The Easter Computus and the Origins of the Christian Era

Abstract

Abstract Dionysius Exiguus composed a 95‐year list of Easter dates beginning in what he designates as the year 532 from Christ. His list was a continuation of an Alexandrian table that ended in the year 247 from Diocletian. How Dionysius knew that 247 Diocletian should be followed by the year 532 of the Lord has puzzled scholars for almost 1500 years. His year AD 1 seems inconsistent with the evidence of the New Testament for the chronology of Christ. This book argues that Dionysius did not calculate a new date at all. He adopted the Christian era of Julius Africanus, which was based on a date for the crucifixion in AD 31 and the assumption that Jesus was 30 years old at that time. This date was transmitted to Dionysius Exiguus through the Easter calculations of Alexandria. About the same time, the Armenian church adopted a national era whose first year they synchronized with the year 553 from Christ. This Armenian Christian era agrees with that of Dionysius, but adjusted to the Armenian calendar. The Armenians received this numbering of the years from Christ independently from Dionysius, through the Alexandrian Easter tables.