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WHEN WAS JESUS BORN?: M. M. NINAN<br />
They returned after the death of Herod from Egypt which<br />
according to the Infancy Gospel of Thomas <strong>was</strong> when <strong>Jesus</strong> <strong>was</strong><br />
five years old. So Herod must have died during the age period of<br />
2 years to 5 years of <strong>Jesus</strong>.<br />
Assuming the death of Herod as 4 BC, the birth of Christ could<br />
be placed between 9 BC and 5 BC. It is usually taken as 6 BC.<br />
Assuming the death of Herod as 1 BC we arrive at the birth of<br />
<strong>Jesus</strong> between 5 BC and 2 BC . It is generally taken as 2 BC.<br />
Dionysius Exiguus (c.470 – c.544) and<br />
In 525 A.D. a Scythian monk in Rome, Dionysius Exiguus <strong>was</strong><br />
preparing tables for determining the date of Easter on the Roman<br />
Calendar. He decided to abandon the Roman calendar based on<br />
the first year of the reign of Emperor Diocletian (29 Aug., 284).<br />
His idea <strong>was</strong> to start a calendar “Anno Domini”, the “Year of Our<br />
Lord” based on his calculated year of the birth of <strong>Jesus</strong> Christ.<br />
Dionysius based his calculation on two verses:<br />
Luke 3:1 - <strong>Jesus</strong> <strong>was</strong> baptized in the 15th year of the reign of<br />
Tiberius<br />
Luke 3:23 says <strong>Jesus</strong> <strong>was</strong> about 30 years old at the start of his<br />
ministry, His baptism.<br />
Using this and other data available to him, he calculated the<br />
probable year of <strong>Jesus</strong> birth as occurring in the 753rd since the<br />
founding of the Roman empire, which he called AD 1.<br />
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