The New Millennium

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I got this today from another list I am on.  

I would hasten to point out that the 3rd millennium started a
LOOOOOONNNGGGG time ago -- the way God counts dates.  The only God
ordained calendar started on the day of Passover in Egypt before Moses
led Israel out!  We currently use a Babylonian (Catholic -- see
Rev. ch 12) calendar, which I somehow do not think God pays much
attention to.

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From: Moje Ramos-Aquino <moje@skyinet.net>
To: (Recipient list suppressed)
Subject: The New Millennium
Date: Sat, 01 Jan 2000 01:06:26 +0800

Copyright © 1998 by Jerry Wilson 
http://wilstar.com/millennium.htm

What Millennium is it, Anyway? 

On December 31, 1999, people all over the world will party down like never
before in celebration of the beginning of a new millennium. It won't matter
much to any of them that they are celebrating the wrong year. There's just
something about all those 0's in the date that make it special. 

Technically, the party will begin a year early, because the 3rd millennium
will actually begin on January 1, 2001. The reason 2001 starts a millennium
is because there was no year 0. The calendar jumps from the year 1 BC to
the year 1 AD. So, if you count the years of the 1st century, you start at
1 and go through 100 -- that is a hundred years, which is one century. By
the same reasoning, the 1st millennium would start at year 1 and go through
year 1000. Therefore, the second millennium would start at year 1001 and go
through the year 2000. The third millennium starts in the year 2001 and
goes through the year 3000. 

This technicality means little to those who are looking forward to seeing
the year roll over from 1999 to 2000. It's like watching the odometer on
your car hit that 100,000-mile mark. So, in some respects, it is altogether
fitting that we celebrate the year 2000 with more vigor than we would
celebrate a typical new year. 

We are certainly affected by the year 2000 in some ways -- including the
fact that many computer programs and chips that use only the last 2 digits
to indicate the year will no longer work properly. It's called the Y2K
problem, ("Y" for year and K meaning 1000). Although I don't believe it
will wreak as much havoc as some are predicting, I wouldn't want to be in a
life-critical situation that is monitored by a computer chip at 11:59:59 PM
on December 31, 1999! 

If we are looking forward to the 3rd millennium, one wonders how our
forebears celebrated the millennial change in the year 1000 AD. Actually,
there was little to celebrate in Europe a thousand years ago. It was the
middle of the Dark Ages and most people weren't in a party mood. Besides,
they didn't use Arabic numerals as we do. So, to them, they were merely
observing the year "M." It just wasn't the same. 

Some people are worried about the beginning of a new millennium. There are
those obligatory tales of doom and apocalypse. But there need not be any
undue concern. After all, there is nothing natural about our calendar. The
calendar, including the numeration of years, is all man-made. Besides, it
will only be a new millennium to those of us who use the Gregorian calendar. 

At any rate, in calculating the true end of the millennium, we must
consider why we start numerating our years from 1 AD. Christ was not
actually born in the year 1 AD. (AD stands for the Latin Anno Domini,
meaning "The year of our Lord.") Most likely, he was born in the spring or
fall of 4 BC or 5 BC. One of the early bishops goofed when he calculated
the birth date of Christ. 

Also, it doesn't make much sense to start counting from Christ's birth
anyway, from a purely Biblical standpoint. After all, the story of His
birth was not important enough to include in half the Gospels! A more
likely choice would be Christ's Resurrection. So, if He were crucified at
age 33, then the REAL millennial year ought to be 2028 or 2029. 

But, the early Church decided that Christ's birth was more significant to
our calendar, so that's what we use. Therefore, if Jesus was actually born
in 4 BC, the 2nd millennium ended on December 31, 1996 and the true 3rd
millennium began in 1997. So maybe those soon-to-be partygoers won't be
early after all. Maybe they'll be 3 years too late! 

Copyright © 1998 by Jerry Wilson 
http://wilstar.com/millennium.htm


---
Moje Ramos-Aquino
<Moje@SkyInet.net>
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