The Riddle of the Calendar
Why was the calendar changed?
by Charles Kalisky
N o o n e s t o p s to ask for an. ex planation of what is perhaps the most extraordinary fact in the world — the fact that all civilized time is dated from the birth of Jesus Christ. This is the 64th year o f the twentieth century; and from what event are those 1964 years counted? From the birth o f a Jew, Who, on the skep tical theory, if He ever existed at all, was nothing more than a manual laborer in an obscure province of a now defunct empire in a far-off age; Who wrote no book, made no discovery, invent ed no philosophy, built no tem ples, and Who died when, as men count years, He had scarce ly reached His prime—and died the death of a criminal. And even be fore His death the little band of disciples He had succeeded in gathering together all forsook and left Him! This is a story that has every characteristic and ele ment o f defeat and failure. Yet civilized time is dated from the birth of this Jew. The centuries carry His signature and the years of the modern world by universal consent are counted from the time of His birth. And nobody knows for sure
how this extraordinary datum mark began to be used or when or by whom it was established. Not one educated man out o f a thou sand can tell, off-hand, why all civilized calendars are reckoned from that distant birth in a tiny Jewish village in Palestine. Every morning all the newspapers o f the civilized world, although some of them have in their columns at tacks in one form or another on Jesus Christ, adjust their date to His birth. Almanacs, Acts of Congress and Parliaments, busi ness and politics, literature and the very dates on our letters and checks all unconsciously bear tes timony to the birth of this Jew so long ago. From the dawn o f history there have been many great men whose contributions have left indelible marks on history, culture and civilization. The dialogues o f Soc rates, the philosophy o f Plato and the plays of Shakespeare are studied in every college in the world. Nor is education consid ered adequate unless the achieve ments o f such great, historical figures as Hannibal, Alexander the Great, Galileo, Newton, Roent gen and Einstein and many oth-
ers are known. These great fig ures have profoundly changed the direction of science, and some of the things they taught or discov eries they made have reached in to and changed rad ica lly our everyday life. Yet, outside the college campus who can state just when or where these great bene factors of mankind were bom? None of them have left their mark on time itself, although we may all derive some benefit from their contributions to knowledge. No M a t e r ia l A c c o m p l is h m e n t s Time is dated from the birth of a Jew of Whom we know so lit tle. He came from an insignifi cant village in an obscure part of the great Roman Empire; we are not even sure what language He spoke in his home; and of the first thirty years o f His life we know p ra ctica lly nothing. The only record we have gives precise details of the facts concerning His birth and the last thirty-six months preceding His trial and execution on a Roman gallows. He led no great armies to victory, nor conquered worlds, nor subjugated masses of people; He founded no dynasty, propounded no new phi losophy, and at His death the small group o f peasants who had
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