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Age of Isaiah Scroll Scientifically Predates Jesus, Earliest Records of the Gospel Accounts of the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Corroborate the Modern Text, http://www.numachi.com/~ccount/hmepa/calendars/202.html, http://www.deadseaquake.info/was-there-really-an-earthquake-on-the-day-that-jesus-died/, Mara Bar Serapion Confirms Early Reference to Jesus, Rome Confirms the Existence of Christianity, Phlegon of Tralles Scientifically Established as a Credible Source on Jesus. The written testimony from outside the Bible confirms some of the main events, people, and places mentioned in the New Testament. In the verses above, Peter cites a scripture which speaks of various signs which God did by Him, inclusive of thesun being darkenedand the moon turning red. He asks for your prayers for his intentions. We believe that the event referred to by Phlegon is the same event that is recorded in the New Testament. 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. Just for reference, Nicea is in western Turkey, approximately where the city of Bursa is. 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. (Mark 15: 33), And it was almost the sixth hour; and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. . Thus the New Moon is not visible. There were Jewish, Christian, and Roman writers from the first and second centuries that refer to Christ and the crucifixion. To recap, according to Eusebius' Chronicon tables, the 2nd year of the 202nd Olympiad is equated alongside the 16th year of Tiberius. Emma Southon: "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them". At some time during that twelve months occurred the darkness over Asia in which lay Bithynia and Nicea to which Phlegon refers. An earthquake occurred in Bythinia and overthrew a great part of the city of Nica. 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. and a seismic event that happened sometime between the years 26 and 36. 776 BC = Olympiad 1, not 0. The crucifixion darkness, even if a natural phenomena, would still be miraculous for its timing, ordained by God. 4th year of the 202nd Olympiad. 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. 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. 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). From historical sources telling when these individuals were in office you can show that the possible range of years of the crucifixion to be from AD 26 to AD 36. An unknown, massive astronomical body passing through the solar system or on long period orbit, transiting between the earth and sun? And I will shew wonders in the heaven above, and signs on the earth beneath: blood and fire, and vapour of smoke. For example, the first year of Olympiad 140 began in the summer of 220 BC and lasted until the middle of . Pure speculation. (Sextus Julius Africanus,Fragment 18. AD 33 is too early for his crucifixion, surely. whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. Note that I am oversimplifying a number of calendar complications that are worked out in Humphrey's book. Those who heard Peter preach in Rome would have previously known about this darkness in several ways, including: (1) having witnessed it firsthand in Rome if it had been a universal darkness; (2) hearing of it from travelers to Rome; and or (3) through letters or official reports received from the provinces, the latter of which were kept in the Roman archives. [CDATA[*/ var d = new Date(); var n = d.getFullYear(); document.getElementById('getYear').innerHTML = n; /*]]>*/ Christian Evidence. Only one earthquake in this span of years came up in the results, in 33 AD The database showed two published geological sources regarding this earthquake. subject for a long time and yours is the best Ive discovered till now. Gary R. Habermas. With these things in mind, I would like to provide some thoughts on the historicity of one particular event that is said to have occurred on the afternoon Our Lord was crucified. However, we might venture to reasonably speculate why Plinyif he had known of the Crucifixion darknesschosenot to include it in his examples. There is little doubt that this information was passed from ancient source to ancient source before it reached Phlegon; however; its place in historical writings is scientifically confirmed nearly 2 millenia later. (Jerome) [4]. 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. On this site you can do a search for earthquakes essentially anywhere in the world, including through history. A few verses later in Matthew 27:51 it is recorded that there was an earthquake at the exact moment that Jesus died. To me it seems the place to start with deduction from all the available information is with John the Baptist. The 12 Foundation Stones in New Jerusalem. The facts were recorded in a historical account of Tiberius. 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. Next, let us consider the argument with regard to theGospel of Mark. Thus, if the quote is accurate, and Phlegon's eclipse has . Sure, there is a degree of speculation as to whether this actually was an occurrence during the Crucifixion (I fully realize there a 10-year swing is 3650-ish days according to modern calendar, which means a .0274% chance that it was on the actual day), but here again is evidence that the transcription from ancient origins thatPhlegon relied on and passed to writers who referenced his collected materials is scientifically plausible. On this day, Christians recall especially that part of the Creed in which we affirm of Jesus Christ: for our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate, he suffered, died and was buried. These things we affirm to be historical facts. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. Is this a powerful confirmation of the events described in the New Testament? This one too is during the 202ndOlympiad, although in the first year, not the fourth. He was athletically built and his firm, steady voice brought the audience to a hush. At New Moon, the Moon is positioned between the Sun and the Earth with the dark side of the Moon facing the Earth. Thus, the Christian apologist Tertullian (155-240 A.D) could still say to the Romans in the late second century A.D. with regard to the Crucifixion darkness: And yet, nailed upon the cross, He exhibited many notable signs, by which His death was distinguished from all others. In either case, many would have witnessed it. There are writings from Roman, Jewish, and Christian writers all known as good historians who mention Jesus Christ in some way, often as they write about Christians. The fourth year of the 202nd Olympiad was in 33 A.D.!!! 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. Otto Keller, Rerum Naturalium Scriptores Graeci Minores, 1 (Leipzig Teurber, 1877), p. 101., 2 Julius Africanus, Extant Writings, XVIII in The AnteNicene Fathers, ed. VI, p. 130, as cited in Gary R. Habermas, The Historical Jesus: Ancient Evidence for the Life of Christ, (Joplin, MO: College Press Publishing Company), 1996., 3 Habermas, Gary. Now consider if this were either all fake or unauthentic; Christian historians have used this writing to cite as an extra-biblical account of the Gospel accounts and opponents have used the writing to discredit the theory as contrived. Zero as a mathematical number in the Greco-Roman world was a later invention. Phlegon would have had no way to misreport an actual earthquake that hit in the region, because the region has the history to confirm the account passed to him. Phlegon provides powerful confirmation, identifying the year and the exact time of day. Little is known about Phlegon, but he made reference to Christ. 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. To God nothing is impossible. Bugnolan Conclave in surprise move, elects Bergoglio! ? someone heckled from the back row. Next, we consider the Gospel of Matthew. In his book Chronicle of the Olympiad he records a miracle mentioned in the New Testament. I have wondered if an astronomical body accounted for some aspects of the Deluge, such tidal effects on the waters.

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