A few years ago now, the common practice of denoting time as BC or AD for “Before Christ” or “Anno Domini“was changed to BCE or CE to for “Before Christian Era” or “Christian Era” in recognition that not everyone would see Jesus as the Christ or refer to him as their Lord, though the Christian era was undeniable. It struck me just recently that even this may convention become dated… and I’m wondering if it may someday be accurate to summarize:
Prehistory — Year 1 = BCE = Before Christian Era
Year 1 — Year 2000 = CE = Christian Era
Year 2001 — (indefinite future) = PCE = Post-Christian Era
…just thinking aloud. Wondering.
Perhaps we are in a post-church era, at least in the US. 85% of the population claime to be Christian, while only 40% attend church. It would appear that we are more post-church than post-Christian.
Just a thought???
Rick
Having not read Ricks comment before hand, I would echo the same
thing. It’s definitely post-church as an institution, and I think of
40% that Rick mentions alot of that flies below the radar of what alot of people would define as church. And also globally the refence of denoting time in terms
” christian ” would look quite different, say between North America
and continental Africa and South America.
Sorry to be a party pooper, but BCE and CE refer to the Common Era and not the Christian Era. Reference dictionary.com or the like to verify.
Yes, it is Common Era, but the numbering does refer to Christ’s birth. Even if the guy who came up with it miscalcuated and didn’t understand the concept of zero…