What the eyes can't see 54

Understanding the basics(Part4)
I have decided to spend more time than originally planed, on setting up our basic time line because for all further studies we will refer back to it and even build on it. Most people never have to deal with historical dates after finishing school, and most do not have interests, jobs, or hobbies that require such information. But once a person embarks on a serious study of the Bible, it soon becomes obvious that some knowledge about the history of Bible times is necessary, in order to fully understand the panorama of events, one reads about in the Bible. The question is, how much detail about dates is necessary. Many may never have read the whole Bible to get the complete story. As we continue our studies we will find that it not necessary to know exact dates, like when king David was born. But we do need to know the order of events as they happened, like David living a thousand years before Christ etc. If one of our jobs as disciples of Jesus is to reach out and make more disciples for Him, then we all need to learn to be "teachers of the basics"

One such basic historical concept that needs to be emphasized before moving on is the very simple distinction between dates "A.D." and "B.C."—and what these abbreviations stand for. Hundreds of years after the time Jesus lived on the earth, scholars decided to attempt to use the year of His birth as the "focal" point of history. All dates before His birth would be a certain number of years "B.C.-Before Christ. All dates after His birth would be "A.D."—which is an abbreviation of the Latin phrase Anno Domini. The word "Anno" refers to the concept of "year"Thus Anno Domini means "The Year of Our Lord", referring to the Lordship of Jesus.

In recent years, many groups have reacted unfavorably to the notion that they should use what is, after all, a "Christian" definition of time. "World religions" such as Judaism, Islam, and committed atheists. Realizing that they cannot possibly get the whole world to accept some totally new method of dating at this point in history, they have dealt with the issue by a symbolic change of the abbreviations used. Thus you may frequently see dates now that use the terms "B.C.E." and "C.E.." The C.E. stands for "Common Era", meaning the "commonly used system" of dating. And the B.C.E. stands for "Before the Common Era". We must take time to get to know all the basics, in order to get the fuller picture of the deeper truths.
I am currently setting up a web site to host these studies, but if you would like a printable version of these pages, send your name and E-Mail address to kenbrucegraham@gmail.com and I will send you copies. I will also be introducing a question and answer section.