THE JULIAN CALENDAR FOR 30 AD

Which calendar is more accurate for 30 AD? Is it the Gregorian or the Julian?

Please consider the following example of a train station. In the station there is an old clock that no one bothers to clean.  As a result of not being cleaned it is losing time, and at this point it is five hours slow.

At this location of the train station there is a small group of people who set their watches according to the old clock.  Another group sets theirs by the station master’s clock which is set at the correct time.  A train is scheduled to arrive at 10 o’clock according to the time shown on the station master’s clock.

Those waiting hear the train coming.  Those using the inaccurate time say that the train came in at 5 o’clock, but the station master has the correct time of 10 o’clock. Mr. Coulter and any others who did the Jewish calendar you are referring to are repeating the time the first group used.

As has been pointed out the Julian calendar was in effect for 1,627 years, and because it uses a 365 day year, being .2442 of a day short of the actual year, accumulating the error 1627 years times .2442, or 394 days.  As recorded, Pope Gregory only had to make a 10 day correction, which meant that the Julian calendar had many corrections made during the 1627 years. Using the Julian dates builds errors into the system being used, unless you have an accurate account of when each change occurred.   

Biblical chronologists do not use the Julian calendar when doing Bible timelines. They use BC Gregorian dates because of the accuracy, and this is exactly what is used in the Calendar Generator found at www.biblicalcalendarproof.com    

Mr. Coulter and a few others are recording what that clock inside the station shows – a difference of 5.  They accurately report what the clock shows; it is just that the clock they are using has the wrong time.

Though you may accurately report what the people of that time were using does not make what they were using correct. The Julian calendar had many accumulated flaws which are acknowledged by Bible chronologists.

As pointed out earlier, their calculations were not accurate.  It is agreed that the Gregorian calendar is the accurate calendar, so the date for 30 AD should be April 10th - not April 5th.

Sincerely,

Don Roth