196-7, College Press Publishing Company, 1996., 4 Tertullian, Apologeticus, Chapter 21, 19 cited in Bouw, G. D. (1998, Spring). If your sunset occurs later than sunset in Athens, the event may occur on the previous day . The timing of this "eclipse" referred to by Phlegon is similar to the event described in the Gospels. Thus the New Moon is not visible. 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. About two weeks after the New Moon is the Full Moon, which corresponds to Passover. This is done carefully in Humphreys book [1]. 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. On Marvels consists of "anecdotes culled from sources as diverse as the Greek poet Hesiod and the Roman natural historian Pliny the Elder. Thus, in their mindset, Jesus could say "three days and three nights" and the Jews would not have understood that this had to be a full 72 hours. 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. We do however have important sections of Phelgon's work, which are critical in dating the Crucifixion. It should then not come as a surprise to us that Pliny, who scorned the idea of God and religion (cfNatural HistoryI, 5), would pass over in silence this world-portent now claimed by and associated with the Christian religion, which wasat that time he wrotea portent of a persecuted, criminal and maligned sect. . Astronomical calculation will help with this, but we first need to answer the day of the week question. First, is what I would call deduction from all available information. 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. This earthquake would have been massive to be felt in Israel and Turkey at the same timethink of the catastrophe! The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) keeps a database of what are called "significant" earthquakes. He referred to a description by Phlegon of an eclipse accompanied by earthquakes during the reign of Tiberius: that 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. earthquake! Or will you go to the place of separation from God in the afterlife? 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. Why would the Apostles allude to a darkness their hearers and readersknewdid not happen? He inadvertently dated the darkness at noon on the day of Crucifixion in his work, The Olympiades. 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. There is much that can be brought into the discussion here about the Jewish calendar and Sabbath. 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. 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? [citation needed]. 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." There are a variety of opinions on this question. 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). But consider how do we know anything about history? This needs to be updated they just found evidence if quake from 26 to 36ad. At New Moon, the Moon is positioned between the Sun and the Earth with the dark side of the Moon facing the Earth. II 21 [2], 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. [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!! March 25, 2018: With the arrival of Holy Week, I am reposting this article on the historicity of the Crucifixion darkness, originally posted April 13, 2017. I would not always agree with him on some interpretational points but he does well in analyzing the crucifixion date question. (LogOut/ The darkness during the crucifixion. But why is this significant, if it doesnt even validate darkness during the Crucifixion as referenced in the Gospels? 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. It is believed to be an 8.2-magnitude earthquake. this objectionis something of a fallacious argument. The Olympiades can be used as a useful means of establishing a time-line. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. 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. Edit them in the Widget section of the, Repost: The Historicity of the Crucifixion Darkness. Elsewhere in this same work, Origen wrote in relation to the Crucifixion darkness: And with regard to the eclipse in the time ofTiberius Csar, in whose reign Jesus appears to have been crucified, and the great earthquakes which then took place, Phlegon too, I think, has written in the thirteenth or fourteenth book of his Chronicles (Contra Celsus II, 33). The fourth year of the 202nd Olympiad was in 33 A.D.!!! If your sunset occurs later than sunset in Athens, the event may occur on . To me it seems the place to start with deduction from all the available information is with John the Baptist. To home he may gobut, it must be with his tail between his legs. 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. Some Christian scholars argue Jesus was crucified on Thursday and some even hold to a Wednesday crucifixion. Africanus refutes the attempt of Thallus to explain away this darkness as being a regular solar eclipse. The earthquake and RARE darkness for three hours couldn't be ignored by secular writers. The placement in time within the text is just too precise. This information would be every unlikely to have been added at a later time due to its specificity in time. Some events regarding the life of Christ and the life of Paul the Apostle, which are mentioned in the New Testament can be dated. Note that the path of this eclipse was over present-day Russia. Phlegon's ``Olympiads" (2nd century) says that Christ's crucifixion was in the 4th year of the 202nd Olympiad (AD 29-33), when a total solar eclipse occurred in the 6th hour. He said, "A day and a night are an Onah, and the portion of an Onah is as the whole of it." Updated May 2013 He was smartly dressed, flamboyant and gregarious. (see Figure 2 below). and this is shown by the historical account of Tiberius Caesar. Philopon, De. Check Huffpost. This is especially significant I think because no other significant earthquakes turned up in Israel for the entire range of years from 25 to 35 AD. 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. He wrote extensively about natural phenomena earthquakes and such. 4th year of the 202nd Olympiad. He was a Greek historian who lived in Asia Minor during the first century. 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. 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. 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. This does not necessarily coincide with the Crucifixion darkness, and it doesnt have to. Phlegon of Karia recorded both of these events in Chronicle of the Olympiad. Unfortunately, no one of those three pairs, that is, recorded event vs. eclipse, is a perfect fit or a harmonious pair. The darkness and earthquake were evident not just in Jerusalem but also in Nicea which is over 300 miles away from Jerusalem! 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