A question which seldom crosses our minds. Why are some dates marked with A.D. and others with C.E.?
A.D. – Anno Domini Nostri Jesu Christi – is a historical abbreviation for the years after the epoch – the supposed date of Jesus’s incarnation – of the Gregorian Calendar. There has been an effort to secularise the Christian historical date system since the 1700s. With the intention of referring to eras utilised by various civilizations, especially the Gregorian calendar in Western Christian nations, the term Common Era (C.E.) came into being. Governments nowadays prefer to use C.E. in order to be more religiously inclusive, but is this necessarily a good thing?
We must delve beyond the surface and recognize that, regardless of the notation or suffix, the dating system is a Christian one, conceived by Christian priests and scholars and subsequently imposed on others by Christians. Therefore, what many would say is that there is no point of hiding that it is a Christian system and idea. Moreover, some would even say that the creator of the system – the monk Dionysius Exiguus – should be at the very least respected by keeping his original name for it.
And as for secularism and religious inclusion? Well, the strictly monotheistic religions of Islam and Judaism avoid idolatry in all forms, and referring to Jesus as Our Lord risks crossing into the most serious sin in both religions. Therefore, people following both religions would object to the abbreviation referring to Jesus. Moreover, since the system is used globally, the majority of people, who are not Christian, would question why they are required to conform to Western ideas and religion, considering that the Gregorian dating system is used globally.
This subsequently raises another question which is definitely more relevant now: Should we stick to conservative tradition, or replace it with a more modern view which conforms to liberal standards and seems less offensive to some? This can be approached in many different ways – my grandpa, for example, may argue that people are “too soft nowadays” and “get offended over the tiniest things” while my friends may advocate for and support more modern views on such.
In the end, it all comes down to where you are coming at it from, and specifically perspective. Strict traditionalist members of the church have completely different views to liberals on issues like this, for example, and it all comes down to perspective and opinion. What would you think about this?
