The Irish standard., 1904-12-31

lie err, and if so, what was the nature
and extent of his error? Let us see.
The conclusion at which Dionysius ar
rived was that the Savior was born
in the year 745 Alb urbe condita. TAX
ing 754 A. U. @. as the year in which
Christ was born, am writing on oath
October, 1904, but if 1 insisted upon
historical and chronological accuracy
l should set down as the date of this
paper, not 1904, but 1911. This is
equivalent to saying that the birth of
Christ took place not in 754 \. U. c.,
but seven years before that time, viz,
in 747 \. U. G. This is a bold asser-
ton, but, happily, the proof is i'm
mediately forthcoming in the form Of
the three following propositions with
their respective proofs:
\. The Savior was not born after
$50 \. U. G.
b. Not born before TAG n. U. G.
c. He was born most probably in
747 y. U. c.
D. st. Matthew says iii. chap) that
the Savior was born during the reign
of Herod the Great
The Jewish Historian, Josephus.
tells us, or rather gives data, from
which it can be shown that Herod
died in the lunar month of Nissan, $50
A. U. G. The dates are: In the "Jew-
ish Antiquities we read-'Herod died
five days after he had put his son,
Antipater, to death, tliirty-four years
after he had caused Ambiguous to be
slain and thirty-seven years after he
had been declared king by the Rom
ans" We are, furthermore, informed
by the same authority that Herod was
declared king during the first consul
ship of Antonius Polio; i. e. in the
year III A. U. c.. and that Antigonus
was put to death at Antioch in III.
Now, by adding 81 to I'll, and 81 to
III, we get 751, or, making allowance
for the Jewish method of counting
part Of the year for the whole, we
get $50 A. U. G., as the year of Herod's
death. Again, Joseplus records the
fact that Herod died seven days before
the feast of Pasch. But the Pasch was
held on the 14th day of Nissan. Herod,
therefor, died on the 18th day of Nissan,
$50. But he was still alive when the
Savior was born (see St. Matt. H.
chap.). The inevitable conclusion, con-
sequently, is that Christ was not born
later than $50 A. G. U. In proof of
B. above: In the unanimous teaching
Of the early Christian Fathers that the
Savior was born at time when Rome
was at peace with the whole world,
st. Jerome says: Cali wars had then
ceased" and st. Augustine
Herod was reigning in Judea, and
Caesar Augustus was Emperor, the
whole world being in state of peace,
Christ was born" Then we learn from
the writings of the historians, Sen
tonius and Dio, that there was such
a peace three times during the reign
Of Augustus, viz, in 726, 729 and TAG.
But Christ was not born during the
first or second peace, for the reason
that He was still a child (puer) when
lie returned from Egypt after the
death Of Herod, which event, as we
have seen, took place in $50. 1t fol-
lows, therefore, that He was born dur
ing the peace that began in TAG. The
Roman Senate, by the way, ordered
the Temple of Janus to be closed in
IA, but owing to some minor wars
having broken out in that year the
order was not carried into effect before
the middle of TAG. Our second con-
clusion necessarily follows: The Savior
was not born before the year
746 A. U. G. Lastly, in proof of
proposition c.; Christ, as everyone is
aware, was born at Bethlehem during
the census that had been ordered by
Caesar Augustus. According to Ter
tullian this census was taken by Sen
thus Saturnius, the proprietor of Syria,
who, according to Josephus, held Office
from IA to 74S. He completed the
census before departing from Syria.
early in the year 74S. Accordingly the
Savior should have been born before
that year, that is to say, He should
have been born in the year 747 A. U.
G. But, as already indicated, Diony-
sius placed the birth of Christ in the
year 754 from the foundation of Rome,
and took that year as his starting point
in the new system of chronology. BY
so doing, as we have been trying to
show, he lapsed, through no fault of
his, into error of at least four, most
probably seven, and possibly eight
years. The Dionysius anachronism
remains in our chronology, and for
weighty chronological reasons it is
likely not to be Tempered with until
Gabriels trumpet proclaims the pass
ing of time and it's measurements. But
while the world will, undoubtedly, con-
tinue to revolve upon it's axis once
every twenty-four hours as heretofore,
it will be no harm for us to know that
the preset so-called year 1904 is GER
tainly not 1904 at all, but most prob
ably the year of our Lord 1911. In
n