What is AD and BC & Why are they now CE and BCE

History is chronicled in dates, and many times these dates have AD or CE at its end, or BC or BCE if it goes to very ancient times. But why is the timeline of history divided by two eras? What does it mean, and why is this new terminology like BCE and CE?

What is AD and BC

 

The calendar which the world follows is called the Gregorian Calendar – a calendar issued by Pope Gregory XIII. This calendar was an improvised version of a previous ‘Julian’ calendar. Like any calendar, it had some starting point. That starting point was AD or Anno Domini. In Latin, it literally meant Year of our Lord. This is because it was based on the birth of Jesus Christ as a starting point. Events that had taken place before this starting point were referred to as BC or Before Christ.

 

What is CE and BCE

 

CE stands for Common Era, an alternative to AD, and BCE stands for Before Common Era, an alternative to BC.

 

The Gregorian calendar was also followed by non-Catholics living in Europe. Jews used the same date but called it the Current Era. Some called it the Christian Era, some called it the Common Era. When the European powers colonised most of the world, this calendar became a norm globally.

 

But this calendar was not accurate with its definition. 0 AD was not the exact date of birth of Jesus. The Gospels do not give exact dates, and many scholars have reached conflicting conclusions. Some give a date as late as 6 A.D., while some give a date as early as 7 B.C. Now, the birth of Jesus Christ being 7 years Before Christ makes it an oxymoron. That is why, in the field of history terminologies like CE and BCE are used.

 

So, the century we are currently in is the 21st Century AD or 21st Century CE.