Euse-bius, in his records of the year A.D. , quotes at length from Phlegon, who says that, in the fourth year of the 202nd Olympiad, there was a great and remarkable eclipse of the sun, above any that had happened before. Now consider if this were either all fake or unauthentic; Christian historians have used this writing to cite as an extra-biblical account of the Gospel accounts and opponents have used the writing to discredit the theory as contrived. The Romans and Jews could have falsified Peters claimhad it been false. Thankfully we have a more detailed fragment from Phlegon's Olympiades: We know from the Bible that on the day of Crucifixion the Sun was darkened for three hours, and there was a great earthquake. Required fields are marked *. In the fourth year, however, of Olympiad 202, an eclipse of the sun happened, greater and more excellent than any that had happened before it; at the sixth hour, day turned into dark night, so that the stars were seen in the sky, and an earthquake in Bithynia toppled many buildings of the city of Nicaea. Phlegons 13th book quoted in Jeromes translation of Eusebius Chronicle, 202 Olympad. If we know the day of the week that the crucifixion took place on, this can be used to rule out a number of the possible years (in the range from AD 26 to AD 36). All Rights Reserved. The 4th year of the 202nd Olympiad was 32-33AD: HMEPA Hellenic Month Established Per Athens The 202nd Olympiad Last Olympiad Next Olympiad Last Olympiad source: http://www.numachi.com/~ccount/hmepa/calendars/202.html Modern context of the calendar of ancient Olympics would put the 4 th year of the 202 nd Olympiad at July 32-33AD. The Jewish calendar is a lunar calendar and thus months start with the New Moon. From Friday evening at sunset to Saturday evening at sunset was an entire 24 hour day cycle, so it also counted as a day and a night. According to NASA, there WAS an actual solar eclipse in the fourth year of the 202nd Olympiad: http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/5MCSEmap/0001-0100/33-09-12.gif. The facts were recorded in a historical account of Tiberius. As explained, we believe that the darkness referred to by Phlegon is the same darkness referred to in Matthew 27:45. From historical sources telling when these individuals were in office you can show that the possible range of years of the crucifixion to be from AD 26 to AD 36. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plate_tectonics#/media/File:Plates_tect2_en.svg. While the actual words used by Thallus no longer survive, the response of Africanus (below) give us a sense of what he must have said: As to His (i.e., Jesus Christ) works severally, and His cures effected upon body and soul, and the mysteries of His doctrine, and the resurrection from the dead, these have been most authoritatively set forth by His disciples and apostles before us. Origen tells us in his work,Against Celsus(cf Contra Celsus II, 14), that Phlegon had some knowledge of Jesus. This earthquake would have been massive to be felt in Israel and Turkey at the same timethink of the catastrophe! At New Moon, the Moon is positioned between the Sun and the Earth with the dark side of the Moon facing the Earth. To me it seems the place to start with deduction from all the available information is with John the Baptist. The Text Widget allows you to add text or HTML to your sidebar. Here, too, we see an Apostle feared not to mention the event precisely because it was already widely known among his readers. An earthquake occurred in Bythinia and overthrew a great part of the city of Nica. Now before the accusations fly about me ascribing random astronomical events to this writing, consider this: these are the only two solar eclipses that occur within the time frame reference by Phlegon, and from 20-40AD there are only 3 other eclipses that could even possibly have been seen by Rome or the Persian Gulf; one in 20AD and the other two occur after 36AD. Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the sorrows of hell, as it was impossible that he should be holden by it. (Acts 2: 14-24)[Emphasis and formatting added]. Those who heard Peter preach in Rome would have previously known about this darkness in several ways, including: (1) having witnessed it firsthand in Rome if it had been a universal darkness; (2) hearing of it from travelers to Rome; and or (3) through letters or official reports received from the provinces, the latter of which were kept in the Roman archives. About two weeks after the New Moon is the Full Moon, which corresponds to Passover. There is a silence of historical sources with regard to this Crucifixion darkness. by Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1973), vol. The year given by Phlegon for this eclipse is the fourth year of the 202nd Olympiad (i.e., 33 A.D.), which is consistent with one of the possible dates of the Crucifixion (i.e., April 3, 33 A.D.). He stated that in the 19th year of Tiberius and the fourth year of the 202nd Olympiad (i.e., AD 33), a large eclipse occurred which turned day to night around the sixth hour (noon), and an earthquake destroyed many houses in the city of Nicaea. I wonder too, hypothetically, what might a natural cause include. The source from Jerome above is interesting in that it dates the unusual darkening of the sky by the Olympiad numbering system. Other works ascribed to Phlegon in the Suda are a description of Sicily, a work on the Roman festivals in three books, and a topography of Rome: Origen of Alexandria (182-254 AD), in Against Celsus (Book II, Chap. I believe Colin Humphreys is probably correct that the date of the crucifixion of Christ was Friday April 3, A.D. 33. Some Christian scholars argue Jesus was crucified on Thursday and some even hold to a Wednesday crucifixion. Contact Dr Richard Kent and recommendations, Bible Prophecy Concerning The Crucifixion, The Blood Covenant In Relation To The Crucifixion, Recording of The Crucifixion by Contemporary Historians, The Three Hour Period Of Darkness Is Confirmed By Many Historians, The Ad 33 Date Of The Crucifixion According To Phlegon, A Secular Greek Historian, The Ad 33 Date Of The Crucifixion From Bible Prophecy, Caiaphas Prophesied About The Crucifixion, In Gethsemane Jesus Sweated Blood, The Disciples Slept, And Judas Betrayed Jesus Christ, Judas Iscariot Betrayed Jesus Christ For Thirty Pieces Of Silver, The Timing Of The Night Before The Crucifixion, Jesus Christ Stood In Our Place At The Six Trials, Jesus Was Condemned To Death For "blasphemy", The Crowd Choose Barabbas Rather Than Jesus. This is a clear Bible prophecy foretelling that God would cause the punishment for our sins to fall upon Jesus. We also know from the New Testament that at that time Caiaphas was the Jewish High Priest (Caiaphas is mentioned in Jewish writings) and Pilate was the Roman governor of Judea. This is the first of the gospels, written some time between38 and 45 A.D. Though historical data may be sketchy on some issues sometimes, regarding Christ's crucifixion, the evidence we have confirming the New Testament is I think very persuasive. There is little doubt that this information was passed from ancient source to ancient source before it reached Phlegon; however; its place in historical writings is scientifically confirmed nearly 2 millenia later. The 202nd Olympiad has been calculated to run from July AD 29 to June AD 33. If your sunset occurs later than sunset in Athens, the event may occur on . Phlegon, born about A.D. 80, was a secular historian who lived in the second century. 27:63, Mark 8:31, Mark 9:31, Mark 10:33-34, and John 2:19. /*
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