Guidelines 

range of opinions among various scholars on almost every  issue in Biblical chronology.

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 While some books 

present certain Biblical dates, such as the year of the Crucifixion, as if there were no difference of opinion, this 

is not true. There is no general agreement on most dates in Biblical chronology. 

    There is much uncertainty among scholars as to when events described in the Bible actually occurred partly 

because the calendar systems used to keep track of the years has changed over time. The current system using 

the terms  

B.C.

  and  

A.D.

  was not developed until hundreds of years after the Birth of Christ. Assigning a 

year 

B.C.

 or 

A.D.

 to an event is therefore not a simple and straightforward task. No one during the first century 

A.D.

 wrote the number of the year as we would write it today. They numbered the years by the reigns of 

various rulers (e.g. Lk 3:1). Consequently, we should not accept, as an unexamined premise, that Augustus 

died in 

A.D.

 14, or that Herod died in 4 

B.C.

, or that any other event occurred in a particular year. Each 

premise must be supported by sufficient evidence. Any premise for an argument in Biblical chronology, which 

is supported merely by the statement that  most scholars agree  on a particular date, is an unexamined 

premise, and one that may very well turn out to be false. 

Insights from Astronomy 

    The science of astronomy provides information which is helpful in determining the dates of certain events in 

the first century 

B.C.

 and first century 

A.D.

 In the writings of ancient historians, there is mention of certain 

celestial  events, including lunar eclipses, solar eclipses, and the sightings of various comets. Modern 

astronomy can determine, using computer software, not only the dates of each lunar and solar eclipse, but also 

detailed information about where the eclipse was visible, how long it lasted, and its general appearance. 

    In this book, the software program  RedShift 3 was used to obtain information about lunar and solar 

eclipses.

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 RedShift 3 not only provides the date, time, and duration for each eclipse, but also displays a realistic 

view of the sky from any point on earth, at any point in time stretching back for thousands of years. One can 

use this software to watch an eclipse much as it might have been seen from Jerusalem, or Rome, or some other 

location. 

    Data on solar and lunar eclipses was also obtained from Fred Espenak's Eclipse Home Page at the 

NASA/GSFC Sun Earth Connection Education Forum: (http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse).

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 This web 

site provides both a  Five  Millennium Catalog of Solar Eclipses and a  Five  Millennium Catalog of Lunar Eclipses 

containing detailed data on each eclipse.

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 A comparison of the dates and times for these eclipses given by the 

NASA/GSFC web site and by RedShift 3 software correlate well (see chapter 17). 

    Astronomy is also useful in reconstructing the Jewish calendar, which is based on the phases of the moon. 

The moon's lunar cycle begins with the new moon. The astronomical new moon occurs when the moon 

passes a line drawn between the earth and the sun. On those occasions when the moon, in passing such a line, 

also passes directly between the sun and the earth, the moon's shadow falls upon the earth in a solar eclipse. 

Notice that solar eclipses only occur about the time of the new moon. Thus, if data on the dates and times of 

solar eclipses is accurate, then similar calculations used to determine the dates and times of astronomical new 

moons will also be accurate. 

    The same NASA/GSFC web site also offers a Five Millennia Catalog of Phases of the Moon.

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 This data on the 

moon's phases also correlates well with the data from  RedShift 3 software. (Further details on determining 

astronomical new moons and the start of various months in the Jewish calendar can be found in chapter 17.) 

    The evidence of two or three witnesses is needed to decide a case (Mt 18:16; Deut 17:6; 2 Cor 13:1). Since 

the data from both the NASA/GSFC web site and RedShift 3 software are in close agreement, we can have 

confidence in this data and use it to assist in determining the dates of events in the first century 

B.C.

 and first 

century 

A.D.

Information on Ancient Comets 

    Ancient historians also occasionally mention sightings of comets in association with important historical 

events. The Romans believed that comets were a sign from the gods foreshadowing some important event, 

such as a war or the death of an emperor. One of the most famous examples of this is a comet seen shortly 

after the death of Julius Caesar. The Roman people believed that this was a sign that Julius Caesar had taken 

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