BC vs. BCE
Have you ever paid close attention to the dating system that people employ nowadays? If you have heard of the terms AD, BC, BCE and CE, you are surely never far off from this argument. People often disregard these terms that are used with the numerical years to denote the dating system of man’s history. Nevertheless, these terms or acronyms have caused much public confusion as to which standard notation should actually be used.
In this connection, the use of BC versus BCE is probably the most talked about argument up to this day. Before settling the confusion, it is important to note that BC and BCE are both written after the year number, unlike AD, which is written before the numerical year. Also, both BC and BCE are grounded on the Julian, or Gregorian calendars.
First and foremost, the usage of the term BC was actually coined by Dionysius Exiguus, way back in 525 AD. It stands for ‘Before Christ.’ This was the undisputed notation only until recently, when several movements came forth that challenged the BC AD notation. The reason why they started to question the original notation, is because it was already scientifically measured, using the most accurate technologies, that Christ was actually born sometime in the BC era (7-4 BC). Therefore, why was Christ already born when the supporters of the BC AD notation claim that Christ’s birth represents the year one of AD? This actually renders the meaning of AD (birth of Christ) obsolete.
More so, if the BC starts with year 1, and AD with year 1 as well, this implies that there is no year 0 in the dating system. Similarly, the BCE and CE notation still has not yet removed this missing year 0 from their own notation. The supporters of the latter only instigated the use of ‘Common Era’ to refer to the Vulgar Years, or the years after Christ’s birth. BCE, along with CE, were said to have been developed so as not to be connoted purely on Christian origins. The usage of BCE is thus a show of respect to non-Christians, who don’t believe in Christ, or who do not know who or what Christ is.
Overall, AD 2010 is the same as 2010 CE, and 100 BC is the same as 100 BCE.
1. BCE is a newer term compared to BC.
2. BC means before Christ, whereas BCE means before the Common Era.