Many people don't realize the far superior reliability ofthe Bibleover secular
history when it comes to dating, chronology and history itself. The first step
is to make sure you are aware ofcardinalandordinalnumbers and how they
differ. Cardinal numbers (1, 2, 3, 10, 100) have full value but with ordinal
numbers (3rd, 5th, 22nd) you have to subtract 1. So - for example the "18th
year of Nebuchadnezzar" atJeremiah 52:29would actually be 17 full years
and however many months, weeks or days elapsed from the end of the 17th
year.
Also, when considering a number of years fromBCE to CEyou have to keep
in mind that from a date such as October 1, 1 BCE to October 1, 1 CE is only
1 year, rather than 2. They are ordinal numbers. So, from October 1, 2 BCE
(about the time ofJesus' birth) to October 1 of 29 CE (about the time of his
baptism) there is a total of 30 years. 1 full year plus 3 months in BCE and 28
full years plus 9 months in the CE
Next we need to set the pivotal date that both Biblical and secular history
can pretty much agree upon.29 CE; the early months of 29 CE were in the
15th year ofTiberius Caesar, named emperor by Roman Senate on
September 15, 14 CE (Gregorian calendar) and the year that John the
Baptizer started his preaching - six months later he baptized Jesus.Luke 3:1-
3;3:21,23;1:36.
Or we could use539 BCEwhenCyrusthe Persian overthrew Babylon
(SeeDiodorus,Africanus,Eusebius,Ptolemyand the Babylonian tablets.)
